H1N1: What Can Parents Do?
A person with H1N1 flu can pass the virus to others for seven or more days after symptoms appear. Children may be contagious for even longer.

Habits to Help You Look Good and Feel Terrific

Hair Loss
Hair Loss Everyone loses between 50 and 100 hairs per day. The average life span of an individual hair is 3 to 7 years. Ninety percent of the hairs on your head are actively growing; the other 10 percent are resting.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Half of Americans experience some degree of hair loss. Hair loss affects both men and women, but with different results.

Hair: The Long and Short of It
Some hair on your head falls out every day, no matter what your age. And that's perfectly normal.

Hand Tool Safety
Although hand tools do not pose the same lethal threat as some power tools, they are still a factor in a high number of accidents each year.

Hand Washing Prevents Hepatitis A Infection
Aside from immunization, hand washing before eating or preparing food, after using the bathroom or changing a baby's diaper remains one of the best preventions against getting or spreading hepatitis A virus.

Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a summertime disease, caused by the coxsackie virus, that afflicts mostly children. It is very contagious and is common in late summer and early fall. It is not related to hoof-and-mouth disease in cattle.

Handling Hazardous Materials at Home
Many common household products contain chemicals that can cause injury or death if they are handled, stored or used improperly.

Hangovers
Typically, a hangover begins within several hours after you stop drinking, as the concentration of alcohol in your bloodstream is falling. Hangover symptoms usually peak about the time your blood alcohol level reaches zero and can continue for up to 24 hours.

Have a Hazard-Free Halloween
Halloween safety begins at home, with the child's costume. Every part of the costume -- masks, beards, wigs and clothing -- should be made of flame-resistant material.

Have Meals Lost Their Appeal?
Your loss of appetite may be because of anxiety or depression, aging, medications or a health concern.

Have You Heard? How to Stop Office Gossip
If you've been the victim of office gossip, you know it can be both cruel and destructive. Such malicious gossip has shattered many people's lives and careers.

Hazardous Substances Demand Your Respect
Depending where you work and the substances you handle, you may be at risk of accidental poisonings, chemical burns or suffocation. Knowing and following the right precautions can help keep you safe.

He Lost 214 Pounds in Eight Months
How did Erik Chopin lose more than half his weight—dropping from 407 pounds to 193? "One meal at a time," he says.

Head Injuries in Adults
You need to watch someone with a head injury for 24 hours. Be alert for any signs of problems, such as headaches, extreme drowsiness, difficulty walking or talking, neck pain, vomiting, fever of more than 101F, blurred vision, or seizures.

Head Lice
Lice feed on human blood. As they attach to the skin, their saliva causes intense itching. Left untreated, head lice are annoying and easily spread.

Head Lice Are No Reason for Shame
Don't panic if your child has head lice. They are common and are more of a nuisance than a health risk.

Head Off Holiday Havoc

Head Stuffy? It's Not Always Sinusitis
Sinusitis. It even sounds painful. This inflammation of the sinuses, usually caused by an infection, is one of the most common problems doctors treat. Yet a lot of us don't know much about it.

Head Trauma (Traumatic Brain Injury)

Healing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
People who feel they're unable to regain control of their lives because of their responses to the trauma may have post-traumatic stress disorder.

Health Care Terms
Here's a glossary of terms you will hear when you have a serious medical condition.

Health Care Terms You Should Know
Recognizing health care-related terms and abbreviations can help you understand treatment plans and insurance coverage.

Health Myths and Facts
There are a number health myths where knowing the facts can make a world of difference to your health.

Health Newcomer: The Patient Advocate
Patient advocates fulfill many roles, even, in some cases, staying with hospitalized patients around the clock to help guard against medical errors.

Health Precautions When You Travel by Air

Health Risks of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
It's important to understand how alcohol and drugs can affect your health and well being.

Healthful Hot Dogs

Healthful Strategies for Weight Loss
Experts say the long-term success at weight loss requires a balance between diet and physical activity.

Healthful Ways to Manage Change
In general, it's more difficult to react to change that happens to you, such as getting laid off or experiencing a health scare. But the change you initiate, such as switching jobs or moving, also can be difficult.

Healthy Changes for Staying Young
Time takes its toll on a body, but you don't have to sit back and let the effects of aging take place without a fight.

Healthy Dining Course
There are strategies you can use to reduce the calories and fat in restaurant food without sacrificing the flavor and fun of a meal out.

Healthy Eating
A diet high in fruits and vegetables can help lower your risk for high blood pressure and other chronic illnesses.

Healthy People 2010: What You Can Do for Your Country
America is more overweight and out of shape than ever. The result? Soaring medical costs and lost productivity. The U.S. government is working to change that with "Healthy People 2010," its latest effort to show us that national health demands personal health. The drive includes 10 "leading health indicators," modeled after our leading economic indicators.

Healthy Secrets: Avoiding the Ravages of Age
You can't stop the aging clock, but research shows you can at least slow it down.

Hearing Hazards in Everyday Life
It doesn't take a thunderous rock concert to cause hearing loss. Any repeated high-volume experiences or one-shot booms can damage the delicate nerve cells of your inner ear.

Heart Attack
The most common warning signals of a heart attack are uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing, tightness, heaviness, or pain in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes;pain spreading to the shoulders, neck, arms, or jaw; or chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath.

