If you’re a woman over 40, you have no doubt heard your doctor tell you to get a mammogram as part of routine screening for breast cancer. But there’s another reason, too.

A mammogram can show no sign of breast cancer and still reveal something worth discussing with a doctor: calcium deposits in the medium-sized arteries that ...Read more

I visited a family of 19 in Sierra Leone in 2015. By the time I arrived, eight had died. The other 11 were left to live with the grief and fear of what might happen next.

I am a medical doctor and epidemiologist, and at that time I was serving on an African Union Ebola response mission. The 2014-16 epidemic in West Africa caused more ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My dad's cardiologist told him he may need complex heart valve surgery. What makes heart valve surgery "complex," and how do doctors decide whether a valve should be repaired or replaced?

ANSWER: Heart valve surgery can range from a straightforward repair or replacement of one valve to a more complex operation involving ...Read more

TAKOMA PARK, Md. — Friday night lights took on a whole new meaning at a high school here in this suburb of Washington, D.C.

Instead of fans packing stadium bleachers to watch football, on this recent October weekend the gymnasium, hallways, and parking areas were jammed with people desperately seeking healthcare at a free pop-up clinic.

The ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My dad's cardiologist told him he may need complex heart valve surgery. What makes heart valve surgery "complex," and how do doctors decide whether a valve should be repaired or replaced?

ANSWER: Heart valve surgery can range from a straightforward repair or replacement of one valve to a more complex operation involving ...Read more

A boil-water advisory was issued on Nov. 2, 2026, by officials in Center Township in Beaver County, 25 miles from Pittsburgh, after a routine sample tested positive for coliform bacteria, including E. coli, according to the township’s water authority.

The advisory stayed in place while the authority kept testing, and Central Valley ...Read more

Democrats’ decisive sweep of the U.S. House and Senate in Tuesday’s elections will reshape the direction of federal health policy — setting the stage for oversight investigations, a legislative push to reverse cuts to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, and a focus on lowering costs such as insurance premiums and drug prices.

The ...Read more

CVS Health Corp. plans to spin off its retail pharmacy business in one of the biggest-ever breakups in the healthcare industry.

The drugstore business will be separated into a new company called CVS Pharmacy in the first half of 2028, split from the Aetna insurance unit and Caremark prescription benefits division. The company holding those ...Read more

To prevent pregnancy after sex, U.S. teenage girls and young women are more likely to rely on unproven strategies such as prayer, exercise and jumping up and down than they are on evidence-based methods such as Plan B emergency contraception, according to a new study.

The study, published in The Journal of Sex Research, is based on a survey of ...Read more

If you run a small business or work for yourself, you may be preparing for Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace open enrollment this fall. Business owners and the self-employed account for roughly 28% of working-age marketplace enrollment.

Most people in this position are also their own benefits department. There is no HR team to walk through ...Read more

Pumpkin is a nutrient-rich and delicious vegetable to enjoy this season and all year long.

The folklore

Pumpkins are a beloved symbol of autumn: bright orange spheres lazing in pumpkin patches, decoratively adorning porches and tablescapes, carved into jack-o-lanterns, and savored in Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. A Mexico native, pumpkin was grown...Read more

Some days, we all wish we had a magic elixir to jolt our energy, fend off illness ... or just cure a hangover. That’s likely the appeal of intravenous (IV) vitamin therapy, a growing segment of the $15 billion, largely unregulated medical spa industry involving more than 9,000 facilities across the United States.

An IV infusion of vitamins, ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: A close relative needs a kidney transplant and has been reading about robots being used in surgery. What does that mean and is it safe?

ANSWER: Robotic kidney transplantation combines trusted surgical techniques with advanced technology. With the aid of a robotic system, surgeons can perform the operation through smaller ...Read more

I clocked out at the end of my shift, pressing my badge against the timekeeping system. When it asked me to verify that I had taken a 30-minute lunch break, I hesitated, my finger hovering over the screen before confirming that I had.

In truth, I hadn’t. Between staffing shortages, meetings and patient caseloads, my clinical responsibilities ...Read more

A skeleton hanging on a door or standing in your neighbor’s yard for Halloween looks like a finished structure. But the skeleton inside a living body is constantly changing. Around menopause, those changes can tip toward bone loss, often without pain or another obvious warning.

I am a skeletal biology researcher at Washington ...Read more

Pediatric medicine generally entails caring for patients at the beginning of their lives – performing newborn checkups, treating childhood illnesses and supporting adolescents in their health as they move toward adulthood.

So people are often surprised to hear about specialists like us who work in pediatric palliative care, helping ...Read more

Stephanie Rowell was standing on her parents’ front porch in July when a wasp stung her left arm.

She said that almost immediately her arm felt like it was “on fire,” her body started itching all over, and her face became swollen and red.

Rowell, 53, took Benadryl, and her father started driving her to the nearest emergency room, about ...Read more

A child died of measles in upstate New York, marking the state’s first measles-related death in 30 years, Governor Hochul announced Monday.

“I’m heartbroken to learn that a child in Lewis County has died from measles,” Hochul said in a statement. “My heart goes out to their family and everyone who knew and loved them.”

Hochul ...Read more

A child died of measles in New York amid an ongoing outbreak in the state that has infected more than 170 people, the health department said Monday.

The death occurred in Lewis County, located in the northwestern part of the state, according to a joint press release from the county and state health departments. Health officials did not provide...Read more

When U.S. Rep. David Valadao defended voting for a bill aimed at reducing Medicaid spending by billions, the Republican noted his role in securing a key provision that will require some adult beneficiaries to work — a mandate he called “not an unreasonable ask.”

But the voters in his California Central Valley district, home to one of the ...Read more