Articles related to PATIENT EDUCATION

A resurgent social media challenge involving high-dose diphenhydramine ingestion has been linked to seizures, cardiac arrest, and adolescent deaths, with poison center calls more than doubling in the first half of 2026 compared with all of 2025.

Celebrity disclosures about using beta blockers for performance anxiety are prompting patient questions in primary care, reviving a decades-old off-label use with a comparatively lower risk profile than benzodiazepines.

Several recent studies link daily avocado consumption to lower dietary glycemic load, reduced diabetes risk in women, and modest blood pressure improvements in prediabetes patients, though small sample sizes and short follow-up periods limit the conclusions.

A narrative review of UCLA spice research found associations between common culinary spices — cinnamon, turmeric, red pepper, and spice blends — and glucose regulation, gut microbiome composition, and cognitive markers, though most findings stem from small trials and in vitro work using supratherapeutic doses.

An observational study of 17,088 UK Biobank participants found that substantial cardiovascular risk reduction required 560–610 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, roughly three to four times current public health recommendations.

Daily peppermint oil supplementation was associated with reduced systolic blood pressure and resting heart rate in a small placebo-controlled trial of adults with elevated or stage 1 hypertension.