Your genetics decide your eye colour and your height. They also influence how your body processes medications — which is part of why one person does well on a particular antidepressant while another feels awful on the same dose, and why some people tolerate a statin while others get muscle aches. The science that studies this is called pharmacogenomics, often … Read More
Fever in Kids: When to Worry and When to Relax
Let’s start here: fever is not the enemy. Fever isn’t an illness. It’s your child’s immune system doing its job — raising body temperature slows bacteria and viruses down and revs up the cells that fight them. There’s no evidence that fever itself damages a child or causes lasting harm. So the goal isn’t a normal thermometer reading. The goal … Read More
Thyroid Test Results Explained: What TSH, T4 and T3 Mean
You had blood drawn, the result says “TSH,” and you have no idea what you’re looking at. Let’s fix that. What TSH actually is Your thyroid — the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck — makes two hormones, T4 and T3, which set the pace of your metabolism. TSH stands for thyroid stimulating hormone, and here is the … Read More
Poison Ivy: What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
Around 85% of people are allergic to poison ivy, oak and sumac. Only about 10 to 15% seem genuinely unable to react. Here are the facts and the fictions, because there is a lot of confident misinformation about this plant. FICTION: “I’ve never gotten it, so I’m immune.” This is the one that catches people out. The reaction is an … Read More