DURHAM, N.C. -- Their pink scoop-neck blouses and halter dresses exposed their scars. But these women had nothing to hide anymore.

Breast cancer survivors gathered around pots of boiling water, pink tablecloths, and teacups to celebrate the women of the Sisters Network Triangle NC chapter.

The group is part of Sisters Network, a national ...Read more

Love munching on apples? You could be missing out on the best part of the fruit, according to a new report.

Researchers from Graz University of Technology in Austria recently conducted a study, published in the Frontiers of Microbiology journal, to explore how the food's bacteria, much of which promotes gut health, affects the human body.

To ...Read more

In the four evenings of Democratic presidential debates since June, one phrase appeared for the first time on Wednesday: "preexisting conditions."

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker uttered it in his remarks on health care, chiding fellow Democrats for their infighting as Republicans wage a legal battle to undo the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits...Read more

With more senior drivers on the road than in years past, the importance of assessing driver fitness has increased. In the latest issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers look at this topic along with tools that clinicians can use to determine if patients are able to safely operate a vehicle. "Driving retirement is a normal part of aging, ...Read more

Now that it's upending the way you play music, cook, shop, hear the news and check the weather, the friendly voice emanating from your Amazon Alexa-enabled smart speaker is poised to wriggle its way into all things health care.

Amazon has big ambitions for its devices. It thinks Alexa, the virtual assistant inside them, could help doctors ...Read more

A better, more effective flu vaccine is a matter of when -- not if -- says Dr. Gregory Poland, director of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. The National Institutes of Health is testing an experimental universal flu vaccine with the goal of providing high-efficacy, long-lasting protection against influenza viruses.

"The idea behind a ...Read more

Experts agree that little kids, especially babies, should not be given over-the-counter cough and cold medicines.

But studies have reached conflicting conclusions about whether doctors have been following or flouting that guidance.

Now, a national study by Rutgers University researchers suggests doctors have curbed their use of most, but not ...Read more

Sen. Kamala Harris released her own version of a "Medicare for all" plan on Monday that imposes a tax on Wall Street instead of on middle-class households and tightly regulates, but not abolishes, private insurance plans.

The proposal offers the most detailed look yet on how the California senator, who has struggled at times to articulate her ...Read more

Dear Mayo Clinic: Can anything be done for hair loss that is likely hereditary? If so, what should I look for when choosing a hair regrowth product?

A: Hair loss often is caused by a combination of heredity and aging. Treatments that may slow that type of hair loss and help regrow hair, including over-the-counter therapies such as shampoos, are...Read more

Family experience with Type 2 diabetes influences how African Americans perceive the risk of the disease and their approach to managing the illness, according to a small study by researchers at Montana State University and Iowa State University.

The study, published in the journal Global Qualitative Nursing Research found that misconceptions ...Read more

Vitamin supplements, a multi-billion-dollar industry, are a layperson's favorite prescription. Tired? Take an iron supplement. Sad? Classic vitamin D deficiency. But a recent paper related to cardiovascular health, published July 9 in Annals of Internal Medicine, put this loyalty to the test. Surprise, surprise: vitamin supplements had little ...Read more

Do you add hot sauce to many of your favorite dishes? Beware, because a spicy diet could raise your dementia risk.

Researchers from the University of South Australia recently conducted a study, published in the Nutrients journal, to explore the association between chili intake and cognitive function.

To do so, they examined 4,582 Chinese ...Read more

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham will study a condition that mysteriously began ramping up in 2014 and has caused paralysis in hundreds of children around the world.

Acute flaccid myelitis has been called polio-like, but doctors don't know what causes it, though they suspect it's a rare response ...Read more

Scampering around the floor of her father's family room in Cherry Hill, 1-year-old Syah Weddington is quicker on four limbs than two. After a few passes crawling from one end of the room to the other, her mom scoops her up to her lap.

The baby's labored breathing is audible.

"You hear the panting and you can feel her chest moving rapidly," ...Read more

While the numbers of opioid prescriptions and overdose deaths in the U.S. recently have declined for the first time in years, experts continue to be concerned at how and why the painkilling medicines are being prescribed.

Once reserved for only the most severe kinds of pain, opioid medicines have been far more widely dispensed in recent years, ...Read more