Heart Attack Treatment Options
Not everyone who has had a heart attack needs open-heart surgery, such as a bypass operation.

Heart Attacks and Women
For many women, a heart attack may feel like a strange discomfort in the back or some other easily ignored sign, instead of crushing chest pain.

Heart Disease: Communicating with Several Providers
If you are like most people with heart disease, you have several providers who each treat you for a different health issue.

Heart Disease: Considering Cold Relief
Colds and the flu can be serious for people with heart disease.

Heart Disease: How Disease Management Helps
Participating in a disease management program gives you the chance to ask questions about exercise, medication, diet, and other treatment options.

Heart Disease: Keep Your Gums Healthy
People with gum disease are more likely to have heart disease than people with healthy gums.

Heart Disease: Managing Multiple Medications
Whether you take prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicine or both, there are important guidelines to follow to get the most from them.

Heart Disease: Terms to Know
A short glossary of medical terms associated with heart disease.

Heart Failure: After Hospitalization
Here’s how you can stay healthy and prevent the problems that lead to a stay in the hospital.

Heart Failure: Being Active
Being active doesn’t mean that you have to wear yourself out. Even a little movement each day helps to strengthen your heart. If you can’t get out to exercise, you can do simple stretching and strengthening exercises at home.

Heart Failure: Breathe More Easily
Heart failure makes it hard for oxygen to get into the blood, causing shortness of breath.

Heart Failure: Getting the Care You Need
It’s important to ask your provider questions during your visit to make sure you understand your condition and what your treatment involves.

Heart Failure: Making Changes to Your Diet
When you have heart failure, excess fluid is more likely to build up in your body. This makes the heart work harder to pump blood. Controlling the amount of salt (sodium) you eat may help prevent fluid from building up.

Heart Failure: Procedures That May Help
Certain procedures may help in some cases of heart failure. They are done to treat health problems that are affecting your heart. Here are some examples.

Heart Failure: Warning Signs of a Flare-Up
Once you have heart failure, flare-ups can happen. Gaining weight is often the first warning sign of trouble. That’s why you need to weigh yourself each day. But there are other signs of trouble, too. Here are some things to watch for.

Heart Luck: Family History Is Important
If your father or mother has heart disease, that doesn't mean you will automatically develop it, too. It's true that you are more likely to get it than someone who does not have a family history of heart disease, but you can take steps to try to prevent it.

Heartburn
Heartburn is a burning sensation in the lower chest, behind the breastbone. It may be accompanied by nausea, bloating, belching, or a sour or bitter taste in the throat and mouth. Usually heartburn occurs while you are lying down or after you eat a large meal. Heartburn may also be a symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Heat-Related Problems
Many of us live in or visit regions where sunburn, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke are summer health risks. If you live in a hot region, the heat can affect your health all year round. The three phases of heat-related problems are heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.

Heed the Warning of Prehypertension
In many cases, the progression to high blood pressure occurs within four years of being diagnosed with prehypertension.

Help Antibiotics Work for You
Using antibiotics incorrectly can make your illness worse and can lead the bacteria and parasites that cause disease to become resistant to antibiotics.

Help for a Child with a Cold
You want to help a child with cold symptoms feel better, but choosing among countless over-the-counter (OTC) cold medicines can be daunting. Here are some guidelines that can help.

Help for COPD and Depression
Having a chronic condition such as COPD can lead to depression. You can get help. Talk with your doctor about your symptoms.

Help for Heel Pain
Heel pain has many possible causes. Learning about the symptoms can help you take care of your heels and prevent problems.

Help for Inguinal Hernias
A hernia doesn't occur overnight. The most common kind is actually set in motion right before you're born.

Help for Tension Headaches
Almost everyone has a tension headache from time to time. These headaches aren’t caused by disease. They are so common they are considered to be “normal” headaches.

Help for the Holiday Blues
The unrealistic expectations of the season, time and financial pressures, missing loved ones and reflecting on past events as the year comes to an end all contribute to the blues.

Help for When You're Grieving
Grieving always hurts, but it's not a bad thing. It's a very normal and necessary process for adjusting to difficult life changes.

Help Girls Stay Active as Teens
The teen years often bring a sharp drop in physical activity, especially for girls.

Help Teens Triumph Over Depression
If you suspect your child is depressed, see your health care provider at once. Says one doctor: "The good news is that depression is very treatable, particularly if we identify it early and make sure the kids get the help they need."

Help Your Babysitter Prepare for Anything
When you're looking for a babysitter, give yourself enough time to be selective.

Help Your Back Work for You
Your back is important to almost every move you make, but you probably won't realize that until you hurt it.

Help Your Child Find the Meaning of Sports
Win or lose, experts say, it's far more important for young people to take away from sports some lessons about self-esteem, motivation, discipline and getting along with others.

Help Your Children Breathe Easier
Air pollution hurts infants and children more than adults, studies show. Kids' lungs are still developing, they breathe faster and they spend more time outdoors.

Help Your Children Chill Out
Kids must cope with all the issues, such as violence or global warming, that stress out adults. But they must also handle stresses added by their parents and the media.

Help Your Kids Quit Smoking
Every day, about 3,000 U.S. teenagers start smoking. If you're a parent of a young smoker, you can take steps to help the child quit. But first, it helps to understand why teens light up.

