Category: Health

Daniel and Julia Phan met when they were kids after Daniel’s parents hired Julia’s mom to work at their nail salon.

“We were the same age. I went to her house when I was, like, eight years old, not knowing she was going to be my future wife,” Daniel told Healthline.

While the two drifted apart for several years, they reconnected on Facebook after college in 2014, but it wasn’t until 2023, when they were both in their early 30s, that they began dating.

“I reached out because I saw [on Facebook] that she was at a concert and I love concerts, so I asked her if she wanted to go to a concert with me,” said Daniel. “And that’s how it started.”

About a year into dating, the couple discussed marriage; however, their path to tying the knot took a turn when Daniel became ill.

When Daniel was 11 years old, he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a genetic heart disease in which the heart muscle becomes too thick, making it harder to pump blood.

Daniel’s older sister also has the condition, and their mom carried the genetic mutation that causes HCM.

Shortly after his diagnosis, he got a pacemaker.

“I was excluded from many activities like sports,” he said. “It was a very sad, traumatic time.”

Playing guitar and drums became his outlet, and he went through high school without any major health incidents.

However, in his early 20s, he had a few occurrences where he over-exerted himself exercising, causing him to pass out and end up in the emergency room.

Then in 2024, he began having arrhythmias without exerting himself.

On January 15, 2025, he was sitting on his couch watching TV and experienced an intense arrhythmia.

“It was the worst one. I was super dizzy, threw up everywhere, my heart wouldn’t calm down…so I called 911, and they showed up, and I ended up in the ER for a week in Gainesville Northeast Georgia,” said Daniel.

Because Daniel was in heart failure, he was transferred to Piedmont Heart in Atlanta, where he originally hoped to receive a heart transplant.

Circumstances didn’t allow Daniel to receive a heart transplant, and he ended up getting a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD).

LVADs are recommended when patients have heart failure that has become refractory to medical therapy, said Sagar Damle, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon at Piedmont Heart.

“In this situation, the heart is too weak to adequately pump blood to the entire body, and patients have worsening heart failure. They usually have significant symptoms, such as shortness of breath with activity, fatigue, and tiredness,” he told Healthline. “When medications are no longer effective, LVADs, and sometimes transplant, are the next steps.”

The LVAD works like a water pump, taking blood from the left ventricle and sending it to the body through the aorta.

“In a nutshell, it effectively functions as the patient’s own left ventricle,” said Damle. “Since most patients who have heart failure have predominantly left ventricular failure, LVADs work very well in that scenario.”

Before undergoing the LVAD surgery, Daniel felt compelled to ask Julia to marry him.

“While I was in the hospital, I said, ‘Do you want to marry me?’ She was there every day. It was a huge commitment for her, and we already knew we wanted to be married,” he said.

“He handed me his mother’s ring, and it fits perfectly,” she told Healthline.

The next day, on January 29, 2025, the couple married in the ICU, with their uncle officiating and some of their closest family members and friends in attendance.

“We had like 12 or 13 people surrounding Daniel’s bed and around the machines too,” said Julia. “We always joke about how our wedding costs the most, surrounded by expensive machines.”

The next day, Julia hustled to the courthouse to get their marriage license and make it official. This meant Daniel could get coverage for the LVAD surgery under Julia’s insurance.

“Time was ticking. Daniel was on life support, and the doctors were telling us, ‘the longer you are on life support, the worse you’re going to get,’ and we had to come to a decision,” she said.

Recovery was tough for Daniel at first. Being on life support required an extra surgery to repair a damaged vein.

“I was super fatigued, still recovering, I could barely walk to my driveway without being out of breath,” he said.

Several months of physical therapy got him back to feeling about 80-85% better.

“Going up the stairs before the LVAD, I’d need to stop and take a breath,” said Daniel. “Now I can go upstairs, and I’m a little tired, but I’m confident because I can see the numbers on LVAD, and I know I’m good. If anything happens, I know the LVAD is doing its job.”

He leaves the option open for a heart transplant in the future, but for now, he believes in his recovery and the LVAD.

“Who knows, five years from now, the LVAD technology could be even more advanced,” said Daniel. “[Hopefully] my heart recovers; it’s really rare, but that’s what I believe in. I believe in God, and I’ve seen miracles happen.”

Damle said LVADs are often used in patients who are too sick to undergo a transplant, or in some patients who may have a contraindication or exclusion to a transplant.

“They can stay on LVAD support for many years if needed to improve their candidacy for transplant,” said Damle.

Today, Daniel and Julia are living life to the fullest, given their circumstances. They hope to start a family soon.

“I’m just really glad that he’s on his feet and he hasn’t had any bad symptoms or any episodes,” said Julia. “It’s been over a year now that he’s had his LVAD, and we’ve actually really managed life. Life looks different, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, honestly.”

Daniel said he wouldn’t be where he is without Julia’s support.

“She’s done everything for me,” he said.

Julia said that the challenges they’ve faced together have “made life more meaningful,” and she’s even begun helping others going through similar experiences as a part of Abbott’s Care Partner Ambassador Program.

“I love the wording of care partner because…I was trying to be a wife and a caregiver,” she said. “Being able to listen to other people’s stories and knowing that these people aren’t just caregivers, they are very meaningful in patients’ lives, is [rewarding].”

• A recent study has found that your dreams can affect your mood in the morning.
• The study showed that those who experienced fear in their dreams were more likely to have a low mood upon waking.
• The researchers suggest that dreams may help you process emotions.

Sleep is an important part of overall health, but the impacts of your dreams are less well understood.

A study recently published in Sleep suggests that the type of dreams you have may influence your morning mood.

While the study does not suggest that bad dreams can cause your mood in the morning to be lower, it does show that fear or joy in dreams may play a role in your psychological function.

The researchers emphasize the need for further research.

