Happy Sunday − and welcome to the best of The Conversation U.S. Here are a couple of our recently published stories:

• EPA’s new auto emissions standard will speed the transition to cleaner cars, while also addressing consumer and industry concerns
• Jon Stewart, still a ‘tiny, neurotic man,’ back to remind Americans what’s at stake

Most of the stories that tickled readers’ fancies this past week were about former President Donald Trump – will he get an appeal bond, parallels between him and Richard Nixon, and the odds of him or President Joe Biden keeling over while in the White House. But another story that caught the eyes of readers and me was about the health perils of toxic stress.

Lawson R. Wulsin is a psychiatrist specializing in psychosomatic medicine, which is the study and treatment of people who have physical and mental illnesses. In the story, he explains that there is good stress – the kind that keeps you fit and able to cope with daily challenges – and there is chronic stress that becomes toxic and wears down your body, leading to headaches or much worse. Wulsin estimates that at least 20% of people in the U.S. live with toxic stress.

“When we are healthy,” Wulsin writes, “our stress response systems are like an orchestra of organs that miraculously tune themselves and play in unison without our conscious effort – a process called self-regulation. But when we are sick, some parts of this orchestra struggle to regulate themselves, which causes a cascade of stress-related dysregulation that contributes to other conditions.”

His story, which senior health editor Amanda Mascarelli took on because she wanted to bring the issue of toxic stress to a broader audience, ends on a positive note: that it is treatable. If you or someone you know is experiencing toxic stress, Wulsin has some suggestions for what you can do.