The silent assault on Robin Williams’ brain

Susan Schneider Williams, widow of actor Robin Williams, discussed her husband’s dementia due to Lewy body disease in a letter published in the journal Neurology. What exactly is Lewy body disease? How did he get it? And could it have been prevented?

9 life-saving resources anyone can use to take action now to feel better during Mental Illness Awareness Week

Did you know October 2-8 is Mental Illness Awareness Week? Tens of millions of Americans are affected by mental illness. This week is all about bringing more awareness to mental health issues and replacing stigma with hope. In fact, you can start being proactive by taking the #StigmaFree pledge at www.nami.org/stigmafree.

Your guide to understanding TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) to get you through the fall sports season

School is back in full swing, complete with daily bus rides, homework and afterschool sports! For many student-athletes and their families, it’s a busy season. But don’t let safety discussions get lost amidst the day-to-day hustle and bustle. Sports season is prime season for discussing traumatic brain injury recognition, brain injury recovery, and of course, prevention.

Why recess may be the secret to your student’s academic success

What’s trending in schools across the country? The death of recess. Surveys and studies show schools are reducing recess in order to squeeze in more academics, the American Academy of Pediatrics reports. However, experts are grabbing the mic, saying hold on -- this is doing more harm than good. In fact, they say, research suggests physically active students who spend less time with academic content seem to outperform sedentary students who spend more time with academic content, they say. So is less academics and more recess the actual key to student success?

A dog could be your heart’s best friend

“People who have dogs live longer than people who have cats, and the assumption has been that dogs naturally cause their owners to be more active,” suggests Dr. Thomas Lee, Co-Editor in Chief of the Harvard Heart Letter. “The emotional benefits of having an affectionate creature are also one of the theories for why dog-lovers live longer.”

Why those with busy brains may be at risk for weight gain and how to stop it

Feel like you are always hungry? Science may finally have an answer. Turns out, a busy brain can lead to feelings of hunger, which can lead to weight gain if you don’t realize what’s going on. Think back to your college years. Those late night papers and study cram sessions likely helped you gain your requisite freshman 15.

Attention asthma sufferers: Breathe easy, vitamin D may give some relief

Coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath: For millions of people, asthma can be pretty unpleasant. In fact, about 7.4 percent of adults and 8.6 percent of children in the U.S. have asthma, the Centers for Disease Control reports. Treatment can include quick-relief medicines as well as long-term control medicines, but for those who wish there was something more they could do, there is hope! A recent study, featured in The Washington Post, shows vitamin D may help.

Scientists look to babies’ gut bacteria to predict their asthma and allergy risk

Products that promote “good bacteria” continue to be popular among health-seekers in supermarkets, with probiotic drinks like kombucha gaining notoriety. Even beyond digestion, the various microorganisms that live in your gut (called your “gut microbiota”) may affect things like your mood and how often you get sick. So it’s no surprise that scientists wanted to find out how gut bacteria in babies affected their likelihood for developing asthma and allergies.

Sugar industry made fat the scapegoat for heart disease decades ago

In the 1960s, the sugar industry funded Harvard research that downplayed the risks of sugar and emphasized the dangers of fat, according to a new study from the University of California, San Francisco, published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Around this time, studies were coming out, linking sugar with risk factors for heart disease, like high cholesterol and triglycerides, the researchers said. So instead of letting sugar take the heat, they made dietary fat the patsy.

Newsflash: Your pap smear doesn’t check for ovarian cancer! Here’s what to do to be proactive

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In the U.S. this year, an estimated 22,280 women will receive an ovarian cancer diagnosis, and 14,240 women will die of it, according to the American Cancer Society. It is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women.

When easing the pain turns fatal: The big problem with opioids and anti-anxiety drugs

You may or may not have heard that opioid painkiller use has skyrocketed into epidemic proportions, with deadly overdoses on the rise. For example, The Washington Post reported that between 1999 and 2014, deadly opioid overdoses among middle-aged white women shot up 400 percent. But it’s not just opioid use we have to worry about. In fact, anti-anxiety drugs called benzodiazepines contributed to many of those deaths, even as much as a third of them in recent years.

For all pregnant mothers and soon to be: 3 things to avoid premature birth

Preterm birth refers to babies born before 37 weeks’ gestation. Babies who are born early may be at risk for breathing, heart, gastrointestinal and developmental problems. In the U.S., 11.4 percent of births are preterm (twice as high as several other developed nations, researchers say). But new research suggests up to a quarter of these preterm births may be preventable by addressing three simple risk factors that are within your control.