Health Advice
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Environmental Nutrition: Make it a meatless holiday
Looking to change up the holiday menu this year? Whether your table craves a fresh, new dish to wow the crowd or you’re hosting vegetarian or vegan guests, consider going meatless or serving up more plant-based dishes. Not to worry, this doesn’t have to mean bucking tradition. Most any dish can easily be made without meat, and many holiday ...Read more

Eating Well: 9 items you should never store in your pantry
Hey, sometimes you don’t see the fine print “refrigerate after opening” on the jar’s label. Or, you grew up with the peanut butter in the pantry and never thought anything of it. But we’re adults now, and we can be smarter about how we store things.
If you keep these common ingredients refrigerated or frozen, you’ll cut down on food...Read more

Stomachs growl, noses run, and yawning is contagious: Ever wonder why?
There are certain things our bodies do so often and so automatically that we barely notice them. Yawning, growling stomachs, and runny noses are good examples. Each is a universal part of our daily human experience.
But did you ever wonder why? Below are a few things we know and a few we suspect.
Why do you yawn?
Perhaps you associate yawning...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q&A: Are blue light-blocking glasses a must-have?
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Many of my co-workers are using glasses that block blue light when they are on their computers. I am interested in getting a pair but want to know more about their value and how they can help.
ANSWER: Blue light glasses are gaining in popularity, but it is important to understand what blue light is. Blue light is one of the ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Minute: Treating Dupuytren contracture without surgery
Dupuytren (DOO-puh-tren) contracture is a disorder that can cause the fingers to curl in, primarily the ring and small fingers.
It's a genetic condition mostly affecting men over 60 of Northern European descent. Others at risk include people with diabetes and those with a family history of the condition.
Dr. Shelley Noland, a Mayo Clinic hand...Read more

Many autoimmune disease patients struggle with diagnosis, costs, inattentive care
After years of debilitating bouts of fatigue, Beth VanOrden finally thought she had an answer to her problems in 2016 when she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder.
For her and millions of other Americans, that’s the most common cause of hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q and A: What's going on with my kneecap?
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I was playing a pickup game of football with my kids, took a tumble, and my kneecap made a popping sound. It really hurt, then seemed to get better, but something's not right. Any idea what might be going on?
ANSWER: If your kneecap pops or slides to the outside of your knee, you'll definitely know that something's going on. ...Read more

Here's what you need to know before buying an electric scooter this holiday season
PHILADELPHIA -- Anthony Greco’s friends all got electric scooters last Christmas. So his parents surprised him with one later that winter.
Greco, 16, used his e-scooter to get to and from his summertime job at a plumbing company a few blocks from his family’s South Philadelphia home.
On a rainy August evening, he hit a pothole. The ...Read more

FDA is investigating whether CAR-T, a cancer therapy pioneered at Penn, can cause lymphoma
PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania plans to continue offering CAR-T therapy, a cancer treatment pioneered at Penn, after the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday an investigation into whether the treatment may cause cancer in rare cases.
Chimeric antigen receptor T cell, CAR-T, therapy has been hailed as a breakthrough ...Read more

California workers died of a preventable disease. The threat was known years earlier
LOS ANGELES — When Wendy Solano first heard the word “silicosis,” her husband Jose Raul Garcia Leon was already suffering from the incurable disease that would kill him.
After immigrating from Mexico, the father of three had provided for his family by cutting countertops. His illness began as a dry cough — something the couple had ...Read more

Commentary: Health insurance premiums dropped? Not so fast
The latest Consumer Price Index report showed inflation slowing in October, due in part to a supposed 34% drop in the cost of health insurance from the same time last year. That left many people scratching their heads, since you’d be hard pressed to find anyone whose premiums dropped at all, let alone by that much. Is someone cooking the books...Read more

Lessons from the country with the world's largest HIV epidemic
South Africa, with the world’s biggest number of HIV cases, has in the last five years reduced the percentage of its population infected with the virus that causes the immune disease AIDS.
With an estimated 7.8 million people, or 12.7% of the population, living with the disease, the results of the 2022 South Africa HIV survey released this ...Read more

Evolving overdose crisis shakes previously effective treatments
BURLINGTON, Vt. — “You can’t inject a horse tranquilizer and think nothing bad is gonna happen” to you, said Ty Sears, 33, a longtime drug user now in recovery.
Sears was referring to xylazine, a sedative used for animal surgeries that has infiltrated the illicit drug supply across the country, contributing to a steady climb in overdose...Read more

Beyond insulin: Medi-Cal expands patient access to diabetes supplies
LOS ANGELES — June Voros sprang from her couch as a high-pitched beep warned her that she needed a quick dose of sugar.
Her blood sugar was plummeting, and the beep came from a continuous glucose monitor attached to her abdomen. The small but powerful device alerts Voros when her blood sugar is dangerously high or low.
“My blood sugar is ...Read more

Ask the Pediatrician: Flying with baby
Taking a baby on a plane is something that most parents approach with trepidation—with good reason.
Babies and air travel can both be unpredictable, and they don't always mix well. But some advanced planning and preparation can help make for a better experience for your baby, for you, and for everyone else on the plane. Here are some common ...Read more

Editorial: Buyer beware on 'health care sharing ministries'
Open enrollment is the window of time at the year's end when consumers make a critical health care decision — which health insurance plan to buy for the coming year to cover themselves and their families.
Those with coverage through a job typically have a handful of plans to choose from. Those who buy on their own — such as early retirees, ...Read more

Lost in the mix of Medicaid 'Unwinding': Kentucky cut off her health care over a clerical error
The day her Medicaid coverage ended, Beverly Likens was in the hospital after a scary trip to the emergency room.
The Kentucky resident was diagnosed with severe anemia and given a blood transfusion after her hemoglobin levels had plummeted. Likens, 48 at the time, was days from having surgery to treat chronic uterine bleeding that she said ...Read more

Out for blood? For routine lab work, the hospital billed her $2,400
Reesha Ahmed was on cloud nine.
It was January and Ahmed was at an OB-GYN’s office near her home in Venus, Texas, for her first prenatal checkup. After an ultrasound, getting anti-nausea medication, and discussing her pregnancy care plan, she said, a nurse made a convenient suggestion: Head to the lab just down the hall for a standard panel ...Read more

Diabetes and obesity rising in young Americans, study finds
Diabetes and obesity are rising among young adults in the United States, an alarming development that puts them at higher risk for heart disease, according to a study of 13,000 people between 20 and 44 years old.
The authors of the study, published in March in a major medical journal, warn the trends could have major public health implications:...Read more
A Miami company recalls erectile dysfunction capsules. They might or might not work
A Miami Gardens company has recalled its sexual enhancement pill after the FDA declared it an “unapproved drug.”
The agency didn’t say Noah Wholesale’s The Rock didn’t work, and Noah’s recall notice says The Rock has sildenafil, the active ingredient that makes Viagra work.
That’s the problem.
“The presence of sildenafil in ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Eating Well: 9 items you should never store in your pantry
- Many autoimmune disease patients struggle with diagnosis, costs, inattentive care
- Mayo Clinic Q and A: What's going on with my kneecap?
- Mayo Clinic Q&A: Are blue light-blocking glasses a must-have?
- Stomachs growl, noses run, and yawning is contagious: Ever wonder why?