Your Health

You tried burping. You tried bouncing. You tried swaddling. Now what?

Can Probiotics Help Soothe Colicky Babies?

3:53pm January 21, 2014

by Rob Stein

As many as 15 percent of babies have colic, which can cause bouts of inconsolable crying. Researchers are testing probiotics to see if these good bacteria can help. But they don't know how the supplements work, or how they may affect children's health long term.

Queue Listen Now

A customer buys produce at the Euclid Market in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles in December. The market was reopened in 2013 as part of a project to promote healthy eating among the city's Hispanic population.

Diabetes, Cost Of Care Top Health Concerns For U.S. Latinos

12:57pm January 21, 2014

by Patti Neighmond

A poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds that nearly 1 in 5 Latinos say diabetes is the major health concern for themselves and their family. In East Los Angeles, where obesity and diabetes are common, community activists are committed to turning the problem around.

Queue Listen Now

Janet Wertheimer does a back hyperextension exercise at Boston Sports Club in Wellesley, Mass. Regular exercise has helped control her chronic back pain.

Pain In The Back? Exercise May Help You Learn Not To Feel It

4:56pm January 15, 2014

There's evidence that many standard treatments for back pain — including surgery, spinal injections and painkillers — are often ineffective and can even worsen and prolong the problem.

Queue Listen Now

Want To Make Your Life Better? Keep Track Of It

7:51am January 03, 2014

The Quantified Self movement promotes something called life logging. That means tracking all kinds of details of your life in order to improve it. To find out more about the topic, David Greene talks to two people involved with life logging: Kitty Ireland, who works for a life logging app called Saga, and to David Goldstein, who turned to life logging with the help of a coach.

Queue Listen Now

Solid friendships can help buffer life's stress.

Teens Who Feel Supported At Home And School Sleep Better

6:31am December 06, 2013

by Patti Neighmond

The notoriously short night's sleep that many tired adolescents get isn't all about surging hormones and too much homework, according to a sociologist who looked at shifting sleep patterns from ages 12 to 15. Teens who report good relationships with family and schoolmates tend to sleep better.

Queue Listen Now

Colleen Frainey, 16, of Tualatin, Ore., cut back on advanced placement classes in her junior year because the stress was making her physically ill.

School Stress Takes A Toll On Health, Teens And Parents Say

5:35pm December 03, 2013

by Patti Neighmond

Teenagers say their parents often don't realize how overwhelmed they feel about school. Psychologists say parents can help children manage their expectations and live a more balanced life, even if it means not racking up as high a GPA as their friends.

Queue Listen Now

*PROMO IMAGE *Cristina Sevin attempts to wake up her 16-year-old daughter Lily. It usually takes three rounds of this before she is up and out of bed.

Parents Of Sleep-Deprived Teens Push For Later School Start Times

5:32pm December 03, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

Scientists agree that teenagers naturally go to bed late and sleep late, too. But high school start times are traditionally very early. Proponents of later start times say they're finally getting traction. The result, they say, will be happier kids who do better in school.

Queue Listen Now

In Pregnancy, What's Worse? Cigarettes Or The Nicotine Patch?

1:41pm November 26, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

Everybody knows that you're not supposed to smoke while you're pregnant because it's bad for the baby. But nicotine patches often used to help women quit may pose a risk, too, researchers say. Other forms of nicotine replacement may do less harm.

Queue Listen Now

A crostini of smoked trout, hard-boiled egg, aioli and roe at The Red Hen in Washington, D.C. Owner/Chef Michael Friedman says Mediterranean cooking is simply a tweaking of basic cooking ideas.

Health & Safety

For Mind And Body: Study Finds Mediterranean Diet Boosts Both

11:36am November 08, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

A new study finds that women who followed a Mediterranean style of eating in their 50s were about 40 percent more likely to reach the later decades without developing chronic diseases and memory or physical problems, compared to women who didn't eat as well.

Queue Listen Now

Say hello to your microbiome, Rob Stein. Our intrepid correspondent decided to get his gut bacteria analyzed. Now he's wondering if he needs to eat more garlic and onions.

Getting Your Microbes Analyzed Raises Big Privacy Issues

3:28pm November 05, 2013

by Rob Stein

Scientists are asking people to contribute samples of their gut microbes to help figure out how those microbes affect human health. But ethicists say sharing that information, as well as the personal health data that make it useful to researchers, poses risks. That's especially true for children.

Queue Listen Now