Many forms of ear infections strike children and adults alike, but among the most common is acute otitis externa, also known as swimmer’s ear.

About 10% of Americans will experience swimmer’s ear during their lifetimes. Adults are affected more commonly, and children only rarely, generally ages 5 to 12.

But you don’t ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The home of the Sacred Circles Center in Whittier, California, is inside a small white structure with blue trim. The building doesn't have a sign in front, but co-founder Jerry Tello says "the people that need to be here, will be here."

The center was created to be a place for people to come together and heal through ...Read more

The odds that a doctor will diagnose your child with pediatric cancer are slim, and the chances of a brain cancer diagnosis are even smaller.

Each year, roughly 4,000 kids — out of about 73 million in the United States — will be diagnosed with a brain tumor. Of those, roughly half will have one of several types of a malignant, aggressive ...Read more

Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms to hit the U.S., tore part of the roof off a hospital in Port Charlotte, Florida, and flooded the building’s lower level emergency room, sending staff scrambling to move patients as water poured in. At least nine hospitals and dozens of nursing homes had to transfer patients after losing access...Read more

In 2019, Columbus, Ohio, had seven reported cases of congenital syphilis, or cases in which a newborn child was infected during pregnancy. Two years later, that number rose to 20. And now?

“Year to date, we’ve already seen 28 cases,” said Dr. Mysheika Roberts, the city’s health commissioner. One of this year’s cases, she added, ...Read more

The COVID-19 vaccines can help keep you from getting the nasty virus, missing many days of work or school, and ending up in the hospital or the graveyard.

But can they keep you from going bald?

“Rona can lead to hair loss,” warns a social media ad from California’s Vaccinate All 58 campaign depicting a fellow with a pencil-thin moustache...Read more

September is National Head Lice Prevention Month, a time to understand the signs, importance of screenings and available treatments.

Dr. Tina Ardon, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, debunks common myths associated with these wingless insects, which affect millions of children each school year.

As kids return to school, they may bring ...Read more

Childhood cancer rates have been rising slightly for the past few decades, and about 10,470 children in the U.S. under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2022, according to the American Cancer Society.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which makes this a good time to learn about three rare types of cancers in children: ...Read more

The day after his 8-month-old baby died, Kingsley Raspe opened the mail and found he had been sent to collections for her care.

That notice involved a paltry sum, $26.50 — absurd really, given he’d previously been told he owed $2.5 million for treatment of his newborn’s congenital heart defect and other disorders.

Raspe and his wife, ...Read more

Some of the greatest scientific discoveries haven’t resulted in Nobel Prizes.

Louis Pasteur, who lived from 1822 to 1895, is arguably the world’s best-known microbiologist. He is widely credited for the germ theory of disease and for inventing the process of pasteurization – which is named after him – to preserve foods. ...Read more

Imagine growing up tormented by fears and life-consuming rituals that make no sense to you or those around you. Then imagine the shame of being told by mental health providers that, because you understand that your behaviors are illogical but keep doing them anyway, you must want to stay sick.

One of my patients, Moksha Patel, who is ...Read more

Why is iron so crucial to our bodies? “We need adequate iron to produce hemoglobin and myoglobin, an essential part of red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body,” says Julie Stefanski, RDN, registered dietitian nutritionist and Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.

Stefanski says low levels of the mineral can ...Read more

You probably already know that what you eat and drink can influence your mental wellness. From daily stressors to anxiety, depression, ADHD and chronic stress, the nutrients you put into your body have the potential to help, or hinder, how you feel and think.

With this in mind we asked a handful of dietitians what they rely on for a mood boost....Read more

Through much of the 20th century, lead was a common part of American life. It was used in paints, plumbing fixtures, water pipes, and many consumer goods. Automobiles guzzled leaded gasoline to improve engine performance. Meanwhile, the medical community increasingly recognized the toxic effects of lead on the body, particularly in children. ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’ve been hearing a lot about lab tests that can look at my genetics to see how I metabolize medications. How does this work and why is it important for me to know how my body metabolizes medicine?

ANSWER: Testing for how a person metabolizes medications is called pharmacogenomics testing, or PGx testing for short. This is a...Read more

Nearly 3 million Americans are living with a heart condition called atrial fibrillation, according to the American Heart Association. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that number could be as high as 12 million by the start of the next decade.

September is National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month. But what is atrial ...Read more

September is National Recovery Month, a national observation in partnership between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Faces & Voices of Recovery.

This is a good time to learn more about addiction and recovery.

Drug addiction

Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person...Read more

Doctors should be on the lookout for cases of a respiratory virus that can sometimes cause polio-like muscle weakness and paralysis in children, U.S. health officials said.

Young children with respiratory illnesses and muscle weakness may be infected with enterovirus D68, a lung virus strain that’s been linked to rare, serious cases acute ...Read more

As mandatory evacuations for Hurricane Ian began in Florida and the warnings about damaging wind and flooding intensified, I called my aging parents to check in.

Being a disaster researcher, my concern for them was already in high gear, even though they weren’t directly in an evacuation zone. My dad takes medications that require ...Read more