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New survey reveals our confusion on heart health. Here are the supplements and meds that work
Does fish oil truly improve heart health? How about aspirin or statins?
A newly released Cleveland Clinic online survey of 251 Florida adults found that many don’t know what can harm or improve their heart health.
While 72% of Floridians are aware that stress can negatively impact heart health, about two in five do not recognize that alcohol...Read more

Woman hospitalized in Wyoming with H5N1 bird blu
LOS ANGELES — A woman in Wyoming was hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu, according to health officials who say she was likely infected by handling sickened birds in a backyard flock.
According to a statement from Wyoming's public health department, the woman is "an older adult" and has "other health conditions," which may have made her more ...Read more

Flu cases up due to lagging vaccinations and better tests
ATLANTA — Flu season is well underway, and metro Atlanta hasn’t been spared.
Cases remain high, according to data from the Georgia Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But metro Atlanta doctors say it’s not too late to get vaccinated against influenza. For those who feel the flu coming on, antiviral ...Read more

Thousands of University of California healthcare, research employees vote to authorize strike
Thousands of University of California healthcare, research and technical employees voted to authorize a strike, citing what they described as systemic and ongoing staffing shortages that erode patient care and hurt research operations.
The strike authorization comes amid strained negotiations between the university and University Professional...Read more

Parents can soon use QR codes to reveal heavy metal content in baby food
Parents across the U.S. should soon be able to determine how much lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury are in the food they feed their babies, thanks to a California law, the first of its kind, that took effect this year.
As of Jan. 1, 2025, every company that sells baby food products in California is required to test for these four ...Read more

Health care provider bankruptcy may stick rural Georgia with state prisoners' medical bills
ATLANTA — Macon State Prison has become one of the bloodiest correctional facilities in Georgia, and no one knows that better than the men and woman who work for Macon County EMS.
As the violence at the prison just south of Oglethorpe has intensified, so, too, have the calls for ambulance service. And because of those calls, the county now ...Read more

How a lung doctor copes with health threats from the California wildfire that took his home
The morning of Jan. 7, Dr. Reza Ronaghi and his wife, Nasim, left their home in California's Pacific Palisades with the clothes on their backs and work on their minds. They'd been putting in a lot of hours – he as a pulmonologist, she as a pediatric dentist – so they left Harlow, their fluffy Havanese, at doggie daycare. It was just another ...Read more

There are fewer than 70 trans inmates in Kentucky. GOP bills would restrict their care
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Republican-backed bill that would bar Kentucky’s prisons and jails from paying for and providing hormone therapy to transgender inmates won approval in a legislative committee Thursday morning.
Senate Bill 2 from Senate Majority Whip Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, would codify into law that “if you’re incarcerated, you...Read more

Bird flu infections in dairy cows are more widespread than we thought, according to a new CDC study
LOS ANGELES — A new study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the H5N1 bird flu virus is likely circulating undetected in livestock in many parts of the country and may be infecting unaware veterinarians.
In the health agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a group of researchers from the CDC...Read more

Blood transfusions at the scene save lives. But ambulances are rarely equipped to do them
One August afternoon in 2023, Angela Martin’s cousin called with alarming news. Martin’s 74-year-old aunt had been mauled by four dogs while out for a walk near her home in rural Purlear, North Carolina. She was bleeding heavily from bites on both legs and her right arm, where she’d tried to protect her face and neck. An ambulance was on ...Read more
A year after Super Bowl parade shooting, trauma freeze gives way to turmoil for survivors
KFF Health News and KCUR followed the stories of people injured during the Feb. 14, 2024, mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration. As the one-year mark since the parade shooting nears, the last installment in our series “The Injured” looks at how some survivors talk about resilience, while others are desperately trying...Read more

5 ways to ease caregiver stress
Caregiver stress has a way of derailing your best-laid plans. Like many people whose elderly parents fall ill, Jennifer Beard found herself catapulted into a caregiving role a couple of years ago, when her mother was sent home from the hospital with a feeding tube.
Beard, an associate professor of global health at the Boston University School ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: These foods may lower dementia risk
Higher consumption of flavonoid-rich foods, such as tea and berries, may significantly lower the risk of developing dementia, especially among individuals at greater genetic risk, with hypertension, or depressive symptoms, according to a U.K. study.
Researchers examined data from nearly 122,000 participants aged 40 to 70 years from the U.K. ...Read more

How to steep tea so you have a perfect cup every time
If you’ve witnessed more people drinking tea lately than ever before, or you’re swapping your afternoon coffee for a mug of tea, you’re onto a trend. Tea consumption is on the rise.
“Consumers are seeking options with functional benefits that help with good sleep, immunity, energy, and digestion,” says Rudra Chatterjee, CEO of Luxmi ...Read more

Gratitude enhances health, brings happiness — and may even lengthen lives
Several evenings a week, as Tyler VanderWeele gathers around the dinner table with his wife and two young kids, the family deliberately pauses during the meal to do something simple but profound. Each member shares several things for which they’re grateful — an act that VanderWeele, co-director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and ...Read more

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

Mayo Clinic Q and A: Melanoma stage determines treatment plan
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My 36-year-old sister recently noticed an unusual mole on her shoulder. She is scheduled for some tests. Her primary care physician believes it might be melanoma. What is melanoma? What treatment options are available, and is surgery necessary? Have there been recent advancements in treatments?
ANSWER: While melanoma is much ...Read more

Health insurance for millions could vanish as states put Medicaid expansion on chopping block
Republican lawmakers in several states have Medicaid expansion in their crosshairs, energized by President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and a GOP-controlled Congress set on reducing spending on the public health insurance program for low-income people.
As the feds consider cuts to Medicaid, some states are already moving to end or...Read more

Game-changing lung refrigerator serves transplant patients at Northwestern Medicine
CHICAGO — The lungs that Dr. Ankit Bharat took out of Tadd Crosslin, a 49-year-old father of twins, were marred with billions of cancer cells.
They were “perhaps the most diseased that we’ve ever seen,” said Bharat, a thoracic surgeon and director of Northwestern Medicine’s Canning Thoracic Institute.
A technology the institute ...Read more
Celebrate Valentine's Day with actual hearts in mind
Valentine's Day is a celebration of the heart. But some of the clichéd approaches to commemorate it – we're looking at you, big red box of candy and decadent dinner out – are not that great for your actual heart.
Don't worry, this isn't a story where we ask you to break up with the holiday or insist you replace that box of chocolates with ...Read more
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- New survey reveals our confusion on heart health. Here are the supplements and meds that work