Blog
News, research and guides
348 articles from our editorial and science team.
GuidesFibromyalgia — What Actually Helps?
Fibromyalgia has long been described as a disease that "doesn't show up" on any standard blood test or scan — which for decades led some doctors to dismiss patients' symptoms, and patients on a frustrating journey between specialists in search of a diagnosis. Today we know it is a real, well-described disorder of pain processing in the central nervous system, not a figment of imagination or "nerves." There's no single pill that switches it off — but there is a solid set of interventions with real research support that, in practice, help most patients regain function, even if they don't eliminate pain entirely.
MWdr Marek Wójcik14 min
September 10, 2026
GuidesPlantar Fasciitis — Causes, Risk Factors, and What Actually Helps
A stabbing, burning heel pain with the first steps after getting out of bed is one of the most recognizable symptoms in orthopedics — and one of the most common causes of foot pain in adults. Plantar fasciitis is often mistakenly reduced to a "heel spur" and treated with methods of questionable effectiveness, while the evidence points to a much simpler, cheaper first-choice intervention. We check what actually raises the risk of this condition, which treatment methods have real support in research, and why popular steroid injections carry a risk that's rarely discussed openly.
MNMichał Nowak13 min
September 10, 2026
GuidesFrozen Shoulder — Symptoms, Causes, and What Effective Rehabilitation Looks Like
Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) can develop over months, starting with unremarkable pain and ending in a dramatic loss of shoulder mobility that makes even getting dressed or reaching for a wallet in a back pocket difficult. The popular belief that the problem will "go away on its own" within a year is, in light of newer research, an oversimplification — and the choice between physical therapy, a steroid injection, and an invasive procedure can be less obvious than popular guides suggest. We check what actually raises the risk of frozen shoulder, why it's so strongly linked to diabetes and thyroid disease, and which treatment methods have real support in research.
MNMichał Nowak14 min
September 10, 2026
GuidesPMDD — How Does It Differ from PMS?
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) are often treated as the same thing, just at different intensities. That's a mistake — PMDD is a distinct diagnostic entity in the DSM-5, dominated not by bloating or breast tenderness, but by severe, cyclical mood symptoms: irritability bordering on explosiveness, deep sadness, anxiety, and a sense of losing control, severe enough to genuinely disrupt work and relationships for a dozen-plus days every month. We explain where this distinction comes from, what research shows about its biological basis, and why SSRIs — sometimes taken for only half the cycle — are the first-line treatment.
PZdr Piotr Zieliński13 min
September 10, 2026
GuidesDigital Eye Strain — How to Deal With It?
Burning, tired eyes by the end of a day at the screen, blurred vision after hours in a spreadsheet, a headache that shows up right when you close the laptop — it's not your imagination. Digital eye strain (computer vision syndrome) affects, according to meta-analyses, most regular screen users. The problem is that the most popular piece of advice — the 20-20-20 rule — rests on much weaker research support than its popularity would suggest. We check what actually happens to your eyes during screen work and which strategies have real evidence behind them.
JWJulia Wiśniewska13 min
September 10, 2026
GuidesGlaucoma — Risk Factors and Prevention
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide, yet most people who have it don't know it — the most common form gives no symptoms for years, until visual field loss becomes significant. There's no single test that predicts it with total certainty, but decades of epidemiological research and one of the most important clinical trials in ophthalmology — the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study — have made it possible to describe fairly precisely who falls into a higher-risk group and how often it's worth getting checked. This article isn't a guide to treating glaucoma — we focus on risk factors and what an average reader can realistically do about prevention and early detection.
KLdr Katarzyna Lewandowska13 min
September 10, 2026
GuidesHalitosis — What Actually Causes Bad Breath
Bad breath is usually blamed on poor hygiene — but in the vast majority of cases, it isn't about brushing too rarely. Systematic reviews show that in 85-90% of cases the source of the problem sits in the mouth itself, and the single most common cause is bacterial coating on the back of the tongue, not gum disease or a bad diet. We check what's actually known about the causes of halitosis, how it's really diagnosed in clinical settings, and which interventions — tongue scraping, specific mouthwashes, probiotics — have real support in clinical trials, and which are mostly a promise printed on the packaging.
MNMichał Nowak13 min
September 10, 2026
GuidesBlack Seed — Nigella Sativa Oil and Its Properties
Black seed oil (Nigella sativa) is often marketed as a near cure-all — from immune support to fighting cancer. The reality is more restrained, though far from empty: several independent meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials show a real, if modest, effect on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes, lipid profile, and blood pressure. We check which claims are backed by clinical studies in humans and which remain at the test-tube or animal-model stage.
