Even though bans on queer conversion therapy exist, experts say the pseudoscientific practice lurks and needs to be addressed by lawmakers. Talk therapy is a common technique but more extreme practices exist including eversion treatments that induce vomiting or paralysis and snapping an elastic band around the wrist when someone is aroused by same-sex images or thoughts. Some of the practices used in queer conversion interventions include electric shock, deprivation of basic needs and reconditioning around sexual functioning, says Jagadisa-devasri Dacus, associate director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) at Northwestern University and research assistant professor. Outcomes include self-blame, sexual dysfunction and loss of social supports. “There are groups that still continue to perpetuate this is an effective method of helping to provide therapeutic services or supportive services to those questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Dacus says. Dacus further shares seeking help in learning to understand and accept one’s sexual orientation or gender identity as opposed to trying to change it leads to better mental health and overall wellness for queer people. The ISGMH has found when young LGBTQ people have supportive parents or caregivers, they can form better connections, develop more positive self-esteem and experience a lower rate of anxiety and depressive episodes.

Three major long-term studies released in recent months have attempted to characterize the types, intensities and durations of physical activity that confer the most overall protection against dementia. These studies, which followed thousands, and even hundreds of thousands, of people for years at a time, confirm that regular physical activity, in many forms, plays a substantial role in decreasing the risk of developing dementia. Vigorous exercise seems to be best, but even non-traditional exercise, such as doing household chores, can offer a significant benefit. And, surprisingly, it’s just as effective at reducing the risk of those with a family history of dementia. According to Sandra Weintraub, PhD, professor of psychology and neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, “Some people work up quite a sweat when they are doing household chores. It might be that if you do three hours of household chores, you are as good as if you did 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. These studies suggest the ways we move our bodies on a daily basis could add up over time. They also solidify the notion that regular, lifelong physical activity, in all of its forms, goes a long way toward reducing the risk of dementia. “Your brain is part of your body and is going to benefit from anything you do that is good for your general health,” Weintraub said.

Millions of Americans take a dietary supplement daily to improve overall health but do they really work? Many experts believe the best way to get essential nutrients is through diet, including Dr. Jeffrey Linder, chief of general internal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He says, “Patients ask all the time, ‘What supplements should I be taking?’ They’re wasting money and focus thinking there has to be a magic set of pills that will keep them healthy when we should all be following the evidence-based practices of eating healthy and exercising.” While some supplements can be helpful, especially if you have a chronic condition that causes a vitamin deficiency like Crohn’s Disease, be careful what you take. There’s many that are ineffective or can cause harmful side effects.

As many American women reckon with the sudden loss of their constitutional right to abortion, conservatives have floated an alternative they say makes abortion less necessary: safe haven laws. But American women – even in states where in recent years they have had little access to abortion – rarely use safe havens as an option. Northwestern University professor Katie Watson, who teaches law, ethics and humanities to medical students, said the conservative argument that safe havens are an alternative to abortion is disingenuous. “When a person has an abortion, they are saying, ‘I do not want to have a baby.’ And adoption (or using a safe haven) does mean they don’t have to parent the child, but they still had a baby, which was the thing that most people having an abortion did not want to do,” Watson said. Watson further shared that the existence of safe haven laws may not be the only reason why fewer infants are dying by homicide. “Our recognition and treatment of prenatal and perinatal depression is so much better. The awareness that pregnancy can mess with your head and your mental health sometimes may contribute to that lower rate of infantcide.”