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Getting enough physical activity is vital for your health at any age. Guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes (or two and a half hours) of moderate exercise each week. But does it matter what types of activities you do? A team of researchers asked this question about older adults. They looked at data from more than 250,000 participants in a national survey. People answered…

Ear infections are a common reason for bringing kids to see a health care provider. The infections can strike at any age, but children are much more likely to get them than adults. In fact, five out of six children will have at least one ear infection by the time they’re 3 years old. Ear infections are usually caused by bacteria, or sometimes a virus. They often arise after a sore throat, cold,…

Sleep is essential to health and well-being, but many of us don’t get the sleep we need. Learn about the science of sleep, read tips for getting good sleep, and watch videos explaining common sleep disorders. You can also find out about the latest research.

Keeping off weight during the holiday season can be tough. But there are many reasons to maintain a healthy weight all year round. A healthy weight lowers your risk for chronic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. It can also help you stay more mobile as you age. Excess weight comes from taking in more energy, or calories, than your body needs. Some extra energy may be…, Calculating a Healthy Weight, The definitions of overweight and obesity are based on body mass index, or BMI. BMI is based on your height and weight. Overweight for adults is a BMI between 25 and 29.9. Obesity is a BMI of 30 or greater. NIH has a tool to help you calculate your BMI . “BMI is quick and easy to obtain, but it’s not perfect,” Yanovski says. A high BMI is usually caused by extra body fat. But it can also come…, Cutting Down Calories, To lose weight, experts suggest taking in about 500 fewer calories than you burn per day. This should get you to about one pound per week of weight loss, Yanovski says. The NIH Body Weight Planner can help you calculate exactly how many calories you need for your weight loss goals. The tool takes your age, sex, and level of physical activity into account. Experts recommend limiting less healthy…, Getting More Activity, Physical activity helps you burn off the calories you consume. Studies have found that it’s critical for maintaining a stable weight. Experts recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week. Aerobic activity is anything that gets your heart rate up and gets you breathing harder. Examples of moderate-intensity activities include brisk walking (faster…, Staying on Track, Creating new habits can help you lose and maintain your weight. Weigh yourself regularly to see if you’re meeting your weekly goals. You can use an app or journal to track your physical activity and food intake. Some devices can automatically track and record your activity. Calculate whether you’re burning more calories than you’re taking in. Getting social support can help keep you motivated.…

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a serious [qtip:respiratory disease|A type of disease that affects body parts that help you breathe, including your nose, throat, and lungs.] that easily spreads between people. It can cause rapid and strong coughing fits that may be followed by a “whooping” sound as the person tries to breathe in. Pertussis can affect people of all ages. But babies…

Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body has trouble controlling blood glucose, also called blood sugar. High blood glucose levels can cause problems throughout the body. It can lead to nerve damage, heart disease, and other concerns. Health care professionals often recommend a healthy diet, exercise, and a drug called metformin as an early approach to treating type 2 diabetes. A second drug is…

Breathe in and out. We all know how important it is to keep our lungs healthy and our breathing smooth. The health of our lungs depends in large part on our surroundings. Researchers are studying how we can protect lung health by improving our environment and lifestyle choices. NIH funds research to understand how genes and the environment affect lung disease. The studies are looking for new ways…

This new video shows why many people find it hard to stop using drugs. Substance use disorders are complex medical conditions that involve changes to the brain. Learn how researchers are developing better ways to prevent, manage, and treat substance use disorders.

Every day while you eat, sleep, work, and play, battles are being fought throughout your body. You rarely feel it. But bacteria, viruses, and other microbes are constantly invading from the outside world. Your body has a defense system for such invaders. It’s called the immune system. Your immune system is made up of trillions of cells and proteins. These are found in your blood and every organ…, Building Your Defenses, You’re not born with a fully equipped immune system. Fetuses can produce some immune protection. But before birth, “the vast majority of protection against infection comes from the mother,” explains Dr. Whitney Harrington, who studies immune system development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Germ-fighting molecules made by the immune system, called antibodies, are transferred to the…, Protection as You Age, By the time you’ve reached young adulthood, you’ve been exposed to many germs. So your immune system is likely to have a strong response to many infections you encounter. Vaccines further strengthen your defenses. Vaccines expose your immune system to dead or weakened germs, or just pieces of them. That helps your immune cells learn how to fight these threats and remember them without you getting…, Making Better Defenses, Researchers are still learning how to improve immune responses and vaccines. Some microbes are very good at hiding from the immune system. Many avoid detection by mutating, or changing, so that previously exposed immune cells can no longer recognize them. Dr. Shane Crotty at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology and his team are trying to take advantage of the body’s way of keeping up with these…

If you’re feeling unwell, you may turn to medicine to find relief. But how do you know it was the drug that made you feel better? Sometimes, when you expect a treatment to work, it will. This phenomenon is called the placebo effect. Scientists are looking for ways to harness this effect for medical treatments. A placebo is an inactive substance or action that resembles a drug or medical treatment…