Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States, regardless of race or ethnicity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although you can’t avoid risk factors such as family history, you can adopt a healthier lifestyle to improve your heart health.

Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a Mayo Clinic ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA —The way the blood spurted from the bullet wound, Lt. Robert Friel knew he didn't have long.

He crumpled to the floor of the CVS on South 10th Street, unable to move his leg. Friel had never been shot before, but after 28 years with the Philadelphia police, he knew enough to realize the bullet had struck a major artery.

The ...Read more

Patients who ask for their doctors’ help through online portals might soon notice something new: fees for their physicians’ online advice.

A growing number of health systems across the country are now charging for some types of messages sent through online patient portals, such as MyChart, with fees often around $35 or less. It’s a trend ...Read more

Q: My daughter is on a gymnastics team. How do I talk to her about the risks of sexual abuse in sports?

A: Getting involved in sports, clubs and other organized activities is good for kids. Children in activities get more exercise and have more self-esteem, research shows, and are better able to manage their time and build relationships.

But ...Read more

BURLINGTON, Wash. — Fire draws people together.

Throughout history, people have cooked food, found warmth and gathered with others around kindling — a sign that it's safe enough to rest.

The flames burning in a wood-fired oven on an October Thursday served as that gathering place — a spot to cultivate community at a program for farmers ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — It doesn't take a health professional to save the life of someone bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound or other traumatic injury. Any bystander can undertake a series of crucial first steps until an expert reaches the scene.

These can include using a low-tech tool that's been around since the early days of medicine: a ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — On a rainy afternoon in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, a group of amateur musicians gathered to lay down a few tracks.

This wasn't the first time the band had performed together, but it was their first time in a recording studio.

"Lots of people lock up the first time they're put in headphones," said Jim Barr, the recording engineer ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Jess Jones, a licensed clinical social worker, treats a number of patients with ketamine-assisted therapy — where clients take ketamine, prescribed by a psychiatrist, in a series of sessions to treat severe depression or other serious mental health issues.

Interest in psychedelic-assisted therapies such as these is growing in...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Could Paxlovid solve one of the pandemic’s biggest puzzles? A new study at Stanford University aims to find out.

In the nation’s first medical trial of an antiviral strategy to treat long COVID, scientists are testing the drug to see if it helps ease the misery of fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, body aches, ...Read more

For several months during the summer of 2022, my dog Scout vomited at 3 a.m. nearly every day. If you have a dog, you know the sound. And each time, she gobbled up her mess before I could get to it, making diagnosis of the cause difficult.

The vet and I eventually settled on my hydrangeas as the source of the problem – but keeping ...Read more

Among the more remarkable legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic is how quickly federal regulators, the health care industry and consumers moved to make at-home testing a reliable tool for managing a public health crisis.

But that fast-track focus is missing from another, less publicized epidemic: an explosion in sexually transmitted diseases that ...Read more

What we eat as well as how much we eat are determined by a multitude of factors that go well beyond physical sustenance, such as culture, religion, income level, family, cooking skills and accessibility, to name a few. Social forces also play a significant role, especially when it comes to making healthier food choices.

Studies show that our co...Read more

Food-related germs cause an unbelievable 48 million cases of illness (aka food poisoning) each year in the U.S., including 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. The good news is, it’s largely preventable. If you do most of your eating at the office, that’s where you’re most at risk. Here are some of the most common mistakes that lead ...Read more

The creamy, pale green flesh of an avocado is full of nutrients closely tied to heart health. Now, a long-term study finds that eating at least two servings of this popular fruit per week is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Study co-author Dr. Frank Hu, the Frederick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My kidneys are failing, and my doctor has told me that I need to have a kidney transplant. I am severely overweight, and losing weight has been extremely difficult. Due to my weight, my doctor also said that I would not qualify for a transplant. What options are available for patients who are overweight and in need of a ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Pancreatic cancer is a silent disease, said Dr. Aatur Singhi, a surgical pathologist at the UPMC Department of Pathology and an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh. It often is not detected until it has spread to other organs, making it difficult to treat.

To help change that, Pitt scientists led the development ...Read more

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

People who breathe polluted air experience changes within the brain regions that control emotions, and as a result, they may be more likely to develop anxiety and depression than those who breathe cleaner air. These are the key findings of a systematic review that my ...Read more

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Sarah Wright stops by her peer support specialist’s hotel room-turned-office in this Denver suburb several times a day.

But her visit on a Wednesday morning in mid-October was one of her first with teeth.

The specialist, Donna Norton, had pushed Wright to go to the dentist years after homelessness and addiction had ...Read more

November is Lung Cancer Awareness month. Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, with more than 2.1 million cases, according to the American Lung Association.

Advancements in lung cancer management, from early diagnosis through treatment are improving patient outcomes.

"Lung cancer is not a death sentence anymore," says Dr. Rami ...Read more