The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on the deep need that people feel for human touch and connection in hospital settings. Having relatives peering through windows at their loved ones or unable to enter hospitals altogether exacerbated the lack of human intimacy that is all too common in health care settings.

Opportunities for ...Read more

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

“From Magic Mushrooms to Big Pharma”

I’m from the foothills of the Appalachians in southern Ohio, where my Grandma Mildred would go out into the woods, which she called her medicine cabinet, to find ...Read more

The atmosphere inside the Allen House is easygoing as residents circulate freely through the hallways, meet in group sessions, or gather on a large outdoor patio that features a dirt volleyball court with an oversize net.

The 60-bed safety-net residential treatment center in Santa Fe Springs, run by Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday issued its new multiagency plan to address rising rates of sexually transmitted infections, but experts see possible legislative and judicial hurdles that could thwart that effort.

The plan directs five departments and 15 agencies to implement more than 200 steps by 2030, and comes as rates of...Read more

Do low-calorie sweeteners help with weight management? And are they safe for long-term use?

This is among the most controversial topics in nutritional science. In early May 2023, the World Health Organization issued a statement that cautions against the use of nonsugar sweeteners for weight loss except for people who have preexisting ...Read more

Heartburn — that burning pain in your chest after eating certain foods or when you lie down in the evening — is a common complaint and usually no cause for alarm. Heartburn occurs when stomach acid backs up into the esophagus, which is the tube that carries food from your mouth to your stomach.

Most people can manage the discomfort of ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — When the city’s medical examiner announced in February that four people who had recently died of overdoses had the animal sedative xylazine in their systems, public health workers across the state sprang into action.

Drug dealers on the East Coast had in recent years begun mixing xylazine, which can have devastating effects ...Read more

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Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical help or miss work. It is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Back pain can range from a muscle aching to a shooting, burning or stabbing sensation. Fortunately, there are measures that can help prevent or relieve most back pain episodes. If prevention fails, simple home ...Read more

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s inauguration pledge to reopen Chicago’s city-run mental health clinics puts him on the clock to deliver a win for advocates who have been waging that fight for more than a decade.

It also sets him up to make good on a longtime goal of one of his strong union supporters, by creating jobs at the clinics for...Read more

MADERA, Calif. — It was dinnertime when Sabrina Baker, a mother of six, felt the familiar twinge of contractions.

At first, she brushed it off as Braxton Hicks, false labor pains not uncommon in the late stages of pregnancy. But after dinner that night in early January, the pain sharpened and radiated to her back. The contractions ...Read more

Q: How can I get started with keeping a food diary?

A: Dietitians and other practitioners regularly encourage patients to utilize a very simple, yet often very effective, tool in their path toward their individual health goals — keeping a food diary (or journal).

Food diaries can be used in weight management, tracking blood sugars, or in ...Read more

Did you know there’s one simple action that can help decrease current feelings of stress and improve your body's response? Drink water.

The relationship between hydration and stress is well documented. Basically, when you’re dehydrated, your body is stressed, and when you're stressed your brain releases stress hormones, setting off a chain ...Read more

Oligometastatic cancer is an early form of stage 4 prostate cancer that has spread to other organs in the body, but only to a limited degree — generally defined as no more than three to five areas outside the prostate gland, most commonly the lymph nodes or bones.

Barely a decade ago it was considered universally fatal, and treatment was ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have been diagnosed with a mild case of irritable bowel syndrome, and I talked to my doctor about managing my symptoms without medication. I am interested in trying to focus more on diet to control my condition. Are there certain things that I should be mindful of, or will medication be the only way for me to manage my ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Parkland, Pulse nightclub — and now Hollywood Beach.

Floridians know firsthand that any public place can instantly turn into a shooting range, where multiple victims are wounded or killed. Such incidents have been escalating in the United States, which has more mass shootings than any other country.

Surviving a ...Read more

People concerned about the safety of patients often compare health care to aviation. Why, they ask, can’t hospitals learn from medical errors the way airlines learn from plane crashes?

That’s the rationale behind calls to create a “National Patient Safety Board,” an independent federal agency that would be loosely modeled after the ...Read more

Mayo Clinic is among the first in the world to perform a spinal fusion surgery, called TLIF, with robotic assistance and incorporating spinal anesthesia, meaning the patient is awake. TLIF stands for transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. It's a specific kind of spinal fusion to help stabilize the spine because of degenerative, traumatic or ...Read more

A panic attack is an episode of intense fear with an abrupt onset, lasting from several minutes to up to an hour. It has many mental and physical symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, chest pain and a sense of pending doom. These symptoms may cause significant worry in people as they may mimic signs of medical ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I spent many a summer at the beach growing up. My mother always slathered me with sunscreen. Now, as a 30-year-old woman, sunscreen remains a part of my routine, regardless of the weather. Recently, I was surprised to learn that one of my friends — a young Black woman — never wears sunscreen. She said her darker complexion ...Read more