William Cervantes was born with a heart defect and another rare condition. (Photo courtesy of the Cervantes family) Before their baby was born, doctors had warned Stephanie and Justin Cervantes that his color at birth would be blue. Still – despite knowing he had heart issues, despite months of monitoring him in utero, despite endless…
(jacoblund/iStock via Getty Images) Lea en español In every family, there’s often one person who takes charge of everybody’s health care needs. Who makes sure everyone gets an annual health exam. That they get their teeth cleaned and their prescriptions filled. And that all the insurance claims get filed. If a child gets sick, this…
(tbralnina/iStock via Getty Images) Lea en español People seeking straightforward nutrition advice might have a bone to pick with calcium, a building block of health that can start to seem like a piece from a complicated puzzle. Luckily, the basics – such as understanding why you need it and how to make sure you’re getting…
(JGI/Tom Grill/Tetra Images via Getty Images) A woman begins losing blood during childbirth. Some vaginal bleeding is normal, but is it too much? How that question gets answered – and how quickly a hemorrhaging mother gets treated – can make the difference between life and death. Excessive blood loss is the leading cause of death…
(J_art/Moment via Getty Images) A century ago, people threw medicine balls and did calisthenics to stay fit. Then came the hula hoop, vibrating belts and aerobics. People sweated to the oldies with Richard Simmons and felt the burn with Jane Fonda, before dancing their way into Latin-inspired cardio workouts or joining a high-intensity fitness program….
(omgimages/iStock via Getty Images) Lea en español Anybody who has worn a hand-me-down, shared a bathroom or survived a long car trip with a brother or a sister knows that siblings can affect your life in nearly every way possible. Researchers, however, are just starting to unspool the ways those relationships affect health. “It’s kind…
Heart transplant recipient Olivia LeBlanc. (Photo courtesy of Tamika LeBlanc) Tamika LeBlanc was 21 weeks pregnant with her first child when someone from her doctor’s office in Garden Grove, California, called. They wanted her to have another ultrasound. “We didn’t get a great picture of the heart,” she’d been told, prompting LeBlanc to think she…
Dr. Helen Taussig devoted her career to saving the lives of babies and children. (American Heart Association archives) Before Dr. Helen Taussig came along, pediatric cardiology didn’t exist. Babies born with heart defects often turned blue and died. She helped them to live. Before Taussig spoke up, a morning sickness drug, which caused birth defects…
(Lecic/iStock via Getty Images) Stories about spinach often reference Popeye, the sailor who gobbled it by the can to gain immense strength. But if you need to bring a cartoon character into a conversation about healthy eating, consider the Hulk. In addition to their shared hue, spinach packs a nutritional punch that looms large even…
(ArtistGNDphotography/E+ via Getty Images) Women with a history of pregnancy complications are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, but they can greatly lower that risk, new research suggests. Having healthy lifestyle behaviors and managing blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels after giving birth significantly lowered their risk for future cardiovascular disease to rates on…