MNMichał Nowak13 min
September 10, 2026
GuidesRapamycin and Longevity: What Animal Studies and the First Human Trials Show
Rapamycin (sirolimus) is an immunosuppressant drug that has been used for more than 20 years after organ transplants, and it has simultaneously become one of the most studied candidates for an anti-aging drug. The reason is concrete: it is the only pharmacological intervention that consistently extends lifespan across independently repeated mouse studies. A growing number of people outside transplant clinics are seeking it out off-label, hoping for a similar effect in humans — even though evidence for that is still practically nonexistent, and the drug remains a real immunosuppressant with real side effects. We look at what animal studies have actually shown, what the first larger human trial (PEARL) has demonstrated so far, and where the line lies between promising science and premature self-medication.
AKdr Anna Kowalczyk14 min
September 9, 2026
GuidesSpermidine and Autophagy: What Animal Studies and Early Human Trials Actually Show
Spermidine is a natural polyamine present in every cell of our body, whose levels steadily decline with age. It's one of the few natural compounds with real, repeated mechanistic evidence of autophagy activation and a large observational study linking higher intake to lower mortality. But it's also a good example of how a promising result from a small human pilot trial (30 people) failed to hold up in a larger, better-designed trial (100 people) run by the same team. We take a close look at what each study actually showed, and where the limits of our current knowledge lie.
AKdr Anna Kowalczyk13 min
September 9, 2026
GuidesFisetin as a Senolytic: What the Mouse Study Showed and Where Human Research Stands Today
Fisetin is a flavonoid found in strawberries, apples, and onions that made longevity-media headlines in 2018 as the strongest of the studied natural senolytics — compounds that selectively clear senescent (aging) cells. The mouse result was genuinely strong: extended lifespan and reduced markers of aging across many tissues. The problem is that several years have passed since that study, and clinical trials in humans are still at the stage of pilot safety trials, not confirmed efficacy. We take a close look at what is actually known and what remains only a promising hypothesis.
AKdr Anna Kowalczyk13 min
September 9, 2026
GuidesQuercetin as a Senolytic: What the First Human Studies of the Dasatinib + Quercetin Combination Show
Quercetin, the same flavonoid we covered in an earlier article in the context of allergic rhinitis, plays an entirely different, far more experimental role in aging biology: as part of a combination with the oncology drug dasatinib (the "D+Q" protocol), studied as a senolytic — a substance that selectively clears senescent cells. This is the first pair of senolytic compounds for which real data have been published showing a reduction in senescent cells in humans, not just in animals. We take a close look at what these first clinical trials actually showed, what role quercetin itself actually plays in them, and where the limits of this evidence lie.
AKdr Anna Kowalczyk13 min
September 9, 2026
GuidesGinseng for Fatigue and Cognitive Function
Ginseng is one of the longest-used adaptogens in the world, and its effect on fatigue and cognitive function has been tested in dozens of clinical trials — with results that resist a one-line summary. In cancer patients with chronic fatigue, the effect is often clear and repeatable; in healthy people with everyday mental tiredness, the evidence is far weaker and inconsistent. We check what the clinical trials actually showed, where the effect is most credible, and where supplement marketing outruns the science.
MNMichał Nowak13 min
September 9, 2026
GuidesOMAD (One Meal a Day) — Is It Safe?
OMAD (One Meal A Day) is the most extreme popular variant of intermittent fasting — the entire day's calories and nutrients squeezed into a single, usually one-hour window. Unlike gentler protocols like 16:8, OMAD comes with its own distinct set of risks that rarely make it into popular write-ups: a higher risk of gallstones, large blood-sugar swings after one enormous meal, real difficulty covering protein and micronutrient needs, and open questions about where discipline ends and a disordered-eating pattern begins. We check what the research actually shows.
MNMichał Nowak13 min
September 9, 2026
Guides
Endocrine Disruptors — BPA and Phthalates: What Should We Actually Worry About?
Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates are everywhere — in plastic bottles, receipts, food packaging, cosmetics, and toys. For two decades scientists have warned these compounds may disrupt hormone function, and regulators in Europe and the US have reached strikingly different conclusions about how worried to be. We check what human studies actually show, where the evidence from animal models and high doses ends, and whether popular "BPA-free" alternatives are genuinely safer.
PZdr Piotr Zieliński14 min
September 9, 2026
Guides
10,000 Steps a Day — Myth or Proven Number?
The figure of 10,000 steps a day sounds like a research finding — round, specific, repeated by fitness apps and doctors alike. In reality it comes from a Japanese pedometer maker's 1965 marketing campaign, not from any clinical study. Only decades later did science actually examine how many daily steps are genuinely associated with lower mortality — and the answer is more nuanced, and for many people far more achievable, than the round number from a pedometer ad suggests.