“Dreams are such a popular topic in therapy. I find that clients often ask about dream interpretation and trying to understand their meaning, or link their significance to daily life,” said Nicole Andreoli, PhD, licensed psychologist and author of “Mindfulness & the ADHD Parent.” Andreoli wasn’t involved in the study.

“This is especially true for the more emotionally charged dreams because they do tend to influence morning mood. Many of my clients talk about subsequently waking up experiencing anxiety or depressed mood due to the content of their dreams,” she told Healthline.

Participants were sent a survey that included a brief sleep diary and a morning mood report. Over the year-and-a-half study, participants completed a maximum of 55 surveys.

The surveys included factors like:

• bed time
• time they tried to sleep
• sleep latency (how long it took to fall asleep)
• how much time they spent awake after falling asleep and getting up in the morning
• time of last awakening
• how long they had been out of bed in the morning

The participants were also asked about their dreams and how well they could recall them.

They were also given a survey to record how they were feeling and their overall mood in the morning.

The researchers found that those who experienced fear in their dreams were 7% more likely to have a lower mood in the morning.

Those who experienced a combination of joy and fear in their dreams were around 20% more likely to wake up in a placid mood. Meanwhile, individuals who experienced a high level of joy in their dreams were 9% more likely to wake up in a positive mood.

“It has been proposed that REM sleep, in which dreaming occurs, is almost a virtual therapy or sandbox environment,” said Alex Dimitriu, MD, double board certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine. Dimitriu wasn’t involved in the study.

“In the dream state, and absent any norepinephrine (adrenaline), the brain replays emotional experiences to plans for future ones. Dream sleep is like an emotional playground for the mind. Building on this, people who have more active dream lives may enjoy the benefit of better emotional regulation. Their sleeping brains have had more time in the sandbox. Fear, primal as it is, may be the emotion that requires the most processing in our dreams,” Dimitriu told Healthline.

The researchers also found that people who had higher adaptive emotional regulation were over 3% more likely to be negatively affected by fearful dreams the next day.

However, people with higher-than-average dream fear were also more likely to have higher adaptive emotional regulation.

“Those who more actively suppress or avoid emotion may experience less emotionally intense or vivid dreams, and therefore, remember them less,” said Andreoli.

“[However], those who use healthier strategies to cope with fear, such as acceptance, are less avoidant of negative emotional experiences. They are more open to engaging with negative emotions, such as fear, making it more likely to show up in dreams,” she explained.

These findings show a nuanced relationship between dreams and waking psychological function.

While fear in dreams is linked to lower mood the next day, the interplay between adaptive emotional regulation and mixed dream emotions suggests that your dream emotions may play a dynamic and functional role in psychological regulation.

It may be harder to start your day if you wake up in a low mood. However, there are some ways you can shift your mindset toward the positive.

“A clean break from sleep to wake helps. Get out of bed, get outdoors in the sunshine, and get moving. Music also moves our emotions deeply — for that drive to the office after a rough night,” Dimitriu said.

Andreoli suggested avoiding analyzing your dreams. “Instead, orient to the present moment by naming what’s happening, ‘that dream is still with me’; or narrating what you are doing,” she said.

Andreoli offered the following advice to improve your morning mood:

• Open the curtains or window to let in morning light and natural sounds. Natural light exposure can positively affect mood.
• Small movements, such as stretching, yoga, or a short walk, can give your mood a boost.
• Engage in sensory activities, such as listening to upbeat music, lighting a candle, or enjoying a warm beverage.
• Avoid using electronics. Instead, spend a few minutes journaling, focusing on gratitude or setting positive intentions for the day.

While you may not be able to fully control your dreams. There may be ways you can prepare your mind and body for sleep that can help regulate emotions within your dreams.

“There is some evidence that dream rehearsal can help,” Dimitriu said. “Before sleep, journal and visualize the recurring or frightful dream, and come up with a positive ending. Repeat. By doing so, people can sometimes change the outcome.”

“Also, be mindful of what you mentally consume before bed — media can color our dreams and our emotions. Stick to lighter, funny stuff. Laughter is the best medicine, for almost anything,” he added.

Andreoli noted that sleep hygiene is important for overall sleep quality and can influence your dreams.

• limiting caffeine and alcohol
• being mindful of the content you are watching or reading before bed
• having a consistent sleep schedule
• creating a consistent bedtime routine

“Increase lucid dreaming, which is the state of knowing you are dreaming,” she said. “You can do this by keeping a dream journal to help improve dream recall. Over time, this will help strengthen your ability to recognize when you are dreaming, and then to influence what happens next in the dream.”

• Researchers say people with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome have a higher risk of developing cancer.
• They note that the cancer risk rises as the severity of CKM syndrome increases, ranging from a 3% higher risk at stage 1 to a 30% higher risk at stage 4.
• Experts say people can lower their cancer risk by maintaining a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco.

People with a common metabolic health condition have as much as a 30% higher risk of cancer, a new study reports.

In particular, the researchers noted that cancer risks rise along with the stages and severity of CKM syndrome.

“These findings suggest that CKM staging may help identify individuals at increased cancer risk, supporting a more holistic approach to risk stratification beyond cardiovascular outcomes,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers acknowledged that their research was an observational study, so they weren’t able to establish causality between CKM syndrome and cancer risk.

Nonetheless, they said their findings are significant since it’s estimated that 90% of adults in the United States have at least some components of CKM syndrome.

The researchers stated that cancer prevention should be part of the treatment protocol for people with CKM syndrome.

“These findings extend the clinical relevance of the CKM framework beyond cardiovascular and kidney outcomes, underscoring the need for integrated risk assessment and prevention in multimorbid individuals,” the researchers wrote.

Experts not involved in the study said the medical community should take note of this latest research.

