Send questions about the office, money, careers and work-life balance to workfriend@nytimes.com. Include your name and location, even if you want them withheld. Letters may be edited. Information Technology Pirates The new I.T. director at my large, international office is a rude, condescending jerk. We’ve been through years without any I.T. leadership — the previous…
Pregnant women who work night shifts may have an increased risk for miscarriage. Researchers studied 22,744 pregnant Danish women, tracking their work schedules and hospital admissions for miscarriage using government databases. The study, in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, found that after eight weeks of pregnancy, women who had worked two or more night shifts during…
Image Big shoes: Jessica Pels in the offices of Cosmopolitan, with a photograph of Helen Gurley Brown behind her.CreditAmy Lombard for The New York Times “Bad ideas first!” is how Jessica Pels began a session brainstorming cover lines for the May issue of Cosmopolitan. She was named editor in chief at the Hearst Magazines publication…
Q. Eating dark chocolate is encouraged for its health benefits. I’ve been buying chocolate with 75 percent to 90 percent cocoa content. But the label notes a high amount of saturated fat. Is this as harmful as the saturated fat in meat? A. The fat in chocolate is not as harmful as the fat in…
Perhaps it started with the fortuneteller. Though I’d spent my 32 years steering clear of all tarot card readers and psychics — aware that whatever they prophesied would indelibly burrow itself into my mind — one happened to be holding court at an event I attended. I maintained my usual skepticism, until my co-worker returned…
Some research has suggested that drinking alcohol in moderation could have protective effects against stroke. However, a large cohort study in a Chinese population shows that this is not the case at all. A large new cohort study emphasizes that any alcohol intake can increase the risk of stroke. We know that alcohol consumption can…
Female sex hormones, or sex steroids, play vital roles in sexual development, reproduction, and general health. Sex hormone levels change over time, but some of the most significant changes happen during puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. In this article, we discuss the different types of female sex hormones, their roles in the body, and how they…
After Christmas last year, when my boyfriend’s children were with his ex-wife, he and I went on vacation with my daughters to a sunny spot far from our separate homes in Montana. We have been together for years, sometimes blending our children’s lives, sometimes not, feeling no need (I don’t think?) to define our arrangement…
Researchers have known for decades that inflammation accompanies Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain lesions. Several early studies suggested that “super-aspirins” or Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) could help avoid the disease. However, after clinical trials showed that NSAIDs don’t help patients who already have AD symptoms, doctors wondered whether these drugs could still be helpful to people…
Dentists can miss important details on x-rays when put under time pressure, according to new research led by the University of Plymouth. The study, published in the Journal of Dentistry, showed that primary care dentists missed 67% of bone loss and 40% of tooth decay on a sample of dental x-rays, when given limited time…