MNMichał Nowak13 min
September 9, 2026
GuidesThyroid Nodules — When Should You Worry?
Thyroid nodules are surprisingly common — high-resolution ultrasound studies detect them in the majority of adults past a certain age, though they're far less often palpable on physical exam. Being told "you have a nodule on your thyroid," however, tends to trigger disproportionate anxiety, because in reality the vast majority of nodules are benign and never require treatment. We check what the American Thyroid Association guidelines and the TI-RADS system actually say about which nodules need further workup and which can safely be observed.
PZdr Piotr Zieliński14 min
September 9, 2026
GuidesHow to Lower Cortisol Naturally? 10 Ways That Actually Have Evidence
The internet is full of "7 ways to lower cortisol" lists that put diaphragmatic breathing next to a trendy supplement with zero research behind it, as if they belonged in the same category. We decided to do this differently: we checked which popular cortisol-lowering methods actually have studies measuring this hormone, rather than just a subjective sense of "feeling less stressed." The result is ten methods of varying evidence strength — with a clear distinction between what's solidly confirmed and what's still only preliminary.
MWdr Marek Wójcik19 min
September 7, 2026
GuidesHow to Improve Sleep Quality? 12 Ways Backed by Scientific Research
"Sleep hygiene" guides usually lump together tips of wildly different evidentiary weight — cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, backed by dozens of randomized trials, sits right next to advice like "sleep in a pitch-black room," for which the hard data is much thinner. We gathered twelve concrete ways to improve sleep quality and checked, for each one, what the research actually shows — clearly distinguishing the gold-standard treatment for insomnia from supportive, still-worthwhile-but-secondary habits.
JWJulia Wiśniewska21 min
September 7, 2026
GuidesHow to Increase Energy During the Day? 10 Science-Backed Ways
"Chronic fatigue" is one of the most common reasons people see a primary care doctor, and at the same time one of the worst-served topics in online guides — because alongside genuinely useful habits (sleep, movement, hydration), these guides regularly offer unverifiable promises of an "instant energy boost." We collected ten concrete ways to increase daytime energy that have real research behind them — including three that aren't a habit at all, but a signal to get a blood test before changing your lifestyle.
MNMichał Nowak18 min
September 7, 2026
GuidesHow to Improve Insulin Sensitivity? 10 Ways Backed by Research
Insulin resistance rarely gives clear symptoms before it progresses into prediabetes or type 2 diabetes — and the internet is full of advice like "drink apple cider vinegar and eat cinnamon and your blood sugar will sort itself out." Some of that advice has real, if modest, research support; other parts are single, overhyped findings. We gathered ten ways to improve insulin sensitivity with genuine scientific documentation, clearly separating what's strongly proven from what's still promising but preliminary.
MNMichał Nowak19 min
September 7, 2026
GuidesHow to Lower LDL Cholesterol Naturally? 10 Effective Ways Backed by Research
Elevated LDL cholesterol rarely hurts and rarely gives symptoms — we usually find out about it by chance, from a lipid panel result. In response, the internet offers dozens of "natural ways to lower cholesterol," some backed by solid randomized-trial meta-analyses, and others — as we've shown in our own dedicated tests — that simply don't work the way popular opinion claims. We gathered ten ways with real scientific documentation, with a clear assessment of how much LDL reduction you can realistically expect from each.
KLdr Katarzyna Lewandowska18 min
September 7, 2026
GuidesHow to Lower Triglycerides? 10 Ways That Actually Work
Triglycerides are the most "lifestyle-reactive" parameter on a lipid panel — unlike LDL, which changes slowly and moderately, triglyceride levels can drop (or rise) noticeably within a few weeks in response to diet, alcohol, or physical activity. That's good news for someone with an elevated result — but it's also fertile ground for popular oversimplifications. We gathered ten ways to lower triglycerides with real scientific documentation, clearly distinguishing which give a large, fast effect and which are a valuable but slower addition.
KLdr Katarzyna Lewandowska18 min
September 7, 2026
GuidesHow to Increase VO2 Max? 10 Evidence-Based Ways to Improve Your Fitness
VO2 max — the maximum amount of oxygen the body can take up during exercise — is one of the strongest, most consistent predictors of all-cause mortality among routinely measurable health markers. The internet is full of shortcuts on how to raise it: from the cult "zone 2 vs. HIIT" debate, through supplements of questionable value, to advice that confuses an acute physiological effect with a long-term adaptation. We gathered ten ways that actually have research backing — with an honest distinction between what's well documented and what's still preliminary.
MNMichał Nowak19 min
September 7, 2026