It's especially important that you get a flu shot if you have cancer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mayo Clinic recommend a yearly flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older, with rare exceptions. Vaccination is your best defense against flu. If you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, now's the time.

For most people, ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My neighbor recently retired, and I've been trying to convince her to volunteer at the library with me. She's not swayed by my stories of feeling good from helping others. Can you share some other benefits of dedicating her time and energy to a cause?

ANSWER: Thank you for volunteering in your community and for trying to ...Read more

CHICAGO -- More than 70 kidney transplants were performed every day in the United States last year. Rachel Watson wanted to be one of the donors, but was told she didn’t qualify — at first.

Watson, a 27-year-old digital marketer living in Warrenville, Illinois, had been moved by a news story about a local politician in need of a kidney. In ...Read more

Regular urine color varies but usually ranges from clear to pale yellow. The exact hue depends on how much water you drink. Fluids dilute the yellow pigments in urine. So the more you drink, the clearer your urine looks. When you drink less, the yellow color becomes stronger.

Some foods and medications can change the color of urine. For example...Read more

Many people from racial and ethnic minority groups brace themselves for insults and judgments before medical appointments, according to a new survey of patients that reaffirms the prevalence of racial discrimination in the U.S. health system.

The KFF survey of nearly 6,300 patients who have had care in the past three years found that about 55% ...Read more

COVID-19 infection can lead to preterm birth, a study published last week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows, but getting vaccinated protects against it.

Researchers found a serious adverse effect on preterm birth from COVID infection during pregnancy, a risk that had plummeted to zero by fall 2022, following ...Read more

The Biden administration plans to push states to boost oversight of the number of doctors, hospitals and other health providers insurers cover in Obamacare plans, under rules proposed in November.

The annual regulatory proposal, known as the payment parameters rule, also seeks to expand access to adult dental coverage in Affordable Care Act ...Read more

Vitamin D is a nutrient your body needs to keep your bones healthy and strong. It also has properties that support your immune system and neuromuscular health.

Dr. Jesse Bracamonte, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, says one of the main ways your body gets vitamin D is through direct sunlight on the skin. And during winter in the ...Read more

Bill Eisenman has always fished.

“Growing up, we ate whatever we caught — catfish, carp, freshwater drum,” he said. “That was the only real source of fish in our diet as a family, and we ate a lot of it.”

Today, a branch of the Rouge River runs through Eisenman’s property in a suburb north of Detroit. But in recent years, he has ...Read more

A recent Federal Trade Commission civil lawsuit accusing one of the nation’s largest anesthesiology groups of monopolistic practices that sharply drove up prices is a warning to private equity investors that could temper their big push to snap up physician groups.

Over the past three years, FTC and Department of Justice officials have ...Read more

Bradley Little, a physical education teacher in Arizona, was leading his class through a school hallway in 2017 when he collapsed. Little feared he was having a stroke. Or, in a sign of the times, that he’d been shot. He tried to stand, but his leg wouldn’t move.

A student ran for help. Firefighters arrived and hoisted Little onto a gurney....Read more

Whether it's work parties, social gatherings or family get-togethers, December joins people for holidays and social events centered around plenty of food and drinks. But overindulging during the holiday season can bring unwelcome consequences.

Andrea Delgado, a Mayo Clinic dietitian, shares three tips to help manage holiday indulgences this ...Read more

In the year since the Supreme Court outlawed the national right to an abortion, 18 states have implemented abortion bans that specify that mental health or suicidality do not qualify as a health-related exception for the woman — a deviation that’s occurring despite growing national momentum to treat physical and mental health equally.

...Read more

Q: How is apple cider vinegar made and is it healthy?

A: Vinegar can be made from a variety of fermentable carbohydrates, including grapes, berries, rice and, yes, apples. While it is fermenting, yeast turns food sugars into alcohol, and if acetic acid bacteria (acetobacter) are present, then the alcohol is converted to acetic acid, the main ...Read more

We all feel wrung out sometimes by the stress of daily life and, unfortunately, we tend to reach for junk food. But high-calorie or sugary foods only trick us into thinking we feel better. Eating healthy food (and making that a conscious choice) can actually offer some real stress relief. End the cycle of turning to foods when you're stressed ...Read more

At some point in life, everyone experiences denial, a natural response when you’re unable or unwilling to face the facts. Denial is not always a bad thing. But it might be easier to recognize in others than in yourself.

“It’s hard to look at your own life and take a good inventory of what's going on. It takes a lot of work,” says ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My brother has been diagnosed with depression. I want to help him, but I do not know what to do. Can you give me ideas for how best to support him?

ANSWER: When a loved one is affected by depression, it can be difficult to understand what is happening or what you can do to help. It is OK to be confused and wonder how you can ...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