From alchemists to Ming emperors, the search for immortality has taken us to some pretty wild places. When Ponce de Leon landed in Florida in 1513, his mythical search for the Fountain of Youth could be interpreted as a quest…
The human circulatory system is a remarkable feat of biological engineering. With just one muscle (your heart) pumping upwards of 1.5 gallons of blood throughout the body, it only takes a single minute to circulate fully—from the top of your…
As uncomfortable as the thought may be, most of us understand that we shed our skin. Not all in one go, like a snake, but gradually over time. When we’re young, skin grows, emerges, dies, and sheds on something like…
Being a man in the 21st century is different than in ages past. We’re encouraged to be open, honest, and to seek the help we need—both physical and psychological. But despite the progress made in the many philosophies of masculinity,…
In the age of hour-long Zoom meetings, nearly everyone has found something to hate about their face. The phenomenon even has its own, buzzy name: “Zoom dysphoria.” It’s easy to understand, of course. With boring meetings dragging on, the eyes…
Urinary incontinence stalks us wherever we go. At the movie theater, on our commute to the office, or even in our home garden, we’re constantly planning our exit strategy so we can reach the nearest bathroom rapidly. As stressful and…
In Boston, the days have grown longer and the afternoons warmer. Here at the end of the spring season, most of us have one thing on our minds: summer fun in the high sun. It’s widely known that a little…
From an early age, we know what aging looks like. Even as children we notice how growing older includes sprouting wrinkles, discolored spots, and oddly textured patches of skin. By all accounts, we’re programmed to count the years in the…
By most accounts, the traditional surgical facelift is over 100 years old. A “rhytidectomy,” as it’s called in surgical circles, was first performed by Eugene von Hollander in Berlin, Germany, around 1901. In the 120-odd years following its creation, the…
For most American men, it’s not fashionable to care too much about our appearance. Fussy, self-conscious behavior isn’t the way of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or other 20th-century icons of masculinity. But this is the 21st century—an age of body…