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Kaitlin McKeown/The News & Observer/TNS

New abortion law drives out NC's scarce supply of OB-GYNs, primary care doctors

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Dr. Nicole Teal was working a night shift in September 2022, when a patient came into UNC Medical Center’s labor and delivery unit with a particularly dangerous set of symptoms.

Her blood pressure had suddenly spiked. Her platelets were decreasing. Liver enzymes in her blood were rising. She had the hallmarks of severe preeclampsia, one of ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

3 facts about acute lymphocytic leukemia in children

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The most common type of childhood cancer is acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), a blood and bone marrow cancer that creates immature white blood cells that can't perform their typical functions. Because of this, the disease worsens quickly.

Most likely to occur in early childhood, ALL is more common ...Read more

Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Hep C's number comes up: Can Biden's 5-year plan eliminate the longtime scourge?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Rick Jaenisch went through treatment six times before his hepatitis C was cured in 2017. Each time his doctors recommended a different combination of drugs, his insurer denied the initial request before eventually approving it. This sometimes delayed his care for months, even after he developed end-stage liver disease and was awaiting a liver ...Read more

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Mayo Clinic Minute: What is pericarditis?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Pericarditis is a challenging illness that's often mistaken for a heart attack or other organ disease. In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Dr. Leslie Cooper Jr., a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, explains what pericarditis is and how it's treated.

"Pericarditis is simply inflammation of the lining of the heart tissue, or the pericardium," says Dr. Cooper.

...Read more

Kyle Telechan/Chicago Tribune/TNS

New teen mental health court: 'We see the need in the community'

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Porter County, Indiana, has expanded its problem-solving courts to include a mental health court for teens, the first of its kind in the state.

“You just see an explosion in anxiety and depression right now, and especially the social phobias,” said Alison Cox, the county’s director of juvenile detention services and the court’s ...Read more

Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez/KFF Health News/TNS

How will rural Americans fare during Medicaid unwinding? Experts fear they're on their own

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Abby Madore covers a lot of ground each day at work.

A staffer at a community health center in Carson City, Nevada, Madore spends her days helping low-income residents understand their health insurance options, including Medicaid. Her phone is always ringing, she said, as she fields calls from clients who dial in from the state’s remote ...Read more

Emily Curiel/The Kansas City Star/TNS

Why are hundreds of Missourians stuck in jail, not treated for mental health issues?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Patricia Tatum said she thinks about her son from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep.

She feels helpless.

“There’s nothing I can do,” she said. “I have no information.”

Her son, 47-year-old Derrick Williams, sits in the Clay County Detention Center in Missouri — hundreds of miles away from her home in Alabama. He�...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Ask the Pediatrician: What are some no-cost, screen-free activities to play with my preschooler?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Most parents want to provide more for their children than their parents were able to do for them. But have you ever noticed how kids tend to have fun with things as simple as a cardboard box?

When it comes to play, which is essential to healthy development, simple toys such as blocks, balls, jump-ropes and buckets are often the best kind for ...Read more

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Raw meat-eating Liver King and other health influencers face mounting lawsuits

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

When Joe Loney discovered Liver King, a shredded fitness influencer known for eating raw organs, he was hooked.

By working out and sticking to a primal diet, the 35-year old Briton believed, he could attain the same ripped physique as Brian Johnson, the influencer’s real name. Beginning in 2021, Loney ate a daily steak so rare it was almost ...Read more

Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times/TNS

More than 75,000 Kaiser workers in California and elsewhere plan to strike next month

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees in California and elsewhere plan to go on strike in early October after the healthcare giant and unions that represent a huge swath of the Kaiser workforce failed to reach an agreement this week that resolves concerns about pay, staffing and other issues.

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions...Read more

Miguel Martinez/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Are COVID vaccines still free? Why it's not so simple anymore

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Changes in how COVID-19 vaccines are paid for has already caused some confusion for the first recipients who rushed to take a shot.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended last week that everyone 6 months and older get the new vaccine. The shots began arriving last Wednesday, but some of the first takers were charged in error...Read more

Aneri Pattani/KFF Health News/TNS

Biden administration to ban medical debt from Americans' credit scores

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The Biden administration announced a major initiative to protect Americans from medical debt on Thursday, outlining plans to develop federal rules barring unpaid medical bills from affecting patients’ credit scores.

The regulations, if enacted, would potentially help tens of millions of people who have medical debt on their credit reports, ...Read more

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Mayo Clinic Q and A: Is erythritol a safe and healthy sugar substitute?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: A friend has a family history of diabetes and obesity. She is diligent about eating healthfully and enjoys sharing new recipes and information about food. Recently she mentioned a sugar substitute called erythritol. I'm not familiar with this product. Can you explain what it is and if it is healthy?

ANSWER: Sugar is one of ...Read more

Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

With new Spanish-language pulmonary-thoracic program, doctors hope to improve health outcomes for Hispanic patients

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

CHICAGO -- Growing up on the South Side of Chicago as the child of Mexican immigrants who primarily spoke Spanish, Dr. Daniel Meza was often asked to translate for his parents during medical appointments.

“It’s a skill that I grew up with, having that technical language,” Meza said. “I just recall how stressful it was for my parents ...Read more

Arielle Zionts/KFF Health NEws/TNS

With its two doctors planning to retire, an Alabama town patches together health care options

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LaFAYETTE, Ala. — Charity Hodge had mixed feelings when she spotted a Facebook post announcing that her longtime primary care doctor was ready to retire after decades of serving their rural community.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, no!’” Hodge recalled while sitting in an exam room on a July afternoon, waiting to see the physician, Terry ...Read more

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Mayo Clinic Minute: What Black men need to know about prostate cancer

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. It's one of the leading causes of cancer death among all men. However, Black men are disproportionately hit hard by the disease. One in 6 Black men will develop prostate cancer in his lifetime — compared to 1 in 8 in other men. They are also more than twice as likely to die from prostate cancer.

...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Project LIFE: Long-acting injectables to stop surging opioid deaths

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

CHICAGO -- Malachi Castner, 23, said he didn’t always sleep on the Blue Line train to avoid the cold and rain. He didn’t always start his day early by shooting up. He was once a teenager on his high school’s wrestling team.

But it was after he tweaked his back while wrestling an opponent as a junior in high school and a doctor prescribed ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Save billions or stick with Humira? Drug brokers steer Americans to the costly choice

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Tennessee last year spent $48 million on a single drug, Humira — about $62,000 for each of the 775 patients who were covered by its employee health insurance program and receiving the treatment. So when nine Humira knockoffs, known as biosimilars, hit the market for as little as $995 a month, the opportunity for savings appeared ample and ...Read more

5 ways to achieve perfect scrambled eggs

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Have you ever wondered how to replicate those perfect scrambled eggs from your favorite brunch spot? What’s the trick to getting them to be so fluffy and flavorful? Whether you’re an amateur chef or someone who rarely cooks, whipping up a classic scramble may seem straightforward, but there are a few proper cooking methods that can help you ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q&A: How early should I be screened for lung cancer?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am 62 and recently had a physical. My doctor suggested that I should be screened for lung cancer. I used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day but quit about a decade ago. I’ve not had any problems, so I'm wondering if this is necessary. What does screening involve?

ANSWER: More than 600,000 people die annually from cancer ...Read more