Is coffee actually good for you — or should you be sipping more peppermint tea? Does suffering from morning sickness mean you’ll have an extra-bright baby — or was the size of that new study you read about too small to mean much? And is early screening for prostate cancer a good idea for men or not?

There’s certainly no shortage of questions about what makes solid health news — and how to interpret it. So beginning today, longtime health writer Susan Perry will help MinnPost readers make their way through the thicket of health happenings, trends, studies and research in a new blog called “Second Opinion.”

Susan knows her way around the confusing world of health news. Her articles have appeared in a variety of local and national publications, and she is a former writer/editor for Time-Life Books and a former editor of Nutrition Action Healthletter.

Finally, our thanks to UCare, whose offer to sponsor the health blog enabled us to launch “Second Opinion” at this time.

Have a look!

— Joel Kramer, MinnPost CEO and editor