For more than a decade, the latest Apple products have been the annual must-have holiday gift for the tech-savvy. That raises the question: Is the newest Apple Watch on your list -- either to give or receive -- this year?

At first glance, the watch appears to be an ideal present for Apple's most familiar market: the hip early adopters. Its ...Read more

Dear Mayo Clinic: I have had hyperthyroidism for just over one year, and medication does not seem to keep it in check. I do not want to have my thyroid removed. But I'm nervous about radioactive iodine treatment, which is what was recommended. Is it safe? What are the risks?

A: Radioactive iodine is a safe, proven and effective treatment for ...Read more

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- It has been 1.5 years since Mayo Clinic opened the world's first integrated multidisciplinary genomics service, the Individualized Medicine Clinic, which uses genomics and next-generation sequencing technologies to personalize treatments for patients with advanced cancer and complex diagnoses. In a special issue of the ...Read more

The market for "Obamacare" plans is shrinking but not collapsing, two years after President Donald Trump said not repealing the program would "destroy American health care forever."

More than halfway through the 45-day enrollment period, fewer people have selected plans for 2019 on healthcare.gov than in the same period a year ago, new ...Read more

SEATTLE -- In yet another move that shrinks the local community of independent physicians, The Polyclinic, a 101-year-old Seattle-based physicians' group, will sell a controlling stake to UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest players in a business being reshaped by cross-industry acquisitions.

The deal, announced Tuesday by Minneapolis-based ...Read more

Dear Mayo Clinic: How does deep brain stimulation for epilepsy work? Who's a good candidate for this treatment? Is it effective?

A: Deep brain stimulation is a technique that uses a wire placed permanently in the brain to send electrical pulses to the brain. It has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat epilepsy that hasn't ...Read more

UnitedHealth Group is acquiring a large clinic in Seattle for primary and specialty care that's the latest deal to grow the company's business providing direct care to patients.

Chief executive David Wichmann told investors meeting Tuesday in New York that the deal to purchase Polyclinic will supplement the Everett Clinic business in Seattle ...Read more

Sickness has started setting in at a big migrant camp in Tijuana, Mexico, as Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum declared a humanitarian crisis and asked for federal and international assistance for the more than 6,000 Central Americans who have poured into the region in recent weeks.

At the Benito Juarez shelter in north Tijuana, more than 4,700 ...Read more

Research suggests that listening to or singing songs can provide emotional and behavioral benefits for people with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. Musical memories are often preserved in Alzheimer's disease because key brain areas linked to musical memory are relatively undamaged by the disease.

For example, music can:

-- ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Last year, as the Tubbs fire scorched its way across Napa and Sonoma counties, environmental researchers at the University of California, Davis fielded questions about the health impact of chronic exposure to smoke from a wildfire that torched trees and urban structures alike.

UCD's Kent Pinkerton and Rebecca Schmidt and ...Read more

Supporters of the nation's health law condemn them. A few states, including California and New York, have banned them. Other states limit them.

But to some insurance brokers and consumers, short-term insurance plans are an enticing, low-cost alternative for healthy people.

Now, with new federal rules allowing short-term plans that last up to ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Progressives in the House are calling for a vote on a single-payer "Medicare-for-all" bill in the next Congress, but the expected chairmen who will set the agenda for next year say they have other health priorities.

Still, the progressives' push could earn more attention over the next two years as Democratic candidates begin vying...Read more

Blessing Ibikunle-Salami is a self-admitted sufferer of "imposter syndrome." Throughout her undergraduate years at Indiana University Northwest, the Munster resident repeatedly earned high praise for her accomplishments, though she secretly felt she was not deserving of the accolades.

The fact that she was selected as the university's student ...Read more

Move over Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. There's a new health-promoting gut bacterium in town, and it's called Akkermansia muciniphila.

You will not find its benefits at the bottom of a yogurt cup. But a new study has identified more than one way to nurture its growth in the gut, and offered evidence that it may maintain -- and even restore...Read more

When mental illness hijacks Margaret Rodgers' mind, she acts out.

Rodgers, 35, lives with depression and bipolar disorder. When left unchecked, the conditions drive the Alabama woman to excessive spending, crying and mania.

Last autumn, Rodgers felt her mind unraveling. Living in Birmingham, she was uninsured, unable to afford treatment and in...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Newly elected leaders in the states will be in a stronger position than those in Washington to steer significant shifts in health care policy over the next couple of years as a divided Congress struggles with gridlock.

State Medicaid work requirements, prescription drug prices, insurance exchanges and short-term health plans are ...Read more