Well+Being - The Washington Post

Is it safe to exercise outdoors when the air quality is bad?

When wildfire smoke leads to air quality alerts, exercisers can take precautions to stay safer and lower health risks.

Forget 10,000 steps. 7 surprising tips for step counters.

Think you need 10,000 steps? Scientists have come up with evidence-based recommendations about step-count goals that might be lower than you would expect.

By Gretchen Reynolds

How can I avoid eating food with ‘forever’ chemicals?

By Teddy Amenabar

Advice

Ask a Doctor: How do I lose weight during menopause?

By Trisha Pasricha, MD, MPH

A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry.

By Richard Sima

Advice

Gaslighting is emotional abuse. Here’s how to recognize and stop it.

By Robin Stern and Marc Brackett

Women’s health: A medical breakthrough and new guidance

The stories of two women may change the way psychiatrists care for their patients.

By Tara Parker-Pope

More people are living with dementia. What are the signs and risk factors?

Dementia is characterized by impairment of memory, thinking and reasoning, which eventually render people unable to engage in daily tasks

By Marlene Cimons

Cancer patients are confronting widespread shortages of chemotherapy drugs

Chemotherapy drugs, particularly those used to treat kids’ cancers, are among those medications experiencing some of the most prolonged shortages.

By Rene Ebersole

Have a question for a doctor? The Washington Post can help.

By Washington Post Staff

latest from Well+Being

Women’s health: A medical breakthrough and new guidance

A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry.

Eating-disorder group’s AI chatbot gave weight loss tips, activist says

On TikTok, women get real about the pitfalls of motherhood

For mega-rich heirs, the anxieties that drive ‘Succession’ are all too real

It’s never too late for exercise to boost your brain health

What is human metapneumovirus?

How too much caffeine can lead to sleep deprivation

DON’T MISS

More people are living with dementia. What are the signs and risk factors?

Dementia is characterized by impairment of memory, thinking and reasoning, which eventually render people unable to engage in daily tasks

By Marlene Cimons

Who can donate blood? What to know about FDA’s new guidelines

By Teddy Amenabar, Fenit Nirappil and Laurie McGinley

Why daylight saving time is worse for your body than standard time

By Aaron Steckelberg and Lindsey Bever

11 tips to plan your health care after job loss

By Lindsey Bever

The best health books experts read in 2022

By Aviva Loeb

meet the WELL+BEING TEAM

Tara Parker-Pope is a longtime editor and science writer who knows that well-being is best achieved through the small health decisions we make each day.

Anahad O’Connor is a veteran health reporter who writes about the science of food and the various biological and cultural forces that influence how we eat.

Gretchen Reynolds has covered exercise science for more than two decades, including the perils of inactivity and the benefits of moving just a little more every day.

Richard Sima is a neuroscientist turned science journalist committed to revealing the wonder and mystery of the brain — and why it matters.

Kelyn Soong is an avid runner who writes about exercise culture and the lessons everyday athletes can learn from sports stars and fitness experts.

Amanda Morris is a science reporter and hard of hearing woman whose reporting on people with disabilities and chronic illnesses challenges long-held stigmas and sheds light on health disparities.

Lindsey Bever writes with empathy and expertise on a variety of personal health topics, including chronic illness, mental health and navigating the medical system.

Teddy Amenabar explores the science and the myths behind the health information people are seeing, searching and talking about online.