Help Your Mate Stay Healthy

Help Your Teen Take Charge of Asthma
Having asthma isn’t easy, and for most kids, neither is being a teen. Here are some common teen issues and suggestions for easing your child’s concerns.

Help! My 9-Year-Old Wants to Dress Sexy
With so many mall shops offering sexy styles for the youngest girls, some parents wonder whether their daughters are risking sexual harassment for the sake of fashion.

Helpful Hints for a Healthy Weight
You can lose a significant amount of weight by making small changes in your eating habits that don't require record keeping or a food scale.

Helping a Friend With an Addiction
When a friend shows signs of abusing alcohol or other drugs, it's hard to know what to do or say.

Helping an Unwilling Alcoholic
You don't have to wait for someone to hit rock bottom to act. Here are steps to help an alcoholic get treatment.

Helping Children Conquer Fear
Studies indicate that almost all children report having fears. Some of the most common fears are of bugs or ghosts, and studies have shown that kids are afraid of pretty much the same things no matter where they live in the world.

Helping Grandchildren Make Healthy Meal Choices
Children learn by watching, and grandparents are special role models. That means they can bring a healthy perspective about food to a child's world.

Helping Kids to Avoid Cigarettes
Every day, nearly 6,000 teens and pre-teens try cigarettes for the first time, according to the American Lung Association. A third of these first-timers will end up becoming smokers.

Helping Others Understand Your Migraine
You and your loved ones will benefit if they understand your condition and how best to help.

Helping Picky Eaters Expand Their Palate
Although a lot of young children are finicky about food, they need help when they won’t eat the amount or variety required to keep up their nutritional status.

Helping Someone With a Mental Illness
Caring for someone you love who is sick or disabled is never easy. When the illness affects your loved one’s state of mind, the demands placed on you can be especially difficult.

Helping Someone With Depression
Take action if you suspect a friend and/or family member suffers from depression. It's a condition that can cloud thinking and make people believe they aren't worth helping, so they often can't help themselves.

Helping Someone With Memory Loss
In older people, it's easy to mistake memory problems for the everyday forgetfulness that some people experience as they grow older.

Helping Teens Embrace Self-Care
By involving teens as full participants in their self-care, they're more likely to choose healthy behaviors throughout their lives.

Helping to Prevent a Second Heart Attack
Most Americans survive a first heart attack. By taking action, however, they can significantly reduce their chances for a second heart attack.

Helping to Prevent Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis means a hardening and narrowing of the arteries, the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart.

Helping Your Adult Family Member With Diabetes Management
Meal planning and blood sugar monitoring. Medicines and multiple injections. The day-in and day-out requirements of diabetes management can overwhelm those with this chronic disease.

Helping Your Child Through Adolescence
Adolescence is naturally a time of change, and change can cause stress. But it is also an exciting time for kids and parents to get to know and interact with each other in new and different ways.

Helping Your Children Cope With Death
Children deal with death in many different ways, and not necessarily in the same manner as adults.

Helping Your Children Manage Anger
Anger is as legitimate an emotion as joy or sadness, and it's the most common way children express feelings of frustration.

Helping Your Partner Cope With Work
A willingness to help your partner overcome job stress is the single most important factor in dealing with the fallout from work.

Hematuria: Possible Causes
A wide range of problems can lead to blood in the urine. Some of the most common causes—such as kidney or bladder stones, enlargement of the prostate, and infection—are often easily treated.

Hemodialysis

Hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids are swollen blood vessels in the anal canal and lower rectum. They are a common cause of itching and rectal bleeding, especially during bowel movements. People with hemorrhoids may notice bright red blood on the toilet tissue or on the stool itself.

Hepatitis B Virus
HBV can cause inflammation of the liver and can lead to cirrhosis, cancer of the liver, and liver failure. An effective vaccine is available to prevent HBV infection.

Hepatitis C: A Threat from the Past
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Over time, HCV can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer. Most people who have hepatitis C don’t have any symptoms for years. Many don’t know that they are infected until their liver is already damaged.

Hepatitis: From A to G
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver most commonly caused by one of several viruses. More than 150,000 hepatitis infections occur annually in the United States, but the different viruses produce different outcomes for these infections.

Herbs and Surgery Don't Mix
It's critically important to tell your health care provider about any herbal medications, supplements, or mega-vitamins you may be taking.

Here's How to Stay Healthy Aloft

Here's What's Hot With Thermometers
Buying a thermometer isn't as easy as it used to be. You face an array of choices. But the decision doesn't have to be hard. Like temperature, it's a matter of degrees.

Here's Why Exercise Matters to Your Kids
Some children are very involved in competitive sports, but many other youngsters get no exercise at all. That lack of exercise is tied to an increase in childhood weight problems.

Herpes
If you have herpes, you’re not alone. Millions of Americans have it. Herpes has no cure. But you can control it and learn how to protect yourself and others from outbreaks.

Herpes: Caring for Sores

He's the Expert on Geriatrics
Recognized as a world expert on aging, neuropsychiatrist Robert Neil Butler, M.D., helped lead the drive to make "geriatrics" a formal medical discipline.

Hiatal and Inguinal Hernias
A hernia occurs when part of the intestine bulges through the abdominal wall. There are many different types of hernias, but the most common are inguinal hernias and hiatal hernias.

Hiccups
A hiccup is the sound that results when air entering the mouth and nose is cut off unexpectedly. People of all ages can experience hiccups anytime, anywhere.

