Anyone with ovaries who lives long enough will experience menopause. While menopause is a natural transition in midlife, it can strongly affect a person’s quality of life and their current and future risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and other issues. So you might think that whether someone is experiencing or has gone through menopause ...Read more

When our second child was born, my spouse had several weeks of paternity leave under his parental leave policy at work.

I’m a certified family life educator, and parental leave comes up regularly in my teaching and community work. So I was aware of the benefits his leave could have for our family – in theory.

Still, I ...Read more

“Would you like your receipt?”

It’s a question you’re likely to hear every time you pop into the grocery store or stop for a latte on the way to work. Some people may also have heard warnings that have circulated for more than 15 years that if you say yes, toxic chemicals might rub off on your fingertips.

As a recent ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Our daughter plays field hockey, and it can get physical on the field with collisions and falls. We're worried that we won't know if she gets a concussion. What signs should we watch for?

ANSWER: With school team sports amping up, student-athletes are at greater risk of concussion. In addition to coaches, parents play a role ...Read more

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month. This year alone, nearly 68,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with leukemia. Mayo Clinic hematologist and oncologist Dr. Cecilia Arana Yi says treatment is changing, and it's giving patients more options.

Unlike many cancers that form solid tumors, leukemia is a cancer of the blood-forming cells ...Read more

Every year, droughts affect millions of people around the world, including children. Drought conditions can have far-reaching effects on families and communities, impacting water supplies, food production, air quality and overall health.

A drought happens when there is not enough rain or snow for a long time. This can make both the ground and ...Read more

The San Vicente de Paúl Nursing Home in the South Bronx hasn’t admitted a patient since December 2024. ArchCare, which operates the facility, has reduced its capacity from 120 available beds to 53 and plans to shrink it further.

Another ArchCare nursing home, on Staten Island, has shut down a full floor. North of the city, in Dutchess County...Read more

Eighteen months after his initial diagnosis, chemotherapy hadn’t slowed 21-year-old Mason Henderson’s rare brain tumor, which had spread to his spinal fluid. So he left his home in southeastern Texas to spend three weeks in a clinical trial in New York City.

But that failed, too, leaving a murky path for Henderson, whose cancer was so rare ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Denise Fitzsimmons knew that removing the fast-growing lump above her eyebrow in 2024 didn’t eliminate the possibility that her melanoma could return.

But a clinical trial at Penn Medicine offered the 63-year-old grandmother from Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, hope of a more enduring remission. It tested a novel vaccine, based on ...Read more

Teens in southeast Michigan go to school carrying with them far more than backpacks, books and water bottles.

Many are shouldering economic hardship, exposure to adversity and discrimination, family responsibilities, uncertainty about the future and social pressures.

These sentiments were shared with our research teams ...Read more

For many southwestern Pennsylvania students, this school year has already included days away from the classroom because of the buildings themselves. Mold has closed schools in at least four districts, and early September heat pushed 35 Pittsburgh Public Schools buildings to remote learning.

The problems aren’t limited to the region:...Read more

Is Kansas City bat country? Recent guidance from local health departments says you should be prepared as exposure to bats has increased.

The Kansas City, Missouri Health Department and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment are urging residents to take extra precautions as the region reports that more residents have encountered the ...Read more

BALTIMORE — University of Maryland Medical System saw a spike in rabies-related encounters this summer as state animal bite cases hit their highest point in August since 2018, according to data from UMMS and the Maryland Department of Health.

UMMS saw 493 rabies-related encounters across its 14 emergency departments from June to August this ...Read more

At least a quarter of Americans suffer from high levels of cholesterol or fatty acids in their bloodstream, a condition called dyslipidemia. Uncontrolled cholesterol levels increase the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, or ASCVD: a group of diseases that result from the buildup of plaque in the blood vessels, preventing blood ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Joshua and Ashley Durham run a family medicine practice, and for the first time in their lives, they have no health insurance.

When the Durhams began their practice at the end of 2023 — he as a primary care physician and she as a pharmacist who handles the billing — the couple bought coverage for themselves and their two ...Read more

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”

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Paul Nestadt is about as steeped in suicide prevention as a person can be.

He treats suicidal patients as a psychiatrist, has co-authored scores of research papers on how and why people kill ...Read more

A blood test to detect multiple forms of cancer received support Wednesday from a federal health panel, one day after a Mayo Clinic-led study showed it discovered undiagnosed cases of lung, breast, colon and other cancers.

The results raise hopes that a single test could one day replace multiple tests, such as mammograms for breast cancer and ...Read more

“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