Greater meaning in life, and better physical and mental health, can be cultivated by identifying what really matters to you and doing more of that — Strong sense of purpose — doing things that matter to you — is linked to better health, greater happiness and longer life. The benefits are found in studies of teenagers and retirees and everyone in between. Meanwhile, scientists are figuring out how any of us can proactively cultivate a greater…

The modern quest for immortality, which began 30 years ago, aims to cure aging. But are we any closer after billions of dollars of research? And is there an upper limit to how long we can live? — Thirty years ago, scientists found a genetic quirk that doubled the lifespan of a lowly worm. The discovery, announced on Dec. 2, 1993, kickstarted the modern quest for human immortality or, at the very least, extreme longevity. The effort, championed by serious scientists and hype-prone futurists alike, has accelerated dramatically…

Always expecting more, more, more, it fails to acknowledge the rest needed after hard workouts — Garmin monitors my heart rate, steps taken during the day, and workouts like swimming, biking or running via a watch linked to an app on my phone. It knows how much I move every day and how intensely I exercise. …

Engaging, actionable health and wellness writing plus insightful reader comments — Thanks to phenomenal reader interest and a growing team of energetic, highly qualified, engaging writers, Wise & Well’s recent launch totally made my day. Now I hope we can make your day… and make your tomorrow a little better. Welcome to the inaugural edition of our weekly newsletter, in which…

Science-backed healthy insights you can use to improve your physical, mental and emotional well-being. Without all the hype. — Health and wellness news and information is a jumble of good and bad, current and outdated, helpful and dangerous. Meanwhile, the healthcare system is broken, drug companies peddle sometimes dangerous meds that often don’t work as marketed, and the food industry profits handsomely off highly processed stuff we wouldn’t feed…

Your surprising, impressive ability to learn new skills in art, languages or music later in life can boost overall brainpower — Puzzling over puzzles or improving on some lifelong passion like music or writing might help keep an aging mind sharp. But if you really want to amp up your brainpower, actually grow your broader cognitive abilities and kickstart whole new neural pathways, try learning something totally new. Or perhaps two…

Make sure you don’t miss our best writing and reporting, plus brief updates on health news and nods to your most amazing comments — Health and wellness advice comes at us in a daily firehose of confusing news, questionable social media posts and outright misinformation. Wise & Well exists to help make sense of it all for you, slowing things down to a relative trickle of expertly written, insightful, inspirational and actionable articles.

Introducing Wise & Well, a new outlet for journalists, topical experts and other talented writers that’s part of Medium’s Boost program — This week I soft-launched a new site on Medium. Wise & Well is a health and wellness publication offering science-backed insights into healthy behaviors to cultivate physical health and mental well-being. As an invited participant in Medium’s recently launched Boost Nomination Pilot Program, Wise & Well is a great opportunity…

Tests and treatments were designed for men, creating a vast, deadly, unnecessary gender gap. — Compared to men, women are grossly disregarded and underserved in the diagnosis and treatment of the slow creep of heart disease and also sudden heart attacks. Diagnostic tools for these cardiovascular conditions — and standard treatment approaches still in use — were originally created based on symptoms in men.