“The study does not provide a mechanism, but the existing science has shown that there is a large overlap in risk factors for [cardiovascular disease] and cancer,” said Michael McConnell, MD, a clinical professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford Medicine.

“This study adds to the growing body of literature linking cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, and chronic kidney disease with cancer risk,” added Christopher Berg, MD, a non-interventional cardiologist specializing in cardio-oncology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA.

Berg, however, noted that the findings don’t offer significant treatment and prevention strategies.

“This study may help identify at-risk patients but is less helpful in pointing toward a solution beyond a general recommendation to work toward better health to reduce the risk of future illness,” Berg told Healthline.

“The chief health concerns of people with CKM should be to work to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, which will in turn reduce their risk of cancer. Broadly, if it is good for the heart, it will help reduce your risk of cancer as well,” he added.

In their study, researchers analyzed insurance claims and health checkup data collected between April 2014 and August 2023 from nearly 1.4 million people in Japan.

They tracked the rate of cancer cases based on whether a study participant had CKM syndrome.

The researchers reported that during a median follow-up of more than 3 years, they were able to establish cancer risk for different stages of CKM syndrome:

• Stage 1: 3% increased risk
• Stage 2: 2% increased risk
• Stage 3: 25% increased risk
• Stage 4: 30% increased risk

The stages were based on how many CKM syndrome components a person had.

“These results suggest that, in the context of CKM syndrome, it is important to consider not only [cardiovascular disease] risk but also the elevated risk of cancer,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers explained that the “interconnected nature of cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic diseases” can involve “shared pathophysiological mechanisms” that include “systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and dysfunctional or excess adiposity (the accumulation of fatty tissue in the body).”

They said these mechanisms can “contribute to disease progression across organ systems.” They noted that cancer and CKM syndrome share certain risk factors.

“For example, aging, smoking, alcohol consumption, and poor dietary habits contribute to both CKM progression and cancer risk, highlighting the presence of overlapping risk profiles,” the researchers wrote.

Tochi Okwuosa, DO, the director of cardio-oncology services at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and an American Heart Association (AHA) volunteer, said the study accurately portrays how medical conditions can cascade on top of one another. Okwuosa wasn’t involved in the study.

“A common factor between the CKM syndrome and cancer is inflammation, which is likely a link between both disease processes,” she told Healthline.

“We know that obesity increases insulin resistance and diabetes, and both processes increase inflammation, which in turn increases cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, which then increases kidney disease. All of these factors eventually lead to heart disease and stroke.”

McConnell said it’s “important to note that the only significant association was for CKM stages 3 and 4.” He also said the follow-up period of 3 years is “relatively short.”

“I think the stronger argument is the shared risk factors not that poor CKM health ‘causes’ cancer,” he told Healthline. “This emphasizes prevention is key to both, particularly as the cancer risk mostly associated with CKM stage 3 and 4, not earlier stages 1 and 2.”

Nonetheless, he said the study’s overall message is important.

“CKM is a more holistic approach to cardiometabolic and kidney health, so it’s helpful to know earlier that these contribute to risk of both [cardiovascular disease] and cancer,” McConnell said.

“For those with more advanced CKM stages, it’s important to manage cardio, metabolic, and kidney issues as we now have very effective therapies, and to be aware of the association with cancer risk, so appropriate cancer screenings [are done].”

The American Heart Association (AHA) first identified CKM syndrome in October 2023.

AHA officials issued recommendations for prevention, screening, and treatment in their advisory.

They suggested that a multidisciplinary approach to the syndrome be utilized.

A 2024 study reported that 90% of U.S. adults may have some form of CKM syndrome. It stated that the risks were greatest among older adults, men, and Black individuals.

They found that, between 2011 and 2020:

• 10% met criteria for stage 0
• 26% met criteria for stage 1
• 49% met criteria for stage 2
• 5% met criteria for stage 3
• 9% met criteria for stage 4

Stage 1 was characterized by excess body fat and higher-than-normal blood sugar.

Stage 3 was characterized as a person having issues with heart and blood vessels but without noticeable symptoms, as well as the presence of very-high-risk CKD and a high-predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease risk.

Stage 4 was characterized as a person having CKM risk factors and signs of cardiovascular disease (i.e., coronary heart disease, angina, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke). Stage 4a includes people without kidney failure. Stage 4b includes people with kidney failure.

The vast majority of the U.S. adult population has risk factors that put them at risk for CKM syndrome.

They said the most common risk factors for CKM syndrome include unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as inadequate nutrition, lack of exercise, and insufficient sleep.

A 2026 survey concluded that millions of adults in the United States are unaware they have undiagnosed cardiovascular risk factors that begin outside the heart.

Early detection is a key to effectively treating cancer, so regular cancer screenings are recommended.

Additionally, lifestyle habits can be adopted to lower the risk of cancer. These include:

Okwuosa recommended that people adopt the lifestyle habits detailed in the AHA’s Life’s Essentials 8 guidelines.

“The most important habits are those that reduce inflammation, which appears to be the primary source of the CKM syndrome,” she said.

Berg said a person doesn’t need to adopt all these lifestyle habits at once. He said selecting one or two changes is a good way to start.

“While this laundry list of goals may seem unwieldy and overwhelming, actionable steps anyone can take immediately would be to focus on increasing physical activity and reducing the amount of ultra-processed food they eat,” said Berg.

“These steps in turn can help address multiple domains associated with CKM syndrome, promote overall health, and decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.”

• A lesser-known type of exercise can build strength and improve fitness while remaining accessible to less active individuals.
• Eccentric exercises like lowering weights or walking downhill can generate more force with less energy while supporting muscle, heart, and even brain health.
• Whether you’re an advanced athlete or just beginning, eccentric exercise can offer unique benefits to your training regimen.

When people think about exercise or weight training, they tend to focus on concentric exercises: those powerful movements that shorten muscles, like curling a dumbbell or powering upward in a squat.

Concentric exercise is a well-established way to build muscle and improve fitness, but eccentric exercise, the portion of a movement that lengthens the muscle, may offer additional benefits.

Eccentric training, an often-overlooked form of exercise, can help build strength with less perceived effort.

Eccentric exercise may help build muscle strength with less strain on the body, according to an article recently published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science. It may also offer specific advantages over concentric exercise for muscle rehabilitation and even brain health.

These benefits may be particularly meaningful for certain groups. For older adults and those who are less physically active, eccentric exercise may provide an accessible, low impact form of training that can improve fitness.

Study author Kazunori (Ken) Nosaka, PhD, director of Exercise and Sports Science at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, said he aims to help normalize eccentric exercise.

“Every eccentric contraction counts. People may be discouraged by thinking they have to do lots of exercise to get fitter and healthier. But people can do a small amount of these exercises and still benefit,” Nosaka told Healthline.

• Concentric — muscle shortening, such as lifting a dumbbell.
• Eccentric — muscle lengthening, such as lowering a dumbbell.
• Isometric — a static muscle contraction without a change in length, such as holding a plank.

In physiology and exercise science, eccentric contractions were not well understood until the mid-20th century.

“The word eccentric literally means something that’s odd or peculiar. This type of contraction was given that term because for a long time, scientists weren’t able to explain it. How muscle produces force while it is being lengthened was a big question mark,” said Lindsey Lepley, PhD, associate professor of athletic training, director of the Comparative Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Laboratory (CORL), and co-director of the Orthopedic Rehabilitation & Biomechanics Laboratory (ORB) at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. Lepley wasn’t involved in the study.

In simpler terms, what puzzled scientists was how a muscle could generate force while being stretched.

The concept of a concentric contraction feels intuitive because the muscle is visibly doing the work. However, research into muscle biomechanics has shown that muscles can also produce substantial force during eccentric movements.

Even more unintuitive, muscles may be capable of generating significantly more force — more than 20%, according to Nosaka — than during concentric or isometric contractions, while requiring less metabolic energy.

The biomechanics of eccentric exercise mean it offers unique benefits, but also some drawbacks, compared with more common concentric exercise.

For athletes and weightlifters, eccentrics allow for greater mechanical loading: you can literally handle heavier weight during an eccentric than during a concentric, which can aid both strength development and muscle growth.

At the same time, eccentric movements tend to be less fatiguing, allowing people to achieve greater training volume through additional repetitions.

Research suggests that eccentric exercise may also benefit the brain through neural adaptations related to motor control and coordination.

Even for people who are not athletes, eccentric exercise can be a low-friction way to improve fitness. Eccentric exercise is more than just weightlifting: walking downhill and going down stairs are both forms of eccentric exercise — and they both have demonstrated health benefits.

A 2017 study found significant multisystemic benefits in older women with obesity after a 12-week program emphasizing eccentric contractions during downhill walking and stair descent.

“You don’t have to be super fit to walk down a flight of steps. This is helpful to get people who are potentially less fit to be able to see that they can be doing eccentric-based exercises, which provide a greater mechanical load than just flat-level walking,” said Laura Richardson, PhD, clinical associate professor of Applied Exercise Science and Movement Science at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. Richardson wasn’t involved in the studies.

However, Nosaka emphasizes that these risks can be mitigated through proper training and technique, like warming up properly with a lower weight. Training volume also matters, as muscle damage induced by eccentric exercise tends to decrease in individuals who exercise regularly—a protective adaptation known as the “repeated bout effect.”

“We don’t recommend maximal eccentric contraction for certain populations, especially those who are not fit,” Nosaka said.

When thinking about an eccentric movement, it’s typically the opposite phase of the exercise that you would typically emphasize: a deliberate lowering and lengthening.

For beginners interested in starting eccentric training, Nosaka recommends just a handful of body weight exercises:

• Chair squats — a partial squat that emphasizes the lowering phase rather than the upward push. Nosaka recommends slowly counting to five during the descent.
• Wall push-ups — a less strenuous version of the traditional push-up that emphasizes slowly lowering the body toward the wall.
• or reverse sit-ups — abdominal exercises that emphasizeChair reclines or reverse sit-ups — an abdominal exercise that emphasizes the lowering portion of the movement.
• Heel drops — the reverse of a standing calf raise, in which the heels are slowly lowered below the level of a step or platform.

As mentioned earlier, walking, hiking, and stairs can also be eccentric-focused when you go downhill rather than up.

“If you know you need to walk, walking downhill can build muscle better than walking in a more metabolically taxing way,” Lepley said.

“There are plenty of little daily activities you can get into, I like to call them exercise “snacks” where you can get some benefit just by changing simple parts of your daily routine,” she added.

And Nosaka reminds readers that the old adage “no pain no gain,” just doesn’t hold water anymore, especially when it comes to eccentric exercise. Understanding your body and its limits is a key part of starting and maintaining a fitness plan.

“You don’t need any pain to get stronger and get fitter,” he said.

• Nicole Kidman says she’s training to become a death doula following her mother’s death in 2024.
• Death doulas provide non-medical support to people nearing the end of life, focusing on emotional, practical, and spiritual care.
• Experts say growing awareness is helping spark conversations about end-of-life care.

Nicole Kidman is drawing new attention to end-of-life care after revealing she’s begun training to become a death doula.

The Oscar-winning actor first shared the news during an appearance at the University of San Francisco, where she sat down for a conversation with journalist Vicky Nguyen as part of the university’s Silk Speaker Series, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Kidman said she was inspired to explore becoming a death doula following the passing of her mother in 2024, an experience that shifted how she thinks about support in a person’s final days.

