At a recent dental appointment, I was unexpectedly seen by a new provider in my longtime dentist’s practice. Early in the visit, he realized we were both Iranian American. Like me, he had been born and raised in the United States. We were both fluent English speakers and fully accustomed to navigating American medical settings.

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Q: I am 73 and healthy, but my beloved husband has early-stage dementia. His diagnosis was a shock, but on reflection, I realize that he was starting to repeat himself and had forgotten to pay a few bills. He is doing well, yet I know he could already jeopardize our $1.6 million in savings. How can I restructure our financial plan and estate and...Read more

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) is an herb that has a lemon scent and has been used for more than 2,000 years for its medical properties in cultures around the world. It is native to the Mediterranean, but is now cultivated in several countries including North Africa and Western Asia.

Lemon balm contains a variety of compounds, including ...Read more

Hitting your daily fiber quota is notably difficult, but not getting enough can take a toll on everything from your gut to your heart.

“Research shows that higher fiber intake is linked to a lower risk of serious health conditions, including heart disease, pancreatic cancer, and diverticular disease,” says Julie Pace, RDN, a functional ...Read more

Q: What is the role of blood pressure, how does it work, and what are the factors that affect it?

A: A simple way to understand it might be imagining this scenario: You’re in your back yard, holding a hose. When you turn on the water, it shoots through the hose and out the nozzle. The water is moving because it’s under pressure. Similarly, ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: We’re expecting our first child and are so excited. We want to make sure the nursery isn’t just a sweet space for our baby, but also safe. Do you have recommendations for us as we start our nursery project?

ANSWER: After months of anticipation, you’re getting ready to welcome your child into the world. Your main priority...Read more

In February 2025, the richest man in modern history raised a chainsaw over his head to wild applause while on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference. The image of Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk donning a “Dark MAGA” hat, sunglasses indoors and a thick gold chain while wielding the bright red tool handed to him by Argentine...Read more

As a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut or a baseball player.

When I realized I was prone to motion sickness, I backed off the astronaut plan. Later, I learned I couldn’t hit a curveball.

Today, at 65, after a career in media, I have a new plan: to be among the first to recover from ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which has an average ...Read more

More than 92 million American adults take a statin drug to manage high blood cholesterol, but one in ten of those prescribed statins suffer muscle pain and fatigue side effects strong enough to make them quit. New research may help find ways to prevent these effects.

“I’ve had patients who’ve been prescribed statins, and they refused to ...Read more

After a hantavirus outbreak killed three passengers aboard a cruise ship, Washington state residents are wondering if they’re at risk of the deadly rodent-spread disease.

At least three Washington state residents have been exposed to the Andes strain of hantavirus, according to public health officials.

Two King County residents were “...Read more

Public health authorities are monitoring someone in Minnesota who may have been briefly exposed during overseas travel to a cruise ship traveler who tested positive for hantavirus.

The person with the potential exposure has not shown any symptoms or tested positive, but the Minnesota Department of Health is conducting surveillance and notifying...Read more

Three people are being monitored by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment after they were exposed to a person with the Andes hantavirus.

KDHE said it is working alongside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the local health department in monitoring the three.

The exposure occurred internationally after the three came ...Read more

CHICAGO — Health officials are investigating a potential hantavirus case in Illinois, though the case is not linked to a recent outbreak of the illness on a cruise ship, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced Tuesday.

It is believed a Winnebago County resident may have contracted the virus while cleaning a home where rodent ...Read more

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy told the nation, “We choose to go to the moon.” It’s often remembered as a moment of national ambition. In reality, the United States was locked in a Cold War with the Soviet Union, and the fear of falling behind in technological dominance made the mission unavoidable.

Today’s space race is driven by a...Read more

LOS ANGELES — At Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, patients on gurneys line the hallways of the emergency department waiting for care, and overflow mental health patients are consigned to outdoor tents.

The 152-bed hospital, which sits on a sprawling medical campus close to the predominantly Latino and Black neighborhood of Watts, ...Read more

Tumors need two things to thrive: a good blood supply and a way to keep the immune system at bay. Scientists have discovered the protein that helps skin cancer achieve both, and proved that disabling it shrinks tumors and reactivates the immune system.

The molecule, known as the transcription factor HOXD13, helps control gene activity and is ...Read more

America’s obesity rate is near record highs, and that may pose more than just health problems.

Children with obesity are less likely to climb the income ladder later in life than children without it, a new study published in the Journal of Population Economics found.

Per the report, childhood obesity lowers someone’s chances of earning ...Read more

Each year, approximately 3 million people, many under age 5, swallow or come into contact with a poisonous substance. Most poisonings occur at home where even simple household products can be dangerous. These include over-the-counter and prescription medicines, cleaning products, liquid nicotine, antifreeze, windshield wiper fluid, pesticides, ...Read more

Next time you go to the pharmacy, you might be offered a coupon on your prescription drugs. While it may sound like a great deal — with the prospect of saving hundreds of dollars — the decision to accept it is complicated, especially for people with insurance.

Even as prescription drug costs rise, patients with commercial insurance have ...Read more