High Blood Pressure
There is no cure for high blood pressure, but it can be controlled. High blood pressure is one of the three major controllable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The risk relates not only to how high your blood pressure is, but also to how long it has been raised.

High Blood Pressure Can Damage Kidneys
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is the second leading cause of kidney disease in the United States, after diabetes.

High Blood Pressure Glossary
Knowing the definitions of terms your doctor may use when talking with you about your blood pressure is important.

High Blood Pressure: What Are the Health Risks?
You can't tell if you have high blood pressure, but it's important to know if you do, because it can affect your brain, eyes, arteries, kidneys and heart.

High Blood Pressure: What Causes It?
In most cases of high blood pressure, the cause isn't known. This type of hypertension is often called essential hypertension.

High Cholesterol
High blood cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for heart attack, the leading cause of death in America. Cholesterol is a waxy substance your body produces to help it function properly. Because your liver makes all the cholesterol your body needs, you don't need to consume additional cholesterol.

High-Tech Help for Heart Attacks
Technology has given us the automated external defibrillator (AED), which is turning up far from hospitals. Some schools and public buildings already have AEDs.

Hip and Thigh Pain
Most often, pain in the hip and thigh is from injury to muscles, tendons, or bursas, usually from a fall, a blow, or overuse.

Hives
Hives occur when an allergic reaction prompts cells to release histamine, a chemical found in the skin. Extensive outbreaks of hives can be very serious, such as when hives form on the lips and in the throat, interfering with breathing and swallowing.

Hoarseness/Laryngitis
When there is not enough air passing through your vocal cords, your voice will sound hoarse or husky or may disappear altogether. Hoarseness is not a disease. It is a signal that your vocal cords are not working normally.

Hold the Line on Phone Fraud
Many frauds focus on older people on the theory that they're generally more trusting and polite to strangers.

Holiday Stress? It's All Relative
"Home for the holidays" sounds heartwarming, but it can easily morph into "the nightmare before (and during) Christmas."

Home Infusion Therapy

Hope for Chronic Fatigue Sufferers
Chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome is a medical condition marked by lingering fatigue with no explained cause. About 800,000 Americans, including children, have the illness.

Hope for Depression in Adults
Learning more about this illness will allow you to understand what your symptoms may mean and make it easier for you to seek help.

Hope for Hypertension
Knowing you have high blood pressure is your cue to protect your future health. And you can do plenty of things to help control your blood pressure.

Hope for Lupus: Taming the Wolf
For most people, lupus is a mild disease that strikes just a few organs. For others, it can cause serious, even life-threatening problems.

Hope for Macular Degeneration
People who lose their central vision to macular degeneration can usually be helped by low-vision specialists.

Hope on the Horizon for Breast Cancer
In recent years, researchers have discovered new and better ways to detect and treat breast cancer—and to keep it from coming back.

Hormone Therapy For Women

Hospices Offer Comfort at Life's End
As medical progress prolongs our lives, the end can linger. So, more and more people are turning to hospice care.

Hot Sauce: The Heat We Eat

House Fires: Don't Underestimate Them

How a Football Star Tackled Asthma
"I've worked very hard over the years at doing all the things I need to do to keep my asthma under control," says Jerome Abram Bettis.

How a Woman's Gender Affects Her Health
Some differences between men and women are obvious. But others go beyond basic anatomy.

How and Why to Keep a Training Log
A training log helps you organize and save information about your exercise routine so you can work toward your important goals.

How Asthma Controller Medicines Compare
The newest drugs to join the asthma controller lineup are called leukotriene modifiers.

How Children Can Live Well With Asthma
If your child has asthma, take time to learn about the disease and how it's successfully treated.

How Diets Work
If you’ve tried everything, yet weight loss continues to elude you, don’t give up. There are ways to up the odds and increase your chance of success.

How Do You Fuel Your Workout?
Energy bars, fitness drinks, protein powders, sports supplements -- are these the best ways to power your workout?

How Does Your Garden Grow?

How 'Healthy' Is Your Workstation?
You can prevent many discomforts by arranging your workstation and computer components to accommodate your body and work tasks.

How Hearing Aids Can Help You
Many people have found that a properly selected and fitted hearing aid helps them hear much better. Hearing professionals caution that although a hearing aid can help you overcome your hearing loss, it does not provide the normal hearing you may remember.

How Hobbies Help Your Health
That hobby you've been toying with could be your prescription for a healthier, more satisfying life.

How Intense Is Your Workout?
Can you keep on talking while working out? Then you're exercising at a moderate intensity.

How Is Your Child's Backpack?
The Consumer Product Safety Commission found that in one year, more than 10,000 children ages 5 to 14 see doctors with backpack-related complaints.

How Much Do You Know About Alzheimer's?

How Much Do You Know About Kidney Health?

How Much Do You Know About Vision Care?
If you've ever squinted to see that next line on the eye chart clearly, join the crowd. It's probably time for an eye exam.

How Much Exercise Is Enough?
A private advisory group's call for 60 minutes of physical activity each day are in line with the 2005 USDA Guidelines for exercise of 30 to 60 minutes. The new advice was meant to get people moving, but some experts are worried about recommending 60 minutes.

How Much of a Threat Is Bird Influenza?
Influenza, with its fever, aches, fatigue and threat of complications, seems a uniquely human illness. But the flu, caused by a virus, can infect animals and birds, as well.