“As my mother was passing, she was lonely and there was only so much the family could provide,” Kidman told attendees, per the Chronicle. “And that’s when I went, ‘I wish there was these people in the world that were there to sit impartially and just provide solace and care.’”

“So that’s part of my expansion and one of the things I will be learning,” she added.

Kidman later expanded on her decision and the public’s reaction to it during a HISTORYTalks event in Philadelphia.

“I did this talk recently where I said I’m expanding into learning to be a death doula, which seemed to have people confused or intrigued,” she said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Kidman explained that she finds the work of death doulas “fascinating” and “beautiful,” noting that “you have to be a certain personality to be able to do it. But I found out that I’m actually that personality.”

“It’s very important to me,” she continued. “There is always suffering, but if there are people there who can help with that, help those final stages be less painful — if you feel the connection in your heart, then that’s lovely. So that’s what I’m exploring.”

Kidman’s announcement is bringing increased visibility to the need for death doulas and how they can improve end-of-life care.

According to The International End of Life Doula Association, a death doula­ — sometimes referred to as an end-of-life doula — is “a nonmedical companion who provides personalized and compassionate support to individuals, families, and their circles of care as they encounter and navigate death, loss, and mortality.”

They also advocate self-determination and impart “psychosocial, emotional, spiritual, and practical care to empower dignity throughout the dying process.”

Unlike doctors, nurses, or other healthcare professionals, death doulas do not provide medical treatment. Instead, they often work alongside existing healthcare teams to offer a wide range of additional support.

This support can include sitting with someone in their final days, helping facilitate difficult conversations, or assisting with end-of-life planning, such as advance directives.

In addition to Kidman’s announcement, portrayals of death doulas in popular media are also bringing new attention to their role in healthcare.

A recent episode of the popular medical drama “The Pitt” featured a nurse acting as a death doula for a terminal patient as she navigated end-of-life care in the emergency department.

In a recent interview with Healthgrades, physician and death doula Shoshana Ungerleider, MD, said portrayals like those seen in “The Pitt” can have a real-world impact by helping people better understand end-of-life care and prompting them to think about their own wishes.

Ungerleider is also the founder of End Well, a nonprofit focused on improving end-of-life care, and has worked to educate the writers of “The Pitt,” helping guide the show’s depiction of end-of-life moments.

That growing awareness, she said, also highlights a deeper issue in how end-of-life care is delivered, and why she founded End Well.

“I saw a gap between how we die and how most of us say we want to die,” Ungerleider said. “Over and over, I witnessed patients spending their final days in environments that felt impersonal and overly medicalized. Conversations about what truly mattered were happening too late, or not happening at all.”

“I came to understand that dying is not primarily a medical issue. It is a human one,” she added.

Experts like Ungerleider applaud the increased visibility death doulas have been receiving, hoping it will lead more people to become interested in the field.

“I think we need more people who feel called to care for the dying and their loved ones. Death doulas play an important role,” Ungerleider told Healthgrades.

“The more we can reconnect to the human elements of living and dying and prepare for the end when it is near, the better. Death doulas are trained to do exactly that.”

She also said she hopes the growing attention will lead to more research into “how death doulas impact quality of life and cost outcomes, and more thoughtful integration of doulas into healthcare teams.”

• A recent study has found a possible association between severe male infertility and an increased risk of thyroid and colorectal cancers.
• The study notes that this association may be due to genetic factors.
• Certain lifestyle factors may also increase the risk of developing these cancers, such as obesity and diabetes.

Previous research has linked male infertility to greater risks of adverse health outcomes, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Research has also found associations with infertility and an increased risk of testicular cancer and prostate cancer.

A recent study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology showed that there may be an association between severe male infertility and non-reproductive cancers, namely thyroid cancer and colorectal cancer.

“The study found that men with severe cases of infertility run a higher risk of developing colon cancer and thyroid cancer,” said S. Adam Ramin, MD, board certified urologist, urologic oncologist, and medical director of Urology Cancer Specialists in Los Angeles, CA. Ramin wasn’t involved in the study.

“The proposed relationship may be genetic mutations that predispose to cancer but also cause infertility,” he told Healthline.

While the study notes the association may be due in part to genetic factors, lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and physical inactivity, may also increase a person’s risk of cancer.

The study used registry data to analyze more than 1.1 million Swedish males who had children between 1994 and 2014.

The researchers cross-referenced all of the males against the national cancer registry. This revealed a significantly increased risk of thyroid and colorectal cancer among males who had become fathers using ICSI.

“This research does not show that use of ICSI causes infertility,” Ramin said. “It merely indicates that men who have very severe infertility, meaning those who need ICSI rather than in vitro fertilization (IVF), are at higher risk of these cancers.”

The researchers also emphasized that the assisted reproductive intervention itself does not cause cancer.

The study notes that more than 2,300 genes are involved in reproductive function. This means that it is plausible that genetic mutations that both impair male reproductive function and increase the risk of cancer may at least partly explain the higher risk of colorectal cancer.

Certain lifestyle factors can also increase your risk for various cancers, including colorectal cancer. These include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and obesity, which can all also be associated with low semen quality.

The study considered the age at which males became parents and their educational level. However, the data used did not include lifestyle factors. Despite this, males with severe infertility appear to be at an increased risk for both reproductive and non-reproductive cancers.

“It is important to understand that when an association is found between two medical conditions, it does not mean that the treatment for one of these conditions or the medical condition itself is for sure the reason for [the] development of the secondary condition,” said Ramin.

The research team notes that this study should inform future disease prevention initiatives for males seeking care for fertility issues. Screening these men for potential colorectal and thyroid cancer, as well as testicular cancer during treatment and in follow-ups, is one of their suggestions.

“Most men who undergo fertility testing are between 30 and 35 years old,” study author Angel Elenkov, docent and researcher at Lund University and consultant physician at the Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Region Skåne, said in a press release.

