Harvard Health Letter Features Q&As from Harvard Doctors

Most issues of the Harvard Health Letter answer one or two reader questions in the "By the Way, Doctor" feature. The newsletter's May 2010 issue answers 13 such reader questions.

Boston (Vocus) May 6, 2010

The third annual all-Q&A issue of the Harvard Health Letter offers answers to readers' serious, whimsical, and just plain curious questions ranging from whether vitamin B12 supplements are safe to what causes excessive belching, how coffee can help with migraine, and what to do about an asymptomatic H. pylori infection. All of the answers are provided by doctors from Harvard Medical School.

Most issues of the Harvard Health Letter answer one or two reader questions in the "By the Way, Doctor" feature. The newsletter's May 2010 issue answers 13 such reader questions:

• Is not washing your face good for your skin?
• Should I stop taking vitamin B12 supplements?
• When is the best time to check your own blood pressure?
• Will a fiber supplement interfere with my medications?
• Should boys be getting the HPV vaccine?
• How can caffeine help migraines?
• Could swimming in cool water give me a heart attack?
• Will thiazide diuretics increase my chances of getting diabetes?
• Are gourmet salts better for you?
• Is Avastin a good choice for treating macular degeneration?
• What can I do about excessive belching and feeling full?
• Does an H. pylori infection without symptoms need to be treated?
• Can even one fatty meal cause heart problems?

Read a full-length sample Q&A: "Could swimming in cool water give me a heart attack?"

The Harvard Health Letter is available from Harvard Health Publications (http://www.health.harvard.edu], the publishing division of Harvard Medical School, for $29 per year. Subscribe at http://www.health.harvard.edu/health] or by calling 877-649-9457 (toll-free).

Media: Contact Raquel Schott at Raquel_Schott(at)hms(dot)harvard(dot)edu for a complimentary copy of the newsletter, or to receive our press releases directly.

###