How Music Can Help Your Child
A flute or a bow or a drumstick may be just as fine an instrument of success as a bat or ball or racquet.

How Old for a Cell Phone? You Decide
A lot of parents have long since acknowledged that cell phones are a staple of teen life, but what about for 8- to 12-year-olds?

How Old Is 'Old Enough' for Contacts?

How Older Adults Can Prevent Hypothermia
Age lowers your ability to endure long periods of cold. You're also at risk if your response to cold is impaired by certain illnesses or medications.

How Parents Influence Kids' Health Behaviors
Research indicates your parents may have played a significant role in shaping your perception and reaction to illness. You can in turn pass these behaviors along to your children.

How Safe Is the School Bus?
During the school year, 23.5 million elementary and secondary school children ride a bus to and from school each day. Add in extracurricular activities, and school bus system becomes the single largest public transit system in our country.

How Sweet Is It?
Cutting back on sugar is a smart move for many people. Luckily, there are other ways to satisfy your sweet tooth.

How the Nose Works
The nose on your face is just the tip of an iceberg. The important functions—breathing and smelling—actually happen mostly inside your head, in your nasal cavity.

How to Assess Your Risk for Chronic Disease
Here are ways to help you fine-tune your lifestyle to promote optimum health.

How to Avoid At-the-Desk Injuries
If your computer, chair and other parts of your workstation aren't positioned properly, you can end up with sore wrists or a backache or other physical problems.

How to Avoid Sports Injuries
Sports injury rates could be reduced by 25 percent if all athletes — professionals and amateurs — followed essential safety, conditioning, and preventive strategies.

How to Babyproof Your House
Once your baby begins to walk, you'll need to keep a close eye on your child to protect your roving tot from hazards in the home.

How to Bathe Your Baby
As a new parent, you may find "tub time" a bit scary. Here are some suggestions on how to make it less stressful.

How to Be a Happy Camper -- or Hiker
Whether you're a first-time hiker out for an easy walk in the woods or an expert camping in the wilderness, think about safety before you head outdoors.

How to Be a Savvy Medical Consumer
The benefits of being an active medical consumer include better health, more effective health care, and lower health costs.

How to Be a Wise Health Care Consumer
Here are common problems you may run into as a health care consumer, with tips for wise responses.

How to Be an Active Patient
People who are actively involved in their medical care stay healthier, recover quicker when they're ill and live longer, healthier lives.

How to Be Assertive, Not Aggressive, at Work
Are you reluctant to speak up when you're being treated unfairly at work? You don't have to suffer in silence. You can learn how to assert yourself without jeopardizing your job.

How to Benefit from Change at Work
Understand that change is normal, and come up with a plan of action to cope with the change.

How to Buy Safe -- and Fun -- Toys
One of the neatest things about being a parent is that you get to pick out all sorts of fun toys for your children.

How to 'Catch' a Good Mood
Colds and the flu can be passed from one person to another, but did you realize that emotions can be passed just as easily?

How to Choose a Baby Sitter
Child-care experts say that a parent's top priority is to find someone qualified with experience in crisis management.

How to Choose Healthy Crackers
Although most crackers live up to their pretty packages and healthy claims, some crackers contain unexpected "extras" in the form of saturated fats and sky-high sodium and calories.

How to Communicate With Your Health Care Provider
When you and your health care provider communicate well regarding health and personal issues, your health benefits.

How to Compare Hospital Costs
If your doctor recommends that you have surgery or a medical procedure, taking time to research hospitals in your community to compare costs, care quality, infection control and other concerns can provide peace of mind.

How to Control Surgical Costs
Hospitalizations account for more than half of all health care costs, so avoiding surgery is one of the best ways to reduce your medical expenses.

How to Control Your Medical Costs
The health care decisions you make have a big impact on your life and your wallet.

How to Cook Faster, More Healthful Meals
Cooking a healthful, low-fat meal doesn't take any longer than cooking one that's high in fat, cholesterol and sodium.

How to Cope With a Child's Chronic Condition
Problem-solving techniques can help you manage if your child has asthma, diabetes, autism, or some other serious health or behavior problem.

How to Cut Down on Drinking
It helps to understand why and when you drink if you are going to successfully reduce the amount of alcohol you consume.

How to Cut the Fat and Keep the Flavor
By adopting a dozen or so of these eating habits, most people can continue to enjoy the foods they like and still lose pounds. Don't forget to include daily exercise in the plan.

How to Cut Your Hospital Bills
Although you may not be able to avoid a hospital stay, there are ways to trim the expenses.

How to Deal with Difficult People
To avoid being difficult yourself, keep your stress levels down and your happiness quotient up.

How to Develop a 'Can-do' Personality
What's the difference between a can-do and a won't-try person? It's usually a matter of bravery.

How to Enjoy Your Plane Flight

How to Evaluate Your Health Care Providers
To make sure you’re getting high-quality care, ask yourself if your health care provider is meeting your needs in five areas.

How to Feel Good When Your Life Isn't Perfect
It's normal to have to deal with difficult situations and difficult people as you go through life. Here's how to change your thinking, so you can feel good when your life isn't perfect.

How to Fight Stress-Related Diseases
No one can avoid all stress -- and a certain amount actually is good for you. But it's always best to keep unhealthy levels in check when possible.

How to Find Dr. Right
Your relationship with your health care provider is one of the most important in your life.

