Do you follow certain social media creators, music artists, actors, athletes, or other famous people? Are you a huge fan of particular fictional characters from a book, TV show, or movie? Perhaps you check in with them daily because you

Continue ReadingDo parasocial relationships fill a loneliness gap?

Parents often wonder: What can we do to keep our children healthy? Are there ways to boost the immune system and ward off illnesses? The answer is yes — but there are no magic wands or magic supplements. The best

Continue ReadingBoosting your child’s immune system

News flash: What we eat can play a pivotal role in warding off — or treating — disease and enhancing quality of life. You may already believe this, and certainly mounting evidence supports that idea. But on the cluttered shelf

Continue ReadingIs the portfolio diet the best diet ever?

We all want our child to have friends. We want them to be happy, and to build the social skills and connections that will help them now and in the future. Sometimes, and for some children, making friends isn’t easy.

Continue ReadingHelping children make friends: What parents can do

It’s an unfortunate reality: all medicines can cause side effects. While there are a few tried-and-true ways to deal with drug side effects, here’s a less common option to consider: adding a second medication. That’s the approach taken with valbenazine

Continue ReadingHarvard Health Ad Watch: Got side effects? There’s a medicine for that

Several evenings a week, as Tyler VanderWeele gathers around the dinner table with his wife and two young kids, the family deliberately pauses during the meal to do something simple but profound. Each member shares several things for which they’re

Continue ReadingGratitude enhances health, brings happiness — and may even lengthen lives

Ever heard of mpox? Wondering why it’s back in the news? Many of us first learned about mpox (formerly called monkeypox) in 2022, when the largest known outbreak spread to nearly 100,000 people in more than 100 countries. While mpox

Continue ReadingMpox is back: What to know and do

When experts talk about the dangers of excessive drinking, we often assume those warnings apply mostly to people with alcohol use disorder, a health issue sometimes referred to as alcoholism. But people who don’t meet formal criteria for this disorder

Continue ReadingFeel like you should be drinking less? Start here

“Sleep is still most perfect… when it is shared with a beloved,” wrote D.H. Lawrence, and most young children would agree. But sometimes those beloved — that is, parents — would rather have some privacy and not be woken by

Continue ReadingHow to help your preschooler sleep alone

Quelling the discomfort of atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema, can be a daily quest. This inflamed, itchy skin condition can interfere with sleeping, socializing, and many other activities. If home remedies such as gentle cleansing and regular

Continue ReadingWhich skin creams are most effective for eczema?