In John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden, he gets to the crux of empathy when he writes, “You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.” Sympathy is feeling compassion or pity for another person, whereas empathy is seeing a situation through the eyes of another.

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Empathy, or looking at a situation through the eyes of another, is one of our guiding principles.

Empathy is a guiding principle for the editorial team at Medical News Today, and I believe it’s from this intention that our best content is produced.

We, of course, pride ourselves on our accuracy and integrity; this is why we have such a robust editorial process, complete with medical reviews.

But at the end of the day, we are people arming other people with information about their health and well-being. Empathy is a vital part of that equation.

And it would appear that our readers agree. This month, we had several record-breaking days, during which our website received more than a million visits in a 24-hour period. Our reach and impact are growing, and while this is incredibly exciting, it’s a reminder to us that each “visit” is a person like you, seeking information that could have the potential to impact their health.

We don’t take that responsibility lightly. And in some cases, we are brave and wear our hearts on our sleeves. One of our writers penned a Spotlight feature this month on how to cope with a breakup, informed by the latest research and inspired by her own experience.

Other features written by our news team that were popular with our readers this month were about debunking sex myths, why you feel tired all the time, and the top 10 things you should know about your penis or your vagina.

Our readers were also curious about the average weight for women, the apple cider vinegar detox, and natural remedies for constipation (we have certainly all been there before).

Is there a topic that you want the curious crew of MNT to look into? Let us know, and we’ll get on the case. You can also contact us on Twitter and Facebook.

Think of us as your curious friend with an insatiable desire to get to the bottom of your health queries — a friend who has nothing better to do than to dive into the research, retrieve the information, and present it to you in an accessible way.

Oh, and of course, who tries to understand where you’re coming from. See you next month, dear reader.

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