How to Find Good Child Care
A lot of firsts in your child's life will make you smile: first laugh, first step, first word. One first that isn't as appealing is the first day you have to leave your child with someone else.

How to Find Your Child's Gifts
Experts say every child shines in at least one discipline. It's your job as a parent to discover and encourage your child's gifts, while downplaying any weaknesses.

How to Fit In Fitness
To get your kids moving, find physical activities they can enjoy at their own pace -- and become active with them.

How to Get Medications for Less
Here are strategies from the Food and Drug Administration to help you cut your prescription costs by 50 percent or more.

How to Get Optimal Medical Care
To get the best medical care you can, you should be an informed patient who works closely with your health care provider.

How to Get the Health Care You Need
No purchase is more important than medical care, yet people spend more time shopping for houses and cars than they do for their own health care.

How to Get Your Kids in Shape
Experts recommend children get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days to maintain good health and fitness and for healthy weight during growth.

How to Grocery Shop for Weight Loss
Stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Try to keep salad greens, apples, oranges, onions, and other produce your family likes on hand.

How to Have a Healthy Pregnancy
When you're pregnant, you'll need to schedule regular visits with your health care provider, who can monitor your baby’s development.

How to Have a Healthy Summer Vacation
This summer, whether traveling across country or around the world, you'll have a more enjoyable vacation if you plan ahead to stay healthy.

How to Help a New Coworker Succeed
To help someone who is starting out in your company, remember how you felt on your first day. Was it a pleasant experience? If so, what made it that way?

How to Help an Overweight or Obese Child
Ask a parent to name the greatest health threat to children and you'll hear about drinking or drugs. Rarely will anyone cite obesity -- even though it can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes.

How to Help Teenagers With Addicted Parents
Growing up is a tough challenge for most adolescents, but when their parents are abusing alcohol or drugs, the obstacles can seem overwhelming.

How to Help Your Kids Avoid Type 2 Diabetes
Until recently, type 2 diabetes was also known as adult-onset diabetes. Now, the adult-onset prefix has been dropped because so many children are developing the condition.

How to Hold Down Specialist Costs
Fees for specialists are almost always higher than those charged by health care providers, even when the same procedure is performed. Knowing how to find a specialist and work with him or her properly can help control your costs.

How to Improve Your Mental Health
The social support of friends and family can provide a buffer to loneliness, depression, stress, and isolation, all of which can impair mental health.

How to Improve Your Productivity
The key to becoming more productive and efficient is to establish "do-it-now" work habits.

How to Juggle Home Life and Work Life
No matter how energetic you may be, stretching yourself to the limit every day puts your health and happiness at risk.

How to Junk a Junk-Food Diet
Whether you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight or improve your health, junk food can sabotage a worthy effort.

How to Keep Bugs From Bugging You
Although most insects are just nuisances, some can threaten our health.

How to Keep Your Baby or Toddler Safe
Here are tips on the basics of child safety.

How to Keep Your Back Pain-Free
Up to eight in 10 Americans suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. For most people, back pain resolves, but for 5 to 10 percent, low back pain becomes a chronic condition.

How to Keep Your Gums and Teeth Healthy
Brushing and flossing your teeth isn't hard to do, and doing both properly can help prevent gum disease and tooth loss.

How to Let Go of Growing Kids

How to Limit What Your Children Watch on TV
Experts admit that a lot of parents would like to pull the plug. But they know that it isn't always the practical solution. Instead of eliminating it, use television viewing time to your benefit.

How to Live Life Like a Thin Person
The National Weight Control Registry tracks people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for five years or more. Here's a look at their strategies for success.

How to Lower Your Financial Stress
Whether your credit card balances are soaring, or you and your partner are arguing constantly over nickels and dimes, there are things you can do to relieve financial stress.

How to Make Better Treatment Decisions
When choosing a treatment, it's essential to check out all your options, make sure you have enough information to make an informed choice.

How to Make Heart-Healthy Food Choices
Maintaining a healthy diet is one of the best weapons for fighting cardiovascular disease and other heart conditions.

How to Make Love Last Forever
Keeping your primary relationship healthy, positive, supportive and together isn’t easy. But it can be done.

How to Make Tastier Veggies
Adding more fruit to our diet is easy for most of us. It's the vegetables that hang up many people.

How to Make the Move From Crib to Bed
Moving a child from a crib to a bed can be a big deal, but it doesn't have to cause big problems. Good timing and advance planning can aid your child's adjustment to sleeping in a big-kid bed. Here are answers to some common questions.

How to Make Your Home Allergy-Proof
You may need to see an allergist if you can't pinpoint the cause of your problems. Once you know what's causing your symptoms, the strategies described here can help you avoid the most common indoor allergies.

How to Make Your Home Safe From Fire

How to Make Your Job Back-Safe
The best defense against back pain is regular aerobic exercise to keep your back fit and limber. It's also important to keep your back active throughout the day.

How to Manage Diabetes During Illness
The stress of illness or injury can cause blood sugar to rise and make insulin less effective. This can lead to serious problems, including diabetic coma. That’s why it’s important to know what to do when illness strikes.

How to Manage Prehypertension
Prehypertension is a new term that alerts people to the very real risk of developing chronic high blood pressure if they don't take timely steps to improve their lifestyle habits.

How to Map Out a Safe Vacation
By thinking ahead and planning for your vacation before you go, the only surprises you'll encounter are the nice ones.