“The aim is to help them become fathers, and there is no subsequent follow-up on their health. These findings are important from a public health perspective, given that cancers of the colon and rectum, as well as thyroid cancer, are on the rise among younger people. These cancers could be prevented through early screening,” Elenkov continued.

• New research suggests both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee can improve mood and reduce stress by influencing the gut–brain axis.
• Coffee may alter the gut microbiome, increasing bacteria linked to digestion, immunity, and emotional regulation.
• Decaf coffee was associated with improved learning and memory, while caffeinated coffee enhanced attention and reduced anxiety and inflammation.
• Experts say coffee’s polyphenols and other compounds may support mental well-being by lowering inflammation and strengthening communication between the gut and brain.

Your morning cup of coffee may be more than just an energizing ritual.

New research from APC Microbiome Ireland suggests that both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee can improve mood and reduce stress by acting on the gut–brain axis.

Researchers analyzed 62 adults, including 31 regular coffee drinkers and 31 non-drinkers, using psychological assessments, diet tracking, and stool and urine samples to examine changes in the gut microbiome and mood.

Coffee drinkers, defined as those consuming 3 to 5 cups daily, first abstained for two weeks, which led to notable shifts in gut metabolite profiles.

When coffee was reintroduced in a blinded trial, half consumed caffeinated and half decaffeinated. Both groups reported reduced stress, depression, and impulsivity, suggesting benefits beyond caffeine.

Researchers also observed increases in specific gut bacteria linked to digestion and immune function.

Decaffeinated coffee was associated with improved learning and memory, while caffeinated coffee was linked to reduced anxiety, better attention, and lower inflammation, highlighting distinct but complementary effects.

Coco Pierrel, is a certified integrative nutritionist and founder of Eat Shed Glow, who was not involved in the research.

She told Healthline that this study is the first to confirm what gut health specialists have seen in clinical practice for years: that coffee is a functional beverage.

“Coffee feeds your gut microbes through plant compounds called polyphenols and fiber-like molecules called melanoidins,” Pierrel explained.

“Your gut bacteria ferment these into short-chain fatty acids, which send signals directly to the brain through the vagus nerve.”

Pierrel recommended thinking of your gut as a second brain that is in constant communication with your first brain, and coffee is one of the loudest messages you send it every morning.

“Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors in the brain to sharpen alertness, while stimulating gastric acid and motility in the gut,” she explained.

“Coffee is one of the few daily habits that synchronizes your metabolism with your mental clarity, which is exactly what makes it such a powerful player on the gut-brain axis.”

People often associate the mental benefits of coffee with caffeine. However, this study shows that when it comes to lowering stress, boosting learning, and improving memory, decaf coffee has merit too.

“The polyphenols in coffee, whether caffeinated or decaffeinated, lower inflammation, and chronic low-grade inflammation is one of the most underrated drivers of low mood and anxiety,” Pierrel pointed out.

“Those same polyphenols get fermented by gut bacteria into short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which strengthens the gut barrier and quiets inflammatory signaling to the brain.”

Coffee polyphenols also help regulate the HPA axis, the body’s central stress response system, which is likely why both caffeinated and decaf drinkers in this study reported feeling less stressed.

“A healthy brain is often the byproduct of a healthy gut,” Pierrel said.

Still, the study noted some differences between caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.

Caffeinated coffee, in particular, was associated with reduced anxiety and improved vigilance and attention.

“Caffeine blocks adenosine, the molecule that tells your brain it is tired, which is why you feel sharper within 30 minutes of your first cup,” Pierrel explained.

“What most people miss is that habitual coffee drinkers develop a blunted cortisol response over time, meaning daily coffee may actually train your nervous system to handle pressure with less reactivity,” she noted.

The study also found caffeine specifically reduced inflammation.

“When you lower the noise of inflammation in the brain, you naturally raise the signal of focus and vigilance. That is why moderate daily coffee tends to leave habitual drinkers composed rather than just jittery,” Pierrel pointed out.

Of course, you can have too much of a good thing, and how you take your coffee matters, too.

“Two to three cups a day is the sweet spot for gut and brain benefits, while more can disrupt sleep and undo the very benefits you are drinking it for,” Pierrel warned.

“Sensitivity varies widely based on genetics and metabolism, so some people do best with one cup while others handle three comfortably. I generally recommend a caffeine curfew by 2 pm to protect sleep quality, too.”

The real problem is rarely the coffee itself; it is what most people pour into it.

Pierrel warned against routinely using flavored syrups, artificial sweeteners, and conventional creamers and milks loaded with seed oils and gut-disrupting gums or additives like carrageenan.

“These can compromise the gut lining and cancel the anti-inflammatory benefits the study just demonstrated,” she noted.

“The simplest path is black coffee, ideally organic to avoid pesticides and mold. If you take milk, go for grass-fed whole milk or an unsweetened plant milk with a short ingredient list, like Malk or Elmhurst,” Pierrel advised.

And if you like sweetness?

• Recent research has shown that adults with higher levels of midlife cardiorespiratory fitness may live longer, healthier lives.
• The study found that people with higher fitness levels not only lived longer but also developed chronic conditions later than those with lower fitness levels.
• Experts share tips to help improve your cardiorespiratory fitness.

Regular physical activity and fitness levels are important for overall health and well-being.

According to a recent study, your level of cardiorespiratory fitness in midlife can not only help determine how long you live, but also how many of those years you spend in good health.

The study showed that adults with higher midlife cardiorespiratory fitness lived longer, developed fewer chronic diseases, and spent more years free from serious illness than those with lower fitness. The results were recently published in the JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“People with higher fitness may also have had other health advantages, such as better diet, less smoking, or more consistent access to care,” said Robert Glatter, MD, attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Glatter wasn’t involved in the study.

