Health Tips Line

A cosmetic surgeon had invited me to her practice for a treatment—not for my face, but for my mind: a newly FDA-approved electromagnetic brain stimulation procedure to fight depression. Her team told me I’d likely experience the greatest impact after six sessions, but on my way home from that first appointment, I swore I was already feeling transformed. It happened to be a Friday, and downtown San Francisco was buzzing. I grabbed a cookie from a corner bakery and headed to the train, taking in the Bay and the cliffside neighborhoods between downtown San Fran and the suburb where I still felt like a newbie after relocating a few years ago. The way the sun hovered behind the pine trees, just over the hill— Wow, did that device ever perk up my neurons! Then it hit me: This was the first afternoon in months that I’d given myself a break from my desk, and it was my first time exploring a part of San Francisco on my own. It wasn’t the brain stimulation trea...

Breathing is one of those things you never have to think about. In, out, repeat—nothing to it. Heck, even infants can rock those inhales and exhales. It’s the easiest thing … until one day, your breathing gets thrown completely out of whack. If you’ve ever struggled with shortness of breath after a virus or suddenly found yourself panting hard every time you set out for a run, you know the feeling (and probably wish you didn’t). Officially known as dysfunctional breathing, this maddening issue is actually much more common than you might think: Nearly one in ten adults have it, according to a 2019 study of adults in the U.K. To find out more about dysfunctional breathing, I consulted Michael Marsh, MD, an interventional pulmonologist at Jupiter Medical Center, and Zachary Rubin, MD, a pediatric allergist and immunologist and the author of the new book All About Allergies . Read on to find out how this respiratory glitch happens, whether stress plays a role...

If you’ve been a Costco member for a long time, you might feel like the more you wander those gigantic aisles, the more questions you have about what makes the warehouse club tick. Because no matter how familiar that rotisserie chicken display appears or how accustomed you are to navigating the Costco checkout, there’s always another little nuance that makes you go, hmmm . Like, why is nothing sold warm in the Costco bakery section ? We know that there are plenty of bakery items made in the warehouse, so why aren’t they showing that off by selling batches of buttery croissants still toasty from the oven? Ahead, I talked to chef and food developer Vivian Villa, who has worked with Costco on their baked goods, to learn more. The answer is actually a practical one, but it still might surprise you, so keep reading. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more Costco news, cleaning, humor, travel, tech and fun facts all week long. Why aren’t Costco baked goods sold ho...

When you Google something, how do you tell which website you should look at first? If you’re like most people, whether you’re shopping for a specific item or searching for some other service, you probably click on the first link that pops up on your results page. After all, if it’s at the top, it must be the best, right? Not necessarily. That first Google result doesn’t always mean it’s the best anymore—it might simply mean the company paid Google to get priority billing on the search engine. Now, scammers are infiltrating Google’s sponsored-advertising system to trick buyers, and if you’re not careful, your next online shopping trip could turn into a digital disaster. Read on to find out the big dangers that could be hiding in those little search results—and how to avoid falling for this new scam the next time you’re online. Get Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more tech, travel, cleaning, humor and fun facts all week long. What is the new Google scam you need to ...

Anyone in a 9-to-5 job with paid time off knows the drill. You plot and plan your vacation months ahead of time, trying to squeeze every last minute out of that PTO. At one job where holiday competition was fierce, I made a sport of requesting time off around holidays well in advance—sometimes by as much as six months—so I could stretch the 4th of July and Thanksgiving breaks into multi-week international escapes . Of course, traveling during those peak times was a lot more complicated, and often more expensive, but the payoff felt worth it. There was also another problem with my strategy. Inevitably, to make those few extended jaunts work, I’d face long stretches with no time off at all. And while those mega trips were pretty amazing, the trade-off was steep. Well, these days, an increasing number of travelers are taking a different approach to their days off—a trend called microcations, also known as microtraveling. I’m always down for any sort of escape, but the question in my min...

You’re invited to a fancy dinner hosted by your best friend. According to the Evite that just landed in your inbox, it’ll be a great way to connect with your nearest and dearest—maybe even make a new friend or two. There’s just one catch: You’re not invited. Or, rather, you’re invited by scammers to give up your personal information, your money and possibly your identity . Yup, the bad guys have cooked up a new way to con you. If you’ve already lost money to one of these online scams , you’re not alone. According to the most recent data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers lost $15.9 billion to scams in 2025, up from $12.5 billion in 2024. Lois Greisman, associate director of the FTC’s division of marketing practices, testified before the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee on March 25, 2026, saying, “Reported fraud losses have increased year-over-year in the last six years and have risen nearly 430% since 2020.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet ...