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Odor & SweatEvidence check
The body gives off hundreds of chemicals that reflect how it's working, so illness can change how you smell. In a lab study, people's body odor became less pleasant within hours of their immune system being switched on. Researchers have even found skin chemicals linked to Parkinson's disease. Here is what the studies show, which smell changes need a doctor, and which need emergency care.
Odor & SweatEvidence check
Stress makes your underarms sweat more and smell more. In a famous experiment, sweat collected during people's first skydive lit up a fear center in strangers' brains, yet those strangers couldn't tell it apart from exercise sweat by smell. Here is what the research shows, and what helps on a nerve-racking day.
HairEvidence check
Stress graying is one of the oldest beliefs about hair. In 2020, stressed mice went gray because a nerve signal used up their pigment stem cells. In 2021, a study of 397 human hairs found some gray hairs that regained color, once after a vacation. Here is what each study can and can't say, and why the '50 by 50' rule doesn't hold up either.
PeriodsEvidence check
A late period after a long trip is a familiar story, but ordinary travel hasn't been well studied. In 71,077 nurses, 20 months or more of rotating night shifts went with somewhat more irregular cycles. Flight attendants report more cycle problems than teachers, and heavy lifting on the job may be part of why. Here is what the research shows and how to plan a trip around your period.
Sleep & NighttimeEvidence check
Sleeping in on Saturday feels like paying back the week. A Swedish study of 43,880 people found that under-65s who slept short on weekdays but long on weekends had no higher death rate than steady 6-to-7-hour sleepers. But a lab trial found weekend lie-ins didn't protect against the blood sugar and weight effects of short weeknights. Here is what the two studies show and why a steady schedule still helps.
Odor & SweatEvidence check
The quick armpit sniff feels like proof, but your nose is a poor judge of your own scent. After two weeks living with a smell, people's sensitivity to it dropped and stayed low for up to two weeks more. In an Austrian test, people couldn't pick out their own sweat. Here is what the studies show, a better way to check, and when the worry itself needs help.
Intimate HealthEvidence check
Many women worry that they take too long or don't climax the 'right' way with a partner. In a US national survey of 1,055 women aged 18 to 94, only 18% said intercourse alone was enough for orgasm, and most needed or preferred clitoral touch. In a survey of over 52,000 adults, women orgasmed more often when sex included more than intercourse. Here is what the research shows and where help exists.
Odor & SweatMyth buster
Carbon monoxide is odorless. Leave immediately if its alarm sounds.
Bloating & DigestionEvidence check
If IBS has lasted a year or more despite diet changes and medicines, therapy aimed at the gut can still help, and it doesn't have to be in an office. In the UK ACTIB trial, eight hours of phone CBT cut symptom scores by about 62 points at a year and 40 at two years. A web program with brief calls helped too, though its symptom gain faded by year two. Here is what was involved.
SkinEvidence check
Cellulite shows up in 80 to 90% of women, including very fit ones, and it isn't a health problem. If you want it less visible anyway, the options range from caffeine creams that work only while you keep applying them to procedures that cut the bands under the skin. One FDA-approved injection was pulled in 2022 over bruising. Here is what each option has shown.
Intimate HealthComparison
Cervical screening and separately chosen STI tests answer different questions. Ask which tests you actually had.
Menopause & HormonesExplainer
If your LDL cholesterol rose even though you didn't change how you eat, menopause may be part of the reason. A study of more than 1,000 women found total and LDL cholesterol rose sharply in the year before and after the final period, beyond what aging alone explained. Here is what that means for your next blood test.