“The findings are very much in line with decades of research showing that cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest markers of long-term health,” Glatter told Healthline.

Life span refers to how long you live. Health span refers to how long you live free of any major chronic diseases.

The study results showed that cardiorespiratory fitness can not only affect life span but also health span.

It followed 24,576 adults, 25% of whom were females, from the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study (CCLS). The participants were healthy individuals ages 65 or younger. The researchers later tracked their health outcomes using Medicare data.

Participants’ fitness was measured before age 65 using a treadmill test. During the study, the researchers used Medicare data to identify major chronic diseases for each participant.

They defined major diseases using 11 chronic conditions:

The results showed that males with higher fitness levels had a 2% longer health span, 9% fewer diseases, and a 3% longer life span than those with lower fitness levels. The results showed similar patterns among females.

“This study confirms our understanding of cardiorespiratory fitness as a marker of future health outcomes, and should encourage all of us to make physical activity a part of our daily lives,” Cheng-Han Chen, MD, board certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, told Healthline. Chen wasn’t involved in the study.

Mary Greene, MD, a board certified cardiologist with Manhattan Cardiology in NYC, wasn’t involved in the study but noted a “dose-response benefit” in the findings.

“Even modest increases in cardiovascular fitness can lead to a 10–25% improvement in survival,” said Greene.

Still, Glatter said the findings should be interpreted with caution. “The study does not prove cause and effect. It was an observational study, so it cannot prove that higher fitness directly caused the better outcomes,” he said.

The main way to improve your cardiorespiratory fitness is to maintain regular physical activity.

“The encouraging answer is that improvement does not require becoming an athlete,” said Glatter. “For most adults, the target is at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, plus muscle-strengthening exercise at least twice a week.”

• brisk walking
• cycling
• jogging
• swimming
• water aerobics

“A useful rule of thumb is this: during moderate exercise, you can talk but not sing; during vigorous exercise, you can only say a few words before needing a breath,” Glatter said.

Chen agreed. “I would encourage people to do at least 20–30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, on most days of the week. As their fitness increases, they can then increase either the length or intensity of the exercise,” he said.

Glatter noted that some activity is better than none, and improving fitness at almost any age is a worthwhile investment in both longevity and quality of life.

• A sweeping executive order aims to fast-track psychedelic therapies, putting drugs like ibogaine in the national spotlight.
• The policy expands research funding, accelerates FDA review pathways, and opens access routes for patients with serious mental illness.
• The executive order explicitly calls out ibogaine therapy, despite limited research and serious questions about its safety profile.
• The move coincides with Trump’s recent call to reclassify medical cannabis as a less dangerous drug, marking major shifts in national policy around controlled substances.

President Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding research and improving access to psychedelic drug therapies.

The April 18 order also aims to streamline and expedite the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for certain high-priority treatments.

The Trump administration has touted the executive order as an important step toward addressing the nation’s mental health crisis, especially among U.S. veterans, who bear an outsized share of that burden.

A diverse coalition, including psychedelic research organizations, medical professionals, veterans groups, and podcaster Joe Rogan, has publicly celebrated the decision.

The order also allocates $50 million to support state-level psychedelic research. The shift in policy coincides with Trump’s recent move to reclassify medical cannabis as a less dangerous drug.

Matthew Johnson, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, called the decision “welcome news,” adding that it is “building upon decades of science.”

Psychedelics are a class of drugs that act on the body’s serotonin system. They can produce well-known effects, including changes to visual perception, hallucinations, an altered sense of self, and feelings of insight or connection. Primary examples of psychedelics include LSD, psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”), and DMT.

The President’s executive order is one of the boldest federal actions on psychedelic drugs to date.

However, it is also being met with caution by some experts who expressed concern that expedited FDA approval of experimental therapies could be harmful to patients.

“It’s important to explore the use of psychedelics to treat [hard-to-treat] disorders like PTSD, that’s completely reasonable,” said Richard Friedman, MD, psychiatrist and director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine.

“What we don’t want to do is speed up the testing and evaluation of drugs if it means that we’re giving short shrift to the rigorous analysis of safety,” Friedman told Healthline.

Trump’s executive order is intended to target “the burden of suicide and serious mental illness rates in Ameica” through a number of levers involving research, access, and FDA review.

Here are the main points:

Breakthrough Therapy is an expanded Fast Track designation intended to expedite the development of drugs that have shown early clinical evidence of substantial improvement over existing therapies.

The voucher program is designed to shorten the FDA’s review period for such drugs; a process that might typically take six months or more could be reduced to 1 or 2 months.

Taken together, these two programs could significantly accelerate the development and approval of high-priority psychedelic therapies with promising clinical data.

Next, the order seeks to expand psychedelic research by allocating $50 million through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to match state investments in psychedelic research programs. It also requires collaboration among the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the private sector to increase interest and participation in psychedelic research clinical trials.

For patients, the executive order emphasizes the use of the Right to Try Act. This federal law allows eligible patients with life-threatening conditions to access investigational drugs outside of clinical trials.

A White House fact sheet explicitly includes experimental psychedelic therapies within the scope of the Right to Try Act, so long as they “have met basic safety requirements.”

While psychedelic therapy drugs, including psilocybin, MDMA, and ibogaine, all remain illegal Schedule I drugs, the executive order preemptively addresses potential rescheduling and legality based on therapeutic potential.

According to the White House, the order will direct the Attorney General of the United States to prepare for the rescheduling of specific drugs “as soon as possible,” following the successful completion of Phase 3 clinical trials.

“In most places, psychedelic possession is still a felony. The drug war on psychedelics is not over,” Johnson said.

Then there’s the issue of one drug in particular, the only one specifically named in the executive order: ibogaine.

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive compound derived from the roots of the Tabernanthe iboga, a shrub native to Central Africa.

