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Editorial: The US healthcare system is an embarrassment. Americans need a public option

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Long ago, when most Americans left the house for mass entertainment, they flocked to carnivals that crisscrossed the country to delight small towns and big cities. Shows typically included a barker whose steady stream of superfluous oratory enticed folks to spend their hard-earned cash on sometimes dubious performances.

Too often today, our ...Read more

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TikTok is reinventing healthcare; should you trust it?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Monica Carter, a nurse practitioner specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, appears on a TikTok screen, saying she is seeing so much “trich” in her clinic.

Trichomonas is a sexually transmitted infection caused by a parasite, not a virus, she tells her 15,000 followers.

“It is supercurable, and it’s rampant...Read more

Liz Rymarev/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Measles detected in two more counties in Pennsylvania as health department recommends early vaccination

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Pennsylvania health officials have now detected measles cases in York and Northumberland Counties as cases in Lancaster County, the center of an ongoing outbreak, continued to rise.

And the state health department is now recommending early measles vaccinations for infants beginning at six months in affected areas in an effort to protect them ...Read more

Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center in Cuthbert is one of close to 200 rural hospitals that have closed in the past two decades. AP Photo/Jeff Amy

Why rural healthcare fund’s $50B focus on tech upgrades may not help vulnerable hospitals and providers

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Healthcare across rural America is in crisis.

In the past two decades, close to 200 rural hospitals have closed – 44 since 2020 alone. Hundreds more have cut much-needed health services, such as maternity care and chemotherapy treatments. Nearly half are losing money on their day-to-day operations, putting them at risk of closure....Read more

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Ebola scientists lack access to virus samples behind Congo's largest bundibugyo outbreak

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Scientists racing to develop potential vaccines and treatments against a deadly Ebola outbreak are having to do so without a viable sample of the virus, highlighting growing disputes over pathogen sharing and the difficulty of moving infectious materials across borders for research.

More than a month after the outbreak was identified in ...Read more

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Medicare's AI push snarls patients and doctors in errors and delays

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Bill Curry, 65, raises cattle on the same land in rural Oklahoma once owned by his father and generations before him. Each quarter, for several years, he has made the 2½-hour drive to Oklahoma City for an epidural in his spine to treat his back pain.

But this year, because of a new Medicare program, Curry has traveled a little more often.

In ...Read more

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Early-onset cancers are on the rise. Knowing your family history is crucial

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Bryce Ramsey of Madison, Mississippi, was 33 when she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Upon noticing blood in her stool, she blamed the hemorrhoids she’d developed after delivering her son eight years earlier.

Ramsey didn’t initially link her symptoms to cancer.

“But I had just kind of made a deal with myself because the blood was ...Read more

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS

At 87, woman becomes oldest known female in Illinois to get kidney transplant

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

When Sheila Perry learned that she was a record-setter at 87 years old, she was surrounded by family, and all the group could do was laugh. Indeed, they had much to smile about.

The Wheaton local is the oldest known female in Illinois — and among the oldest in the United States — to have a successful kidney transplant.

“I knew it was ...Read more

A military training base provides a prime environment for the influenza virus to spread.  Photographer and Illustrator/iStock via Getty Images Plus

The military traded its flu vaccine mandate for ‘medical freedom’ – an outbreak quickly followed

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Amid a worsening flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy are once again requiring new recruits to get vaccinated against the influenza virus, according to ABC News. The move comes two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rescinded the U.S. military’s mandate that they do so....Read more

Many accidents are not inevitable – teaching, modeling and encouraging safe behaviors can help prevent them.   DragonImages/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Beyond car seats and childproof pill bottles: A child psychologist explains how to empower kids to make safer choices

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Unintentional injuries kill more than 7,000 children ages 1-19 in the U.S. each year – close to 20 deaths per day. Injuries are the leading cause of child death, and these injuries are often preventable.

Prevention takes many forms. Government policy helps tremendously. As an example, regulations requiring carbon monoxide detectors ...Read more

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A ban won't stop abortion pill access, telehealth providers say

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Angel Foster had a backup plan.

It was the first weekend in May. A federal appeals court had just made it illegal to mail mifepristone, a pill that’s part of the most widely used abortion method in the U.S.

But Foster, a doctor who specializes in reproductive health, was prepared. As leader of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access ...Read more

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Minnesota health insurers seek double-digit rate increases for 2027

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

For the second year in a row, Minnesota health insurers are seeking double-digit percent rate increases next year for coverage sold on the state’s MNsure exchange.

The proposed rate hikes, which regulators haven’t yet approved, are looking like a bellwether for medical cost trends across the broader U.S. health insurance landscape — ...Read more

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World's first cell‑rejuvenating therapy given to patient

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A Boston company treated its first patient with a therapy intended to allow aging optic nerve cells to behave as though they were young again.

The experimental treatment by Life Biosciences will deliver three distinct genetic edits to regenerate neurons in the optic nerve, which can be damaged in people with glaucoma. These neurons do not ...Read more

Miscarriage management remains muddled 4 years after Dobbs

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Mylissa McNeill never expected to be a mother. But when she learned she was pregnant in the spring of 2022, at age 41, she and her partner were happy and excited at the prospect of parenting a little girl they planned to name Maeve.

On June 24, 2022, about one month after McNeill discovered she was pregnant, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: Is there a health difference between ghee and butter?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Q: Is ghee healthier than butter?

A: Ghee is a type of clarified butter that has been used in cooking for centuries. Recently, it has become popular as a possible healthier alternative to butter. While ghee and butter are very similar, ghee does have a few benefits in certain situations.

One advantage of ghee is that it can be heated to higher...Read more

EatingWell: 8 best canned foods to stock up on this summer

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

When temperatures rise, the last thing you want to do is heat up your kitchen by turning on the oven. If you’re armed with a well-stocked pantry and summer’s abundant seasonal produce, though, you might just get away with keeping the oven off until after Labor Day.

These items can be the cornerstone for much of your summer cooking.

1. Tuna...Read more

Can you prevent the hunched back of kyphosis?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Having the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis puts you at risk for developing an excessive forward curve in the upper spine called hyperkyphosis, sometimes referred to just as kyphosis. But osteoporosis is not the only factor: Age-related degenerative changes in the spine and poor posture can also cause or worsen the condition. Plus, genetics ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q&A: Ovarian cancer: Get the facts

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’ve heard that ovarian cancer is hard to detect. Can you tell me more about the symptoms and if there are any screenings?

ANSWER: Ovarian cancer is relatively rare. However, it’s often fatal in later stages of the disease. The cancer begins in the ovaries and spreads to the abdomen and pelvis if it isn’t diagnosed and ...Read more

KFF Health News/TNS

More Americans are surviving cancer. But the mental health challenges can persist

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The cancer diagnosis came as a shock, disrupting Morgan Newman’s plans for launching her life. It was 2015, and she was working as a dental assistant in Des Moines, Iowa, while studying to become a social worker.

After an abnormal result on her Pap smear, her doctor brought her back in to check the tissue for signs of cancer. Newman wasn’t ...Read more

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Commentary: The looming threats to abortion access in 2026

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In recent years, antiabortion groups and lawmakers have seeded a number of challenges to medication abortion. This year, several are coming to fruition.

In 2026, decisions from either the courts, Food and Drug Administration or Department of Justice could end telehealth for medication abortion.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans who end their ...Read more