Stories by Lydia Denworth

Volunteering in community programs can reduce youth depression and anxiety, researchers are beginning to learn

Supportive care is often started late in an illness, but that may not be the best way

Contact with nature improves physical and mental health, but greenery is not easily reached by all

A quick nap can boost your memory, your mood and even your creativity

Weight training turns out to be as important as aerobic activity for warding off disease

The research tracks, at the level of individual neurons, what happens when a monkey hangs out with other monkeys. It even found a possible neural code for empathy

In babies, the right combo of gut bacteria might stave off later allergies, so scientists are testing “cocktails” of helpful microbes as therapy

A fluttering heartbeat called A-fib can lead to stroke, but smartwatches can detect it, and there are good treatments

The body mass index is flawed, and medicine now has better options to measure obesity

A light midday snooze boosts memory and other types of cognition—and your mood

Daytime naps of about 30 minutes really improve your thinking and may spark creativity.

The biology of aging shows ways to lengthen your healthspan, years free of serious disease

New research shows any alcohol can harm your body, but the increased risk may not be huge

As few as 15 percent of people who would benefit from hearing aids use them

Research shows that disrupting the body’s circadian rhythm raises cancer risk, and resetting it may bring that risk down

The minds of social species are strikingly resonant

HDL cholesterol raises disease risk at levels above 80 milligrams per deciliter

New research points to different step counts based on age and fitness level

Virtual visits surged in the pandemic, and studies show they maintain high-quality medicine

A growing mortality gap between Republican and Democratic areas may largely stem from policy choices

Reframing erroneous beliefs alleviates the emotional upheavals that beset young people on the cusp of adulthood

Paid parental leave and high-quality child care improve children’s brain development and prospects for a better future

Some over-the-counter medications can help symptoms, and there are ways to ease isolation

The right combination of variables is needed to achieve a blazing success—one explanation for why there was never a “Kinksmania”