Pets and your health: the good and the bad

They cuddle and purr. And they shed. They wag their tails and fetch your slippers. And they shed. They never talk back and they never hold a...

Therapy dogs make the rounds in more healthcare settings

"Pets are embedded in the soul of our humanity," says Dr. Edward Creagan, an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., as he...

Service dogs are beyond fetching

One moment 15-year-old Glen Gregos was a happy-go-lucky kid riding a motorcycle. The next he was the lucky-to-be-alive victim of a...

Positive thinking makes for happy old people

Older people are, well, old. They are in declining health, confronting death and may already be losing some of the people closest to them....

Men juggle too: Competing work and family demands stress out more guys nowadays

A growing number of men are now suffering from the seductive promise that they can have it all: the comforts and rewards of a...

Men like cuddling, sure, but more important: Couples like each other

Sex, satisfaction and cuddling.  For a lot of middle-aged couples around the world, familiarity seems to be breeding the exact opposite...

Personality disorders category is likely to be dramatically revised for next psychiatry textbook

Several types of personality disorders will be dropped from the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders....

Alzheimer's damage may begin at a young age, study finds

Alzheimer's disease research has shifted to looking for the earliest signs and symptoms of the disease process. A new study has found...

Alzheimer's disease cause needs to be reconsidered, researcher says

Alzheimer's disease research in the last two decades has focused on the theory that beta-amyloid plaque accumulates in the brain and leads...

Alzheimer's disease not always linked to memory loss symptoms, study finds

People who develop Alzheimer's disease in middle age might be at risk of getting misdiagnosed, according to a new study published online...

Doctors are encouraged to offer mental-health screening for teens

Impulsive behavior gets kids in trouble, but science is honing in on the problem

"Teenagers are often impulsive." That's the opening sentence of a new scientific paper. Raise your hand if you're a parent of an...

A patient's social history isn't just checked-off answers

Ms. R., a retired nurse, lives with her husband in Dorchester.

Helping seniors live at home longer

Patricia McGinnis has six brothers and sisters who help her take care of their 89-year-old mother. Though their mother is alert and able...

Put your stress on vacation

Got stress?

Our body's old response to modern stress can be dangerous

It's 8:15 a.m., and the meeting you're supposed to be running started 15 minutes ago, and your boss would be on the phone chewing you out...

Division of duty is the name of the brain game

You may be lazing by the pool after a visit or two to the swim-up bar, but parts of your brain are always on duty — ready to leap into...

Online dating secrets, as revealed by math majors

For singles who brave the jungles of online dating, there's nothing like an experienced friend or two to offer advice. "Should I Photoshop...

A key diagnostic deadline draws near

"Where are we going to put the narcissists?"

After brain damage, the creative juices flow for some

Artist Katherine Sherwood was just 44 when a hemorrhage in her brain's left hemisphere paralyzed the right side of her body —...

What it looks like inside a migraine

It can be hard to explain how your world looks to someone whose reality is very different. That's especially true for people with epilepsy...

Why are unhealthy people so reluctant to change their lifestyles?

Nobody's perfect. We all have bad habits we just can't seem to shake. Cigarettes have a hold on some people; others can't say no to alcohol,...

'Hypersexual disorder' might make DSM-5

Tiger Woods' mistresses. Arnold Schwarzenegger's secret child. Bill Clinton's sexual escapades in the Oval Office. Every case of a prominent...

Rodent of the Week: A sad mouse makes scientists happy

Researchers have taken a big step forward in studying depression in humans because they have succeeded in improving a mouse model of the...

Anxiety disorder may precede diabetes in Latinos, study finds

Latinos have higher rates of diabetes than other ethnic groups. They also appear to have higher rates of having both diabetes and a mood...

Irreconcilable differences at the end of the day: Men, women and housework

Men, it's your health and happiness or hers. Women, it's your health and happiness or his. At the end of the day, if there's housework to be...

Spouses affect each other's health dramatically, study finds

Spouses tend to share various symptoms and physical limitations and are influenced by each other's health problems, according to a new...