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Breakfast of champions: Here's what doctors eat to fuel their day
A balanced breakfast typically includes a protein, fiber and a range of nutrients.
Nearly everyone agrees: A healthy breakfast fuels the body and helps us get through the day.
“Many studies have linked eating breakfast to good health, including better memory and concentration, lower levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, and lower chances of ...Read more

How will rural Americans fare during Medicaid unwinding? Experts fear they're on their own
Abby Madore covers a lot of ground each day at work.
A staffer at a community health center in Carson City, Nevada, Madore spends her days helping low-income residents understand their health insurance options, including Medicaid. Her phone is always ringing, she said, as she fields calls from clients who dial in from the state’s remote ...Read more

Why are hundreds of Missourians stuck in jail, not treated for mental health issues?
Patricia Tatum said she thinks about her son from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep.
She feels helpless.
“There’s nothing I can do,” she said. “I have no information.”
Her son, 47-year-old Derrick Williams, sits in the Clay County Detention Center in Missouri — hundreds of miles away from her home in Alabama. He�...Read more

Her cancer returned. So she sold her cafe and started a nonprofit to help others
NORFOLK, Va. -- Kim Keene knows the difficulties of being a starving artist. She also knows how hard it is to live with cancer.
Keene, who lives on Willoughby Spit, is the founder and former owner of the Starving Artist Cafe on Colley Avenue in Norfolk.
But her priorities changed when she received word in the spring of 2022 that she had stage ...Read more

Ask the Pediatrician: What are some no-cost, screen-free activities to play with my preschooler?
Most parents want to provide more for their children than their parents were able to do for them. But have you ever noticed how kids tend to have fun with things as simple as a cardboard box?
When it comes to play, which is essential to healthy development, simple toys such as blocks, balls, jump-ropes and buckets are often the best kind for ...Read more
Listen to your body and you might dodge a sudden heart attack
Every year, 605,000 Americans have a first heart attack -- and many come as a surprise. A study in the journal Circulation showed that two-thirds of people who have a heart attack have undiagnosed heart disease. But is it really a total surprise?
A new study in The Lancet Digital Health shows that half of folks who have what's called "sudden ...Read more
Paget's Disease Can Cause Arthritis, Pain, Deformities And More
DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband has been diagnosed with Paget's disease. I would like to know more about it; this is the first time I have ever heard of it. I would like to know the treatments and how much damage affects the bones. He is 76, had prostate cancer and underwent radiation treatment. -- C.W.
ANSWER: Paget's disease of the bone is a ...Read more

Raw meat-eating Liver King and other health influencers face mounting lawsuits
When Joe Loney discovered Liver King, a shredded fitness influencer known for eating raw organs, he was hooked.
By working out and sticking to a primal diet, the 35-year old Briton believed, he could attain the same ripped physique as Brian Johnson, the influencer’s real name. Beginning in 2021, Loney ate a daily steak so rare it was almost ...Read more

More than 75,000 Kaiser workers in California and elsewhere plan to strike next month
Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees in California and elsewhere plan to go on strike in early October after the healthcare giant and unions that represent a huge swath of the Kaiser workforce failed to reach an agreement this week that resolves concerns about pay, staffing and other issues.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions...Read more

On Nutrition: Getting it right with corn and mushrooms
Responding to a recent column about fresh corn, reader Al W. from Dallas writes: “Having grown up on a farm, I take exception with some of your cob/ear terminology. You wrote, ‘What a treat to walk up and down rows of green cornstalks, searching for just the right cob to pick.’ You should have used ear instead of cob. One picks an ear of ...Read more

Are COVID vaccines still free? Why it's not so simple anymore
Changes in how COVID-19 vaccines are paid for has already caused some confusion for the first recipients who rushed to take a shot.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended last week that everyone 6 months and older get the new vaccine. The shots began arriving last Wednesday, but some of the first takers were charged in error...Read more
The Steroid Drug Prednisone Often Inflames Herpes Flare-Ups
DEAR DR. ROACH: After years of controlling my herpes outbreaks, I began having severe outbreaks again. I noticed that they began after I had completed a week's worth of prednisone.
Since then, and after a few more steroid prescriptions over the years, I have been on valacyclovir, which has cut the symptoms of the virus down to feeling daily ...Read more
Round-up: the last straw, metformin-B12 and exercising with OA
There are three interesting studies that can improve your immediate and long-term health that I thought you shouldn't miss.
The Last Straw: So often, attempts to improve public health backfire (taking BPA out of can linings and substituting another chemical that's just as bad or worse is a good example). Well, here's another one: A study ...Read more

Biden administration to ban medical debt from Americans' credit scores
The Biden administration announced a major initiative to protect Americans from medical debt on Thursday, outlining plans to develop federal rules barring unpaid medical bills from affecting patients’ credit scores.
The regulations, if enacted, would potentially help tens of millions of people who have medical debt on their credit reports, ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q and A: Is erythritol a safe and healthy sugar substitute?
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: A friend has a family history of diabetes and obesity. She is diligent about eating healthfully and enjoys sharing new recipes and information about food. Recently she mentioned a sugar substitute called erythritol. I'm not familiar with this product. Can you explain what it is and if it is healthy?
ANSWER: Sugar is one of ...Read more

With new Spanish-language pulmonary-thoracic program, doctors hope to improve health outcomes for Hispanic patients
CHICAGO -- Growing up on the South Side of Chicago as the child of Mexican immigrants who primarily spoke Spanish, Dr. Daniel Meza was often asked to translate for his parents during medical appointments.
“It’s a skill that I grew up with, having that technical language,” Meza said. “I just recall how stressful it was for my parents ...Read more

With its two doctors planning to retire, an Alabama town patches together health care options
LaFAYETTE, Ala. — Charity Hodge had mixed feelings when she spotted a Facebook post announcing that her longtime primary care doctor was ready to retire after decades of serving their rural community.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, no!’” Hodge recalled while sitting in an exam room on a July afternoon, waiting to see the physician, Terry ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Minute: What Black men need to know about prostate cancer
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. It's one of the leading causes of cancer death among all men. However, Black men are disproportionately hit hard by the disease. One in 6 Black men will develop prostate cancer in his lifetime — compared to 1 in 8 in other men. They are also more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer.
...Read more

Project LIFE: Long-acting injectables to stop surging opioid deaths
CHICAGO -- Malachi Castner, 23, said he didn’t always sleep on the Blue Line train to avoid the cold and rain. He didn’t always start his day early by shooting up. He was once a teenager on his high school’s wrestling team.
But it was after he tweaked his back while wrestling an opponent as a junior in high school and a doctor prescribed ...Read more

Save billions or stick with Humira? Drug brokers steer Americans to the costly choice
Tennessee last year spent $48 million on a single drug, Humira — about $62,000 for each of the 775 patients who were covered by its employee health insurance program and receiving the treatment. So when nine Humira knockoffs, known as biosimilars, hit the market for as little as $995 a month, the opportunity for savings appeared ample and ...Read more
Inside Health Advice
Popular Stories
- Raw meat-eating Liver King and other health influencers face mounting lawsuits
- Her cancer returned. So she sold her cafe and started a nonprofit to help others
- Ask the Pediatrician: What are some no-cost, screen-free activities to play with my preschooler?
- As more patients email doctors, health systems start charging fees
- Are COVID vaccines still free? Why it's not so simple anymore