How to Plan for Long-Term Care
Most older people are independent. But later in life, you or someone you love may need help with everyday activities, such as shopping, cooking and bathing.

How to Prepare for Scheduled or Elective Surgery
People who prepare mentally and physically before their operations are likely to have fewer complications, less pain and a quicker recovery than those who don't prepare.

How to Prevent and Relieve Digestive Problems
Just as simple things can upset your digestive system, simple changes can help. The following tips can help prevent or relieve digestive ills.

How to Prevent and Treat Ingrown Hairs
Folliculitis, or ingrown hairs, can occur anywhere on the skin or scalp. It resembles pimple-like eruptions or crusty sores.

How to Prevent Back Pain at Work
People who work in certain occupations, such as nursing, are likely to have back pain. But so can folks who work in an office every day if they don’t take proactive steps to protect their backs.

How to Prevent Childhood Obesity
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, one in five children in the United States is overweight or obese. That's twice as many overweight children as 20 years ago.

How to Prevent Osteoarthritis
The less unnecessary stress you put on your joints, the less likely they are to wear out prematurely.

How to Prevent, Treat Choking on Toys
Although people know toys can be dangerous, injuries can still occur.

How to Properly Manage Medical Devices
Many people with chronic illnesses depend on elaborate medical devices, such as cardiac pacemakers or blood-glucose monitors for their health and well-being. Countless others help their loved ones, young or old, deal with an oxygen machine, asthma medication inhaler or other device. No matter how sophisticated or simple the piece of medical equipment is, it's crucial to use and maintain it properly.

How to Protect and Improve Your Memory
Occasional memory lapses—what you ate for dinner last night or where you parked your car at the mall—are normal.

How to Quit Smoking, Again
Fewer than a quarter of those who attempt to quit are able to make it beyond three months before resuming smoking. Women usually find it harder to quit than do men, even though women have a higher risk of smoking-related diseases. The following suggestions can help you kick the habit, again, for good.

How to Raise Healthy Eaters
Here are suggestions to help you help your children attain and maintain a healthy weight.

How to Recover From a Back Injury
Back pain is something you don't want to repeat. Recovering properly from a back injury and taking preventive measures can help you reduce your risk of going through it again.

How to Reduce the Effects of Aging
No need to search for a secret formula to erase the effects of getting older. You already have the power to keep yourself feeling young for years.

How to Reduce the Risk of SIDS
For more than a decade, pediatricians have urged parents to put babies to sleep on their backs. That strategy seems to be working -- but millions of parents still haven't gotten the message.

How to Respond to a Medical Emergency
Taking a standard first-aid and CPR class can help prepare you for most medical emergencies. The National Safety Council, the Red Cross and many hospitals offer classes. The following suggestions can help you respond appropriately.

How to Respond to an Eye Injury
If you suffer a serious eye injury, what you don't do immediately afterward may help more than what you do.

How to Reverse Job Burnout
Because burnout doesn’t happen overnight, it’s important to recognize early symptoms and take action before the problem becomes a liability.

How to Safely Choose OTC Medications
Over-the-counter (OTC) cough and pain relievers, laxatives, and headache remedies may treat different conditions, but they all have one thing in common: They’re serious medicines that need to be taken with care.

How to Say No to Preteens
As children grow older, risks get more complex and restrictions harder to enforce.

How to Set and Achieve Professional Goals
Goal setting is one of life's most difficult responsibilities -- not because goals are so hard to establish, but because you may lack the motivation or courage to ask yourself what you want.

How to Sit More Comfortably on the Job
If you spend most of your workday sitting down, you can do your body a favor by sitting properly in a chair designed for maximum support and comfort.

How to Soothe Sun-Damaged Skin
Want to save your skin? The first step is to stop new damage.

How to Spot Drug Use in Kids
Although most adolescents who use drugs don't become drug abusers or drug addicts in adulthood, drug use in adolescence can put their mental, emotional and physical health at risk.

How to Stay Connected with Your Kids
As they assert their growing independence, young people naturally want to act and make decisions on their own, but they still need and want to maintain a close relationship with the adults in their lives, experts say.

How to Stay Healthy at Work
Because the 2009 H1N1 flu virus spreads from person to person, it is possible to catch the virus at work. Here are measures you can take to protect yourself at the office.

How to Stay Out of the ER
ER doctors and technology save lives. But some people use the ER simply because it’s convenient, or they don’t want to make a doctor’s appointment.

How to Stick With Your Treatment Plan
Many Americans suffer from at least one chronic disease, and most rely on regular tests and treatments to be healthier, more comfortable and more productive. But many people with chronic illnesses find it daunting to keep up with prescribed treatments.

How to Stop a Crying Baby
Some babies cry for long stretches at 3 and 12 weeks of age during steps in development when their sleep is less settled.

How to Survive the Sniffles
Colds are caused by viruses. More than 200 different cold viruses are out there, passed by person-to-person contact.

How to Take Part in Every Medical Decision
Well-informed people who play a significant role in deciding how they’re going to treat their health conditions are likely to feel better about the decision process.

How to Talk About Drugs With Your Kids
The key is communication. Talking to your children is only half the answer. Listening is the other half.

How to Tell if Your Child Needs Braces
Orthodontic treatment most commonly begins between ages 9 and 14 because kids in this age range have at least some permanent teeth and are still growing.