Ibogaine has become a cause célèbre among veteran groups for its supposedly transformative effects on those who live with PTSD and substance use disorder.

“Many of these individuals have essentially made it their life’s mission to send their fellow vets down [to Mexico] to get access to ibogaine clinics and treatment, as well as sowing the seeds in the United States to kind of move things along so we can get that approved here,” Johnson said.

Prominent individuals, including former Texas Governor Rick Perry and Robert O’Neill, the former Navy SEAL who killed Osama Bin Laden, have become outspoken supporters of ibogaine therapy. Then there’s Joe Rogan, the most widely listened-to podcaster in the United States and a noted psychedelic advocate, who has expressed support for ibogaine therapy.

The field is also moving forward in other domains of mental health. In perhaps the most high-profile study on ibogaine to date, researchers at Stanford found that ibogaine therapy had profound effects on PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms in U.S. combat veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The treatment had an immediate impact on mood and function in several domains of mental health. The average disability rating of the veterans prior to treatment was more than 30, but one month after treatment, it had dropped to just 5.1, a score that no longer indicated disability.

Other areas improved too; veterans experienced noticeable improvements in depression (87% reduction), PTSD symptoms (88% reduction), and anxiety (81%) reduction.

However, the trial was small — just 30 participants. While there were no serious adverse effects in that trial, the safety profile of ibogaine is a serious red flag for some in the field.

The wrinkle, according to experts, is that despite full-throated support from many in Trump’s circle, research on the drug remains significantly more limited than on other psychedelic therapies. There are serious concerns about its safety profile as well.

“In this field, in terms of FDA-approved trials, there’s been far more work and more advanced-stage work with psilocybin. And you could say the same thing for MDMA. Ibogaine is at a very different stage, in part because it’s been a more difficult challenge to get funding for the research and to get approval because it does have some additional safety concerns,” Johnson said.

Ibogaine, which is not a classic psychedelic but rather an atypical one that acts on multiple systems in the body, including opioid receptors, has been dogged by safety concerns.

“It is probably the most dangerous of all psychedelic-like compounds,” Friedman said. “Ibogaine is well known to have cardiotoxicity, which is not part of the public conversation, and that worries me.”

He points out that while its safety profile has been well documented, its therapeutic value has not.

“It’s not clear that ibogaine has distinctly advantageous pharmacologic benefits that classic psychedelics that are safer have,” he said.

Johnson, on the other hand, is generally more supportive of continued research despite other psychedelics being further along in the approval pipeline.

“All of these substances have been understudied,” he said. “It’s still an open question whether there’s something really special about ibogaine, but I’m very open to it.”

Set against the backdrop of the U.S. mental health crisis — especially among veterans, who have significantly higher rates of suicide, substance use disorders, and other mental health conditions than civilian populations — the Trump administration’s support for ibogaine suggests a willingness to accept potential risks.

Others, however, say that the focus on ibogaine in particular is both simplistic and dangerous:

“[Veterans] need more than just a magic molecule. They need an entire package of psychiatric treatment that includes empirically tested psychotherapies,” Friedman said.

“Anyone who knows anything about ibogaine would say pushing it as the first treatment to study is worrisome,” he added.

• A recent study found that semaglutide medications, such as Ozempic, may better preserve lean body mass than tirzepatide medications, such as Mounjaro.
• This may be due in part to tirzepatide leading to more significant weight loss.
• The findings show that maintaining a strength-training routine may help reduce muscle loss when using GLP-1s.

GLP-1 drugs have exploded in popularity due to their ability to promote significant weight loss. This class of medications has helped transform the way healthcare professionals treat obesity.

Semaglutide medications, such as Ozempic or Wegovy, and tirzepatide medications, such as Mounjaro and Zepbound, are the most popular GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.

A study recently published in medRxiv has shown that while tirzepatide appears to lead to greater weight loss, there may be a trade-off of a higher loss of lean body mass than semaglutide.

Lean body mass includes muscle, connective tissue, and other essential components that support metabolism, strength, and overall physical function.

This study is a preprint and has not yet been peer-reviewed in a scientific journal, but here’s what the researchers found.

The researchers measured each participant’s lean body mass before and after beginning their first prescription of either semaglutide or tirzepatide. They found that those on tirzepatide consistently showed a greater loss of lean body mass.

People on tirzepatide lost about 1.1% more lean body mass than those using semaglutide in the first 3 months of using the medications. This increased to 2% more lean body mass loss by 12 months.

“This finding is not entirely surprising. Tirzepatide is generally more potent than semaglutide, and with greater overall weight loss, you often see a higher degree of lean mass loss as well,” said Jeffrey Lee, MD, double board certified plastic surgeon and founder of JL Plastic Surgery, who also prescribes GLP-1s. Lee was not involved in the study.

“In other words, the more aggressive the weight loss, the greater the likelihood that some of that loss includes muscle, not just fat,” Lee told Healthline.

The study emphasizes the importance of physical activity while taking GLP-1s.

Lee agreed. “Exercise (particularly strength training) plays a critical role in preserving lean muscle mass while on GLP-1 medications,” he said.

“I emphasize to my patients that both adequate protein intake and exercise are essential for preserving muscle. Both aerobic exercise and resistance training are highly beneficial,” added Mir Ali, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA. Ali wasn’t involved in the study.

Lee noted that resistance training signals the body to maintain muscle, even in a calorie deficit, and should be a core part of any weight loss plan using GLP-1 drugs.

Ali emphasized that adequate protein intake is also an important factor in supporting muscle preservation.

“Just as important is the pace of weight loss — slower, more gradual weight reduction tends to better preserve lean mass compared to rapid weight loss. This is why careful dose titration and ongoing monitoring are key when using GLP-1s,” Ali told Healthline.