The average healthy woman begins menopause at 51, though some women will begin in their 40s or in their late 50s. It's a natural biological process that marks the time a woman ends her menstrual cycle.

Mood swings, hot flashes and difficulty sleeping are common symptoms that can be effectively managed with hormone therapy. Lifestyle changes can...Read more

Green peas by any other name — English, garden, shell, sweet — are just as delightful. Not to be confused with snow peas or snap peas, whose tender pods are edible, green peas are the tiny round gems shelled from the pod.

The folklore

One of the first cultivated foods, peas date back thousands of years to central Asia and the Middle East. ...Read more

If you ask health care providers about the most challenging condition to treat, chronic pain is mentioned frequently. By its nature, chronic pain is a complex and multidimensional experience. Pain perception is affected by our unique biology, our mood, our social environment, and past experiences. If you or a loved one is suffering from chronic ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Since I was a kid, I’ve been drinking milk with breakfast and dinner as my primary beverage. But looking in the grocery store coolers these days, there are so many options other than cow’s milk. Are plant-based milks like soy or almond milk healthier options?

ANSWER: Dairy (cow’s) milk and plant-based beverages like soy ...Read more

You know that grumpy feeling when you haven’t had quality sleep in a few days? Or if you’re in an exercise rut and lacking extra energy? It happens to everyone. But new research has revealed it may have consequences on your mental health.

A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology looked at the connection between mental health and ...Read more

Last summer, Global Plasma Solutions wanted to test whether the company’s air-purifying devices could kill COVID-19 virus particles but could find only a lab using a chamber the size of a shoebox for its trials. In the company-funded study, the virus was blasted with 27,000 ions per cubic centimeter.

In September, the company’s founder ...Read more

Long-term effects of COVID-19 infection are affecting the health of some children and teens, as well as adults. While most children with COVID-19 infection have mild symptoms or have no symptoms at all, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says anyone who has had COVID-19 ― even if the illness was mild or if they had no symptoms ― ...Read more

The federal government must aggressively bolster primary care and connect more Americans with a dedicated source of care, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine warn in a major report that sounds the alarm about an endangered foundation of the U.S. health system.

The urgently worded report, which comes as internists, ...Read more

Treating patients has become more expensive during the pandemic, and doctors and dentists don't want to be on the hook for all the new costs.

For instance, the box of 100 gloves that cost $2.39 in February 2020 costs $30 now, said Dr. Judee Tippett-Whyte, president of the California Dental Association, who has a private dental practice in ...Read more

WASHINGTON – Public health advocates who expect COVID-19 vaccines to become available for younger teens soon are concerned that a government-led distribution effort that may rely in large part on pediatricians could create glaring inequalities among children.

With only three months before the next school year starts in some areas, advocates ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — When Natasha Black learned that she was eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, she said she was excited — and hopeful that daily life might finally get back to normal.

Black, a member of a self-advocacy group for people with intellectual disabilities, had spent the year away from family, friends, and work. Isolated in her group ...Read more

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After a year of talking with patients via Zoom, phone and sometimes FaceTime, some central Ohio mental health providers are confident that telemedicine is here to stay, even after the pandemic goes away.

Kristen Carpenter, director of ambulatory services at Ohio State Harding Hospital, said the hospital did some telehealth ...Read more

Dear Healthy Men: I’m always trying to talk with my husband about health, parenting, our relationship and other things. But we never seem to be able to have a decent conversation. Why is it that so many men aren’t able to communicate their feelings?

A: While I’d love to be able to answer your question, I can’t — largely because the ...Read more

Q: How do I talk to my children about shootings and all the other violent acts in the news lately?

A: After any major act of violence that dominates the news, families struggle with what they should say to children to help them cope with the information.

The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages parents, teachers, child care providers and ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After a relatively quiet winter at Pediatric Partners in Overland Park, Kansas, the sick kids have come roaring back this spring.

They're coughing. They have fevers. Their throats hurt. Could they have COVID-19?

Pediatrician Kristen Stuppy says she doesn't know: Many parents are refusing to have their sick children tested ...Read more

LOS ANGELES – Margie Garcia, the mother of an 18-year-old with autism, desperately wants her son to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

But she fears that the sight of the syringe could trigger his anxiety, causing him to run away or tackle someone.

So last week, her son, Niko, made a practice run at a mock clinic along with dozens of other young ...Read more

DENVER — Before the pandemic, Colorado looked set to become the second state to pass what’s known as a “public option” health insurance plan, which would have forced hospitals that lawmakers said were raking in obscene profits to accept lower payments. But when COVID-19 struck, legislators hit pause.

Now, after a year of much public ...Read more

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. — Dr. Gail Newel looks back on the past year and struggles to articulate exactly when the public bellows of frustration around her COVID-19-related health orders morphed into something darker and more menacing.

Certainly, there was that Sunday afternoon in May, when protesters broke through the gates to her private ...Read more

When Tom Becker was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in March 2020, the 60-year-old EMS helicopter pilot from Washington, Missouri, worried he would never fly again.

But his cardiologist, Dr. Christopher Allen, had served in the Air Force and knew aviation physiology. So Becker felt reassured when Allen told him he didn’t expect any ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — For the first six months of the pandemic, Kim Boddy could see her mother only through a window.

Marguerite Forbes, who has had Alzheimer's disease for 10 years, spent most of those months sitting in her room at a nursing home. Boddy was "beside herself" with worry over her mother's condition and the time they were losing.

...Read more