Stress after a heart attack is understandable – and new research into what drives such stress suggests that fear of another heart attack might play a significant role.

Understanding how that fear works, and how it is distinct from mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, is important because it could lead to better care for ...Read more

The round batteries, small as buttons and shiny as coins, are prized for the energy they pack at their size. In households, they have become commonplace, powering remote controls, hearing aids, toys, electric tea lights, wristwatches, greeting cards that play music and other familiar items.

But doctors warn that such "button batteries" can maim...Read more

Thousands of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children can now sign up for subsidized health plans through California’s insurance marketplace.

The expansion comes from a rule change approved in May under President Joe Biden’s administration. Under the change, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients — known ...Read more

A hysterectomy can treat many gynecologic conditions, including fibroids, painful periods and cancer, such as endometrial, cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers.

Dr. Megan Wasson, a gynecologic surgeon at Mayo Clinic, specializes in minimally invasive surgery. She says the decision to undergo a hysterectomy is highly individualized, based on ...Read more

First-aid guidelines for bystanders and emergency responders have long focused on issues like chest pain, bleeding and recognizing a stroke. Now, they have been updated and expanded to include recommendations for managing opioid overdoses, open chest wounds and other emergencies.

The revised guidelines, developed by the American Heart ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — When University of Pennsylvania researcher Christina Roberto set out to study Philadelphia’s soda tax, she wasn’t convinced she would find much health impact.

“We know that it is really hard to shift a person’s weight and keep that weight off, and it’s a really tall order to ask a policy like this to produce a health ...Read more

Your heart is racing, your arms are tingling and your breathing is shallow. You're having an anxiety attack. And you're in a public place, to boot. A crowded restaurant, say, or at the office. Not a space where you can comfortably lay on the ground and do some deep breathing exercises to calm yourself.

What if there were a pill that would ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why are bullies so mean? – Daisy, age 9, Lake Oswego, Oregon

Being bullied can make your life miserable, and decades of research prove it: Bullied children and teens are at...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

What would happen if all the diseases in the world hit us at the exact same time? – Gabriella, age 12, Irving, Texas

When I was younger, I would watch “Batman” on my ...Read more

The wildfire smoke that blankets much of the American West each summer is likely more harmful than previously understood, especially to older people, scientists found.

Research announced this week, and led by scientists at the University of Washington, discovered that prolonged exposure to the ultrafine particles in wildfire smoke heightens the...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rachel Harrison and Marcell Johnson were elated to have a baby. It would be the first for the couple, who have been together nearly 10 years and were looking forward to starting a family.

In September, when she was a little more than 17 weeks pregnant, Harrison was at home when she felt a gush of fluid. As the couple, ...Read more

Spices bring up feelings of comfort, cultural belonging and holidays. They can make our homes smell amazing and our food taste delicious. They can satisfy our cravings, expand our culinary horizons and help us eat things that we might normally dislike. Spices have health-enhancing properties and, in medicine, have been used to heal people ...Read more

Coronavirus cases have been flat locally, likely due to the outsized surge that occurred this past summer, but the flu appears to be ramping up on its traditional trajectory, indicating that the latest spike of cases will be seen in late December and early January.

The latest weekly respiratory virus report from the county health department ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — More than 100 locations nationwide participating in new clinical trials for a drug that shows promise for treating epileptic seizures among patients for whom other medications do not work.

The drug, BHV-7000, activates potassium receptors in the brain in a way that appears to modulate seizures, explained Dr. Taha Gholipour, a ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — More than 100 locations nationwide participating in new clinical trials for a drug that shows promise for treating epileptic seizures among patients for whom other medications do not work.

The drug, BHV-7000, activates potassium receptors in the brain in a way that appears to modulate seizures, explained Dr. Taha Gholipour, a ...Read more

Nearly half of adolescents and three-quarters of adults in the U.S. were classified as being clinically overweight or obese in 2021. The rates have more than doubled compared with 1990.

Without urgent intervention, our study forecasts that more than 80% of adults and close to 60% of adolescents will be classified as overweight or ...Read more