“Families are messy, aren’t they?” a daughter commented during a series of focus groups I ran with caregivers of older adults with memory issues.

Many people would agree with that sentiment. The complexity can be compounded when caring for someone who has a disease such as Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia that impairs ...Read more

The numbers are clear: Americans aren’t getting enough fiber.

Research has consistently shown that high-fiber diets are linked to significant health benefits, including a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer, as well as improved arthritis symptoms.

Despite these benefits, there remains a significant ...Read more

The Ebola virus is still spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo and threatening neighboring countries, according to the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While there’s been some relief in Congo’s Ituri province where the outbreak began, cases are spreading along the nation’s borders with Uganda, Rwanda,...Read more

Medicare covers the bulk of your health care expenses after you turn 65. But Medicare’s rules can be confusing and mistakes are costly. If you don't make the right choices to fill in the gaps, you could end up with high premiums and high out-of-pocket costs. Worse, if you miss key deadlines when signing up for Medicare, you could have a ...Read more

Q: Should you try microgreens?

A: You may have noticed the trend toward smaller, more delicate produce. Microgreens are young vegetables and herbs — like radish, kale and broccoli — harvested early in their growth. At this stage, they’ve developed just their first leaves (called cotyledons) and are only a few inches tall. Despite their ...Read more

If we’re naming things that speed up looking and feeling older, factors such as sun exposure, stress, or smoking may come to mind. But here’s something you might not have considered: worrying about aging may actually leave its mark on the body in a similar way.

Anxiety about the aging process — especially fears about declining health — ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I know that drinking too much alcohol can harm the liver, but I don’t really understand why. What have Mayo Clinic researchers learned about the link between alcohol and fatty liver disease?

ANSWER: A new study conducted by Mayo Clinic researchers found that exposure to excessive alcohol alters an important enzyme that ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My older sister was recently diagnosed with thickened heart muscle, and her doctor recommended a procedure called a "septal myectomy." I’ve never heard of it before. What does this surgery do, and how do doctors know when it's the right treatment?

ANSWER: Hearing that someone you love may need heart surgery can be scary, ...Read more

The Trump administration’s announced Tuesday it would remove roughly 760,000 enrollees from Affordable Care Act coverage. But the move is unlikely to affect many people — if any at all — in California.

Vice President JD Vance, alongside other top officials, said the effort was part of the administration’s crackdown on fraud and would ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Southern California's unprecedented humidity fueled by El Niño conditions is giving a boost to mosquitoes and helping spread West Nile virus, experts say.

West Nile virus cases in Los Angeles County are the highest they've been in more than a decade, records show.

The spike is thanks in part to Southern California's ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The White House is working with Senate leadership to get health care fraud legislation over the finish line before the end of the congressional session, Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday during an announcement about cracking down on health care fraud.

As part of that announcement, Vance said the Trump administration has ...Read more

An ironic development emerging alongside the “Make America Healthy Again” movement is the portrayal of nicotine as a wellness and performance-enhancing product. Across social media, podcasts, wellness communities and tech startups, prominent wellness personalities and other influencers are portraying nicotine as a misunderstood compound ...Read more

Taxi and ambulance drivers are less likely than workers in almost any other job to die of Alzheimer’s disease. That was the surprising result of a 2024 study examining the death certificates of nearly 9 million people in the U.S.

These findings stopped me in my tracks because those two jobs rely on the same thing as my own work: ...Read more

SEATTLE — Even as fewer Washington parents chose to have their kindergartners vaccinated last year, the overall percentage of K-12 students receiving required shots held steady.

According to recent data from the state Department of Health, about 90% of all students met vaccine requirements during the 2025-2026 year, less than 1% higher than ...Read more

Pennsylvania recorded nearly 100 new cases of measles in the last week, bringing the total case count for this year to 792, state officials said Monday.

The state’s measles outbreak is the largest in the country in 2026 and is centered in Lancaster County, which has reported more than 300 cases this year.

Chester County has confirmed 76 ...Read more

CHICAGO — Gov. JB Pritzker disclosed Monday that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two years ago and has since lost 80 pounds using a GLP-1 drug.

The Democrat, 61, described his weight-loss journey in an essay on Substack and in select media interviews. The coordinated rollout comes as he seeks a rare third term as Illinois governor in ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA – In the last month, Pennsylvania health officials have announced four measles-associated deaths but have been tight-lipped about almost every detail, beyond sharing their county of residence and that all were unvaccinated.

Most of what the public knows about the four deaths linked to the outbreak — ranging in age from a ...Read more

Philadelphians die in traffic crashes more than people who live in Chicago, Boston, Washington and New York.

In fact, three times more Philly residents than New Yorkers died in traffic crashes in 2024, according to a report from the Philadelphia city controller’s office based on the most recent data available.

I research ...Read more

Smartwatches have become an increasingly popular way for people to monitor their health and fitness. About 100 million – nearly 4 in 10 – U.S. adults own a smartwatch. Worldwide, market research estimates approximately 560 million smartwatch wearers.

Yet a growing body of research demonstrates that one of the most commonly used ...Read more

The human body is remarkably good at getting used to the environment around it. You’ve probably experienced this if you’ve ever gone to a matinee and emerged from the dark theater into sunshine. Your eyes sting, so you squint and shield your face until they adjust to the bright sunlight.

In the same way, the body can grow ...Read more