DEAR MAYO CLINIC: We're thinking about getting a dog. We know they're great companions, but how are they good for your health?

ANSWER: People with dogs know the benefits of pet ownership. The unconditional love, trust and loyalty shown by your canine companions, coupled with their unbridled enthusiasm on your return home each day, is hard to ...Read more

Anti-abortion organizations are pushing state lawmakers to promote a controversial and unproven “abortion reversal” treatment — flouting the objections of medical professionals who point out it is not supported by science.

In the past several years, Republican lawmakers in at least 14 states have passed laws requiring health care ...Read more

Viral gastroenteritis is an intestinal infection marked by watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea or vomiting, headache, muscle aches and sometimes fever. It's often called a stomach bug or the stomach flu, but it's not actually the flu or influenza, which is a respiratory illness. This infection often develops though contact with an infected...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Scientists have developed an antibody treatment that shows promise in blocking the potentially deadly effects of fentanyl for nearly a month, raising hopes for a new tool to combat overdoses.

Tests in animals found that the treatment could effectively block the effects of fentanyl, laying the groundwork for assessing whether the...Read more

BALTIMORE -- A steady stream of sick babies and worried parents started flowing into Dr. Monique Soileau-Burke’s exam room in late October.

Many were infected with respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, a common contagion that spreads in colder months and infects the lungs and can be dangerous for the very young and for older ...Read more

Researchers estimate that more than half a million people in the U.S. have Crohn's disease, and 600,000 to 900,000 people in the U.S. have ulcerative colitis, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Inflammatory bowel disease is an umbrella term used to describe disorders that involve chronic ...Read more

Water tests show nearly 3,000 private wells located near 63 active and former U.S. military bases are contaminated with “forever chemicals” at levels higher than what federal regulators consider safe for drinking.

According to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that analyzed Department of Defense testing ...Read more

Ellen Heber-Katz thought the experiment was ruined.

Her post-doctoral researcher was supposed to have punched tiny holes in the ears of laboratory mice at Philadelphia’s Wistar Institute, using a standard technique to indicate which ones had received an experimental treatment. But when Heber-Katz checked the animals a few weeks later, all ...Read more

CHICAGO — Noelis Guaregua, who is eight months pregnant, wasn’t receiving prenatal care at the city-run migrant shelter where she’s staying, so she set out on a mile-long walk in freezing temperatures to a police station where she’d heard she could find food and medicine.

Originally from Anzoágueti, Venezuela, the 31-year-old had ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A ZIP code in Miami Beach, known for its vibrant nightlife, is a hot spot for new HIV infections.

The area that lures thousands of tourists a year, has some of the most attractive hotels and nightclubs in the nation, and stretches along the famous Ocean Drive in South Beach falls into the ZIP code 33139. Its annual new...Read more

At roughly 0.1% of the city’s recently passed $16.77 billion budget, the initial cost of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s effort to begin reopening Chicago’s city-run mental health clinics is minuscule.

But the political ramifications are potentially huge.

Johnson rode into office on a progressive wave powered by unions and activists who have ...Read more

Many parents know that loud noise can hurt a child's hearing. Very loud sounds—from fireworks or firearms, for example—can cause immediate damage. Using personal listening devices for music, videos and classes can also cause damage if they're too loud.

But we are also learning that too-noisy environments can have harmful effects that go ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Any changes in your medications or allergies? Check. New health issues since your last visit? Check.

And would you like to contribute a blood and DNA sample for a massive research project?

That last question is now part of the electronic check-in process for patients at Penn Medicine clinics and hospitals, and it already is ...Read more

After an unprecedented crackdown on misleading advertising claims by insurers selling private Medicare Advantage and drug plans, the Biden administration hopes to unleash a special weapon to make sure companies follow the new rules: you.

Officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are encouraging seniors and other members of the ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As the international community observes World AIDS Day on Friday, doctors in South Florida confront a challenging reality: More women locally are getting HIV. A percentage of those women will become pregnant and give birth to babies who are infected.

“We know how to prevent HIV in babies,” said Dr. Lisa-Gaye ...Read more

Mayo Clinic doctors are using innovation to improve the lives of people who suffer from congestive heart failure and other chronic heart conditions. The Organ Care System, also known as "heart in a box," is potentially helping to expand the donor pool, which is crucial, considering that more than 4,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a new ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: The Food and Drug Administration recently approved two new COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. What are the recommendations for who should get it?

ANSWER: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the 2023-2024 COVID-19 (mRNA) vaccine for everyone 6 months or older. The COVID-19 vaccine is strongly ...Read more

The CDC has issued an update on a salmonella outbreak linked to cantaloupes, raising the number of states to 34 after Alaska and Kansas were found to have cases. The number of people who have been sickened has increased, but the death toll remains at two.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...Read more