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5 great tips for sustainable summer living

Sustainable living treads lightly on natural resources and follows a rethink, reuse, repurpose mantra to minimize waste. Big and small wallet-friendly tips can help you save money and befriend our planet this summer, says Dr. Wynne Armand, a primary care physician at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, and associate…

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Swimming lessons save lives: What parents should know

Before going any further, here’s the main thing parents should know about swimming lessons: all children should have them. Every year, over 4,500 people die from drowning in the United States — and, in fact, drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4.…

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Ever read your medical record? Here’s why you should

Do you ever read the notes written by your doctor or health practitioner during a medical visit? If not, you might want to check them out. Usually, these medical notes are full of helpful insights about your health and reminders of recommendations discussed. And there’s medicalese, of course:…

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Life can be challenging: Build your own resilience plan

Nantucket, a beautiful, 14-mile-long island off the coast of Massachusetts, has a 40-point resiliency plan to help withstand the buffeting seas surrounding it as climate change takes a toll. Perhaps we can all benefit from creating individual resilience plans to help handle the big and small issues that…

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Shining light on night blindness

Animals renowned for their outstanding night vision include owls, cats, tarsiers (a tiny primate in Southeast Asia) — and even the dung beetle. But humans? Not so much. Over time, many people suffer from night blindness, also known as nyctalopia. This condition makes seeing in dim or dark…

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What is cognitive behavioral therapy?

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) teaches people to challenge negative thought patterns and turn less often to unhelpful behaviors. These strategies can improve your mood and the way you respond to challenging situations: a flat tire, looming deadlines, family life ups and downs. Yet there’s much more depth and…

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Bugs are biting: Safety precautions for children

If you spend time outdoors — which we all should do, for all sorts of reasons — you are likely to encounter biting bugs. Most of the time the bites are just a nuisance. But besides the fact that sometimes they can be painful or itchy, bug bites…

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Health care should improve your health, right?

It’s undeniable: modern medicine offers ever-expanding ways to heal and prevent disease. But it’s also true that health care can cause harm. One analysis found that about 6% of health care encounters caused preventable harm, leading to thousands of deaths each year. And it’s not just errors that…