Help for a mental health crisis is now just three digits away: 9-8-8.

Early data show that people are increasingly reaching out to a national mental health hotline launched July 16 as an easy-to-remember alternative to 911. But how does it work? And is it "friendly"?

The basics

Instead of being directed to police, callers (or texters) are ...Read more

People hospitalized for COVID-19 were more likely to have heart failure after their discharge than those hospitalized for another reason, a Duke University study published this month found.

The study’s findings, published in Nature Communications, support a growing body of research that suggests some people infected with COVID-19 go on to ...Read more

Q: How do I avoid heavy metals in the food I feed my baby?

A: News about heavy metals found in baby food has left parents with a lot of questions.

The low levels of heavy metals found in baby foods likely are a relatively small part of a child's overall toxic metal exposure risk. However, exposure from all sources should be minimized. Toxic ...Read more

BOSTON — Eight years after the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral across social media and raised hundreds of millions of dollars for research, a Cambridge company is on the brink of a major breakthrough for ALS patients.

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals should receive word in the coming week from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on whether the ...Read more

A growing number of people in the U.S. identify as Hispanic. That has the medical community looking closer at diversifying information and samples that can apply to a broader patient population.

Dr. Richard O. White, a Mayo Clinic community internal medicine physician, says biobanks, including the Jax Saludable Biobank, are shaping the future ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I'm 70 years old and have worn hearing aids for about a decade. Over the past several years, my hearing seems to be getting worse. Although I have tried several different kinds of hearing aids, I feel as if they are not effective any longer. A friend suggested I ask an audiologist about cochlear implants. I thought those were ...Read more

Formulas for toddlers are a burgeoning business in the United States: Sales of the drinks more than doubled in recent years as companies convinced parents that their little ones needed the liquid boost. But many experts warn that these products, designed for children ages 1 to 3, fill no nutritional needs beyond what is available in a typical ...Read more

MIAMI — The gurus of the psychedelic era of American pop culture extolled the experience of the “acid trip.” But the U.S. government and much of the public remained leery of LSD, with President Richard Nixon declaring it and assorted other drugs “public enemy No. 1.”

Now, half a century after Nixon launched the War on Drugs, a Miami-...Read more

Endometriosis is a painful condition where cells similar to the lining of the uterus grow outside of the uterus. While it most commonly occurs in the pelvis, it can occur anywhere in the abdomen or pelvis.

Dr. Megan Wasson, a Mayo Clinic medical and surgical gynecologist, says it's a quality-of-life issue, affecting approximately 1 out of every...Read more

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

Simple computer exercises using positive words and images designed to boost self-worth can prolong the antidepressant effects of ketamine in people with depression. That’s what my research team and I found in our new study.

Over two decades ago, researchers ...Read more

“I just can’t do what I used to anymore.”

As pulmonologists and critical care doctors treating patients with lung disease, we have heard many of our patients recovering from COVID-19 tell us this even months after their initial diagnosis. Though they may have survived the most life-threatening phase of their illness, they have ...Read more

Since the global monkeypox outbreak started to spread this past spring, more people are seeing the term “men who have sex with men,” or MSM, in the news and public health messages. You may have also heard this term in places like HIV prevention campaigns or at the doctor’s office.

I am a behavioral scientist who focuses on ...Read more

At this point in the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly everyone has experienced the panic and uncertainty that come with having mild COVID-like symptoms – such as a cough and sore throat – only to test negative day after day. With cold and flu season just around the corner, that state of frustrating uncertainty is likely to strike most of us ...Read more

Cancer is often thought of as a disease that affects older people, and with the median age of a cancer diagnosis at 66 years, it does. But cancer can be diagnosed at any age.

Younger people, including adolescents and young adults between ages 15 and 39 — known as AYAs — also are affected by cancer. Thyroid cancer is one of the most common ...Read more

Migraine is a genetic neurologic disease that often goes undertreated. It's more than a typical headache. Sometimes migraine headaches come with pain so intense they can interrupt day-to-day activities.

The good news says Dr. Amaal Starling, a Mayo Clinic neurologist, is newer migraine headache treatment options are available that are more ...Read more

Given recent headlines, you may be wondering why polio is even an issue in 2022. For more than 60 years, vaccines against the poliovirus have protected virtually everyone in the United States from the disease. Due to an enormously successful polio vaccination campaign beginning in the 1950s when the first polio vaccines became available, by ...Read more

If you’ve been feeling a little backed up, you’re not alone. Constipation is one of the leading gastrointestinal complaints in America — about 63 million people in the United States experience the condition, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Chances are most of us have experienced ...Read more

Bananas are the potassium-packed, portable fruit we all know and love, but they can be a bit of a nuisance. They can bruise or ripen too quickly or not ripen quickly enough; like avocados, bananas are on their own timeline and we’re just along for the ride. With that said, there are ways to store bananas in order to have some control over ...Read more

Embryo donation — the process by which a family donates their “extra” embryos to a couple or individual — is a viable path to parenthood. In a previous blog post, I addressed some of the reasons why people who consider their families complete after in vitro fertilization (IVF) might choose to donate embryos.

Who, then, is on the ...Read more