LOS ANGELES — Christopher Manzo, a boy with curly brown hair and bright-blue-and-yellow glasses, has lived a third of his five years at home because of the pandemic.

And he is more than ready for kindergarten.

Hand in hand with his mother, Martha Manzo, he walks into the Blind Children’s Center, a low-rise building nestled among apartment ...Read more

Women are being encouraged to get their annual breast cancer screening and for good reason. Screening can save lives.

But what if your mammogram shows that you have dense breasts?

Dr. Christine Klassen, a Mayo Clinic Breast Clinic physician, has more on what it means to have dense breasts.

Starting at age 40, Mayo Clinic encourages women to ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have been working at home for the past year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. My work requires me to be on a computer much of the day, and over the past few months, I've noticed more frequent headaches, and pain in my lower back and sometimes my neck. Could my workspace be contributing to my pain? If so, how can I fix it?

...Read more

CHICAGO — Some Illinois hospital systems are losing hundreds of employees as deadlines loom for health care workers to get COVID-19 vaccines — even as most workers have agreed to get the shots.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker set a deadline of Sept. 19 for all Illinois health care workers to get their first shots, with their second shots due within 30 ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am a very active person. I visit the gym and run regularly. Although I have been able to avoid any major injuries, I find myself constantly stretching my hamstrings. It seems no matter how flexible I get, they still feel tight. What else can I do?

ANSWER: Having an active lifestyle is important to achieving long-term health ...Read more

Kale may get all the ink, but when it comes to greens, there’s a less popular plant to pay attention to: cabbage. Before you turn up your nose, listen up. This humble (and inexpensive) vegetable is extremely low-cal. A cup of raw cabbage has just 18 calories! It’s also full of anti-cancer compounds and, if prepared the right way, cabbage can...Read more

If there existed a condition that was in the top five causes of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S., affected someone in the U.S. every 40 seconds, totaling more than 795,000 people each year, and there was something you could do to significantly reduce your risk of it happening to you, you’d do it wouldn’t you?

There is ...Read more

Are you trying to cut back on calories by making the switch from regular soda to diet soda? Do you prefer carbonated water with a bit of flavor, such as Hint or LaCroix? Or maybe you’ve purchased a carbonating device like SodaStream or Drinkmate?

Research suggests that none of these choices may actually help with weight loss. Worse, they ...Read more

Another year, another damning report for American medicine. In August, the Commonwealth Fund ranked U.S. health care dead last among 11 of the world's wealthiest nations (for the seventh time in seven reports since 2004).

Compared to its global peers, the United States is home to the lowest life expectancy, highest infant- and maternal-...Read more

The Food and Drug Administration proposed development of a new type of hearing aid that could be sold directly over-the-counter to patients in need of the device.

In its proposal, the agency said that the new rule would allow for the continued growth of innovation and would spark more competition by cutting the red tape that is currently in the...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday took a major step toward bringing down the cost of hearing aids by making them available over the counter.

The freedom to buy hearing aids without a fitting or test by a specialist is likely to make them cheaper and the market more competitive. The cost of hearing aids can run into the ...Read more

Health club chains are pedaling hard to woo pandemic-weary consumers back to the gym.

But some of the largest companies are taking different paths as the industry waits to see whether COVID-19 infection rates recede enough to make consumers feel safe to resume communal workouts.

Discount chains YouFit and Planet Fitness are expanding into ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Each day last week Jeremy Ardanuy was at his computer in a lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine assessing how well promising drugs work to treat mice infected with the coronavirus.

He puts in long hours as a postdoctoral fellow on a team of 12 investigating therapies and vaccines to stem this pandemic and prepare ...Read more

Nearly 270,000 people in the U.S. die each year as a result of sepsis, and one-third of people who die in a hospital have sepsis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sepsis occurs when the body's response to an infection damages its own tissues. When these infection-fighting processes turn on the body, they cause organs...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have several unsightly skin tags on different areas of my body. As I age, I notice more of these skin tags appearing out of nowhere. What are skin tags, and are they harmful? Can I do something to get rid of them myself, or do I need to see a dermatologist?

ANSWER: Skin tags are common, and, as in your situation, they can ...Read more

Q: I already had COVID-19 and recovered. Why should I get the vaccine when my body is already immune to it now?

A: When someone has had an infection, and the body has produced antibodies as a result, this is called "natural immunity." But early evidence suggests natural immunity to COVID-19 may not be very long-lasting.

At least one study ...Read more

Q: How much fruit, vegetables, and protein do my kids really need every day?

A: There’s a lot of information out there about proper nutrition and what to avoid. It can get confusing, especially for parents who need to feed their children’s growing bodies. Here are some tips to keep in mind when planning and preparing meals for your family. ...Read more

Vaccinated people with substance use disorders may be at a higher risk for experiencing a breakthrough COVID-19 case, a new study shows.

Research conducted earlier in the pandemic showed that people with addictions were already more likely to contract, and experience serious complications from, COVID-19. Now, with the vaccines widespread, that ...Read more

After last year's halt on Halloween due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sweet relief is coming for those who celebrate the spookiest day of the year.

"This year, we're looking toward a Halloween that hopefully brings back some of the activities that kids really enjoy this time of year," says Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a pediatric infectious diseases ...Read more