How to Treat Eye Allergies
Eye allergies usually affect both eyes. The main symptoms of an eye allergy include itchy eyes, increased tearing, red or pink eyes, and mild swelling of the eyelids.

How to Use a Pacifier
Pacifiers help parents and infants get through periods of crying when the infant is either not hungry or too full to eat but still needs the comfort that sucking provides.

How to Wear Your Bike Helmet Correctly
Riders whose bicycle helmets don't fit right are at twice the risk for serious head injuries, compared with those whose helmets fit properly.

How to Work With a Perfectionist Boss
Is your boss always pointing out that your work isn't quite right? Does he or she expect you to work yourself to the bone?

How to Write a Living Will
A living will is a written statement that clearly states to your doctor and family what type of life-sustaining treatments you would accept or refuse if you have a terminal condition and are not able to express your wishes.

How Wilford Brimley Deals with Adult Onset Diabetes
The key to managing diabetes is "checking your sugar, and checking it often," Brimley says.

How Women Can Avoid Midlife Weight Gain
Whether you’ve already gained a few extra pounds or have yet to reach perimenopause, here are strategies to help you maintain a healthy weight in midlife and beyond.

How You Can Avoid Aggressive Drivers

How You Can Beat the Stomach-Ulcer Bug
Most peptic ulcers are caused by pesky bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. These bacteria live in the stomach and intestines.

How Your Heart Works
Your heart is a pumping muscle that works nonstop to keep your body supplied with oxygen-rich blood. Signals from the heart’s electrical system set the speed and pattern of the pump’s rhythm. Valves keep the blood moving in one direction, through the heart’s four chambers.

How Your Hip Works
A healthy hip joint allows you to walk, squat, and turn without pain.

How Your Lungs Work
Your lungs are remarkable organs with multiple roles. Each day, up to 2,300 gallons of air pass through your lungs.

How Your Lymph System Works
Lymph is a colorless, watery fluid that originates as blood plasma. It seeps from the small blood vessels, or capillaries, to bring nutrients to cells and transport waste from the cells.

How's Your Car Safety Knowledge?

Human Bites
Human bites happen more often than you think. The "biters" usually are children. Animal bites raise three concerns: bleeding, the possibility of viral infections such as rabies, and the possibility of bacterial infections.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. It is spread through sexual contact, shared drug needles, or other situations in which people are exposed to infected blood, semen, or vaginal secretions.

Humor Is Good for You and Your Health
A good guffaw pumps up your heart, increases your circulation, works your muscles, and strengthens your immune system.

Hyperglycemia (High Blood Sugar)
Too much glucose (sugar) in your blood is called hyperglycemia or high blood sugar. It can be caused by eating too much food, especially carbohydrates, by not being active, or by not taking your medication.

Hypertension and African Americans
High blood pressure is more common among African Americans than other ethnic groups. Nearly 40 percent of non-Hispanic blacks have hypertension.

Hypertension: Children Can Have It, Too
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, isn't limited to those 18 and older.

Hyperthyroidism
The most common cause of hyperthyroidism, especially in young people, is Graves' disease. Graves' disease is caused by antibodies in the blood that stimulate the thyroid to grow and secrete excess thyroid hormone. It tends to run in families.

Hyperventilation
Hyperventilation is usually caused by anxiety, but injury or illness can also be the cause. Hyperventilation may also be linked to emotional problems, such as a panic attack.

Hyphema

Hypnosis: Helps Treat Pain, Other Conditions
The idea that a patient can't resist a hypnotic suggestion is just plain false. Simply put, hypnosis is a normal state of relaxed, focused attention.

Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar)
Too little glucose (sugar) in your blood is called hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Diabetes itself doesn't cause low blood sugar. But some of the treatments for diabetes, such as pills or insulin, may put you at risk for it.

Hypothermia
To treat hypothermia, get the person out of the cold and remove any damp or wet clothing. Dress the person in warm, dry clothing and wrap in blankets, or put the person in a bath of warm water (unless the person is unconscious). Give warm, nonalcoholic drinks such as coffee, tea, hot cider, or cocoa.

Hypothyroidism
The most common cause of hypothyroidism is chronic thyroiditis, also called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Chronic thyroiditis occurs when the body's immune system attacks thyroid tissue with antibodies and white blood cells -- as if the tissue were foreign to the body.

Hypothyroidism and Depression
Chances are you know the difference between occasional sadness and depression. But here's a fact you may not know: Hypothyroidism, a common thyroid disorder, can cause depression.

Hysterectomy (Laparoscopic)
If you decide on hysterectomy, your doctor may suggest using a type of surgery called laparoscopy. This method has many benefits compared to open surgery. These include a faster recovery and less time in the hospital.

Hysterectomy, Problems It Can Treat
Among the conditions where hysterectomy is used are endometriosis, fibroids, pelvic relaxation and cancer.

Hysterectomy: Your Experience
A hysterectomy is an operation to remove a woman’s uterus. It can relieve such symptoms as severe pain and bleeding. If you have cancer, it may save your life.

Hysterosalpingogram (HSG)
HSG is an X-ray test used to view your reproductive organs. This can help diagnose why you are unable to get pregnant.

Hysteroscopy
Hysteroscopy is a procedure that allows your healthcare provider to see inside your uterus. Diagnostic hysteroscopy can help find the causes of problems in the uterus.