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In fact, as healthcare technology and treatment options expand, preference misdiagnosis has grown increasingly common. Why? Doctors usually assume they’re making treatment recommendations based on patient preferences—but patients don’t always know enough about possible treatment alternatives to make their true wishes known, says analysis co-author, Glyn Elwyn, PhD. More from Prevention: Is Your Doctor Keeping Secrets? “Patients often avoid asking too many questions for fear of being labeled as difficult, or think the doctor will get annoyed with them for taking up too much time,” says Elwyn....

Also known as salt chamber treatment (SCT) or halotherapy, dry salt air therapy involves spending time relaxing in a spa-like environment while salt-infused air is pumped into the room. The treatment space may also feature salt-covered walls and salt crystals strewn about the floor, and a 40-minute session typically costs around $45. MORE: 13 Healing Spas To Visit In Your Lifetime It may sound nuts, but the mythology is tantalizing: Mine workers and refugees hiding during World War II noticed time spent in salty caves improved their breathing....

Sure, you’ve mastered the pie and the crisp, but did you ever think to morph fall’s most beloved seasonal fruit into a gyro? What about in a smoothie recipe? We’re here to tell you there’s more to those Galas, Braeburns, and Cortlands than your favorite childhood desserts. (Trying to eat healthier but don’t have the time for grocery shopping? Sign up for Chef’d and get all the ingredients and recipes delivered to your doorstep....

Why the big shift in thinking from 2010’s guidelines, which advise Americans to limit cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg (1 large egg has 186 mg) per day? According to the committee’s report, the available evidence condemning dietary cholesterol just doesn’t add up. Considerable research actually shows that the liver makes about 80% of the cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream, while dietary sources of cholesterol only account for about 20%....

So you want to eat cleaner…but you also want to preserve your sanity. What to do? Simplify your nightly dinner routine with recipes so simple your dog could probably get the gist. Get started with these easy, tasty meals from all around the blogosphere.

We’re having an energy crisis in this country, and it’s not just about fossil fuels. Our frenetic modern lifestyles require constant momentum. We simply don’t have the time—or desire—to be still, regardless of how fatigued we feel. As a result, energy has become a commodity that we buy and ingest. Coffee is the elixir of productivity, and every city block has a Starbucks to ensure we get our fix. While caffeine overuse is a concern, as a physician I have become increasingly alarmed by the explosion in popularity of commercial energy drinks....

Walking 6,000 or more steps per day (about 3 miles) is associated with a reduced risk of functional limitation in adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA), reports a new study published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research. Researchers used pedometers to track the daily steps of 1,788 participants aged 50 to 79 for seven days. Two years later, researchers evaluated participants’ functional ability by testing their walking speed, as well as collecting self-reported data on participants’ ability to perform everyday tasks like climbing stairs, getting out of a chair, and performing household activities....

“There is clear evidence that these drugs reduce the risk of spinal and hip fractures,” says Linda A. Russell, MD, an attending physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery. “But when a patient has been on the drug for 3-5 years, you have to look at whether they still need it, or if they should take a holiday.” So if you’re one of the 10 million people with osteoporosis in the US—or among the 34 million at risk—does this mean you should stop taking your osteoporosis drugs?...

If you suffer an acute injury and have a full tear of your rotator cuff, surgery may be the option that offers the best chance for a complete recovery. More from Prevention: Is Your Purse Wrecking Your Back? But if your shoulder pain develops gradually and without injury, you’re better off initially trying rehabilitation and nonoperative treatments. “The vast majority of women with shoulder pain don’t require surgery,” says Joseph Zuckerman, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases....

Foot Action—Why It MattersWith the average American taking 5,117 steps a day — and experts recommending we take close to 5,000 more — our footwear is hardly an inconsequential choice. A 2012 survey found 78 percent of American adults over the age of 21 report having had some sort of foot pain or issue at some point in their lives, and more than half reported having such issues at the time of the survey....

Heart Helper / Vitamin C Power (% daily value) Yellow bell pepper (1 cup, chopped) 365% Broccoli (1 stalk) 142% Papaya (1 cup, cubed) 115% Strawberries (1 cup, whole) 113% Brussels sprouts (1 cup, whole) 100% Kiwifruit (1 medium) 94% Oranges (1 medium) 93% Cantaloupe (1 cup, cubed) 78%

YOUR WEEKLY SCHEDULE MONDAY: HIIT Hills Challenge your heart and legs with these 1-minute, fat-burning incline intervals. How to do it: This routine is best done on hilly terrain. If you don’t have easy access to a good hill, you could hop on a treadmill (pick an incline that feels challenging) or sub in a set of stairs. 0:00–1:00: Warm up with an easy walk or jog on a flat surface....

Does all long hair eventually get split ends? Unfortunately, yes—and nobody’s immune. “Split ends happen to everyone,” Strahan says. “They’re the result of things like using blow-dryers, curling irons and flat irons, from various forms of hair color, and also just age and dehydration.” How can you keep the ends of hair healthy?“The things that help to maintain the health of your ends are regular trims,” Strahan says. “Also, use great shampoos and conditioners that help keep the hair hydrated and strengthen against future damage....

This awesome starch passes through the small intestine without being digested, which means it has slashed caloric value—that’s one reason why it’s been linked to weight loss and increased fat burning. And chances are, you eat it almost every day, since RS is found in many starchy whole foods like oats, barley, lentils, black beans, unripe bananas, and some types of corn. Better yet, you can increase the RS of foods like rice, potatoes, and pasta and cut their number of calories in the foods by up to half (!...

Safeguard against cold sores Just when you thought cold sores couldn’t get more annoying…New research in the journal Neurology finds an association between cold sores and cognitive decline. Scary as that is, it’s only an association—not cause. Still, to prime your immune system, follow these be-gone blister tricks. [sidebar] 6 diet myths, debunked After we read in the journal Eating Behaviors that chewing mint gum doesn’t make you eat less after all, we got to thinking: what other diet myths are out there?...

De-stress with breath Turns out breathing may be an indicator of how stressed people really are, according to a new biomarker analysis published in the Journal of Breath Research. But while breath can certainly signal stress, it can also cure it. Here’s how. The secret to great sleep One word: exercise. In a recent poll, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) surveyed 1,000 people from across the country on their sleep and lifestyle habits, and found that those who identified themselves as exercisers slept better on days when they worked out....

Ditch the food dye Or at least of the blue variety, warns a new study published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. Researchers found that both Patent and Brilliant Blue food dyes—found in food, textiles, leathers, and cosmetics—can enter the bloodstream and seriously hurt our health. The good news: You can cut your risk of exposure. Here’s how. Tweet yourself thin Another reason to love Twitter: New research from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health finds that individuals who use the social site lose more weight than those who don’t, with every 10 tweets corresponding to a 0....

What do you really want? Well, chances are that if you’re a man, what you really want is a new car, specifically a Ford, according to a new social media study that analyzed 27 billion conversations over a full year on Twitter and Facebook. Women, on the other hand, really want ice cream. In fact, cars aside, both sexes are mostly concerned about food. Why Do More Black Women Die Of Breast Cancer?...

HEALTHY EATING IN THE CARDriving all day cuts your average daily calorie burn by 400. Follow these healthy eating tips to help readjust your intake (from your normal 1,800 calories to 1,400, for example) and bypass the thousands of junk-food-filled rest stops along US highways. Drink up “The recirculated air in a car can make you thirsty, which you might mistake for hunger,” says Charles Stuart Platkin, MPH, founder of dietdetective....