DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have atrial fibrillation, and I've heard there's a new kind of ablation that could relieve my symptoms. Can you tell me about it?

ANSWER: If you have atrial fibrillation (AFib), you're not alone — it's the most common heart rhythm disorder, affecting millions around the world. AFib occurs when the heart's upper chambers ...Read more

Tamar Abrams had a lousy couple of years in 2022 and ’23. Both her parents died; a relationship ended; she retired from communications consulting. She moved from Arlington, Virginia, to Warren, Rhode Island, where she knew all of two people.

“I was kind of a mess,” recalled Abrams, 69. Trying to cope, “I was eating myself into oblivion....Read more

Lawmakers in at least eight states this year are aiming to reel in wage garnishment for unpaid medical bills.

The legislation introduced in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington builds on efforts made in other states in past years. This latest push for patient protections comes as the Trump administration has...Read more

More than 10,000 people have enrolled in Nevada’s new public option health plans, which debuted last fall with the expectation that they would bring lower prices to the health insurance market.

Those preliminary numbers from the open enrollment period that ended in January are less than a third of what state officials had projected. Nevada is...Read more

John Davidson, whose life inspired the award-winning biopic “I Swear,” involuntarily shouted a racial slur during Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo’s speech at the BAFTA film awards in London on Feb. 22, 2026. The moment went viral, and the ensuing backlash ignited public debate about Tourette syndrome and its most shocking symptom....Read more

More than 128,000 Floridians are living with HIV. The state has the second-highest rate of new HIV diagnoses after Georgia, with approximately 4,500 new diagnoses in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.

But access to treatment could be in jeopardy if potential budget cuts, announced in January 2026 by the Florida ...Read more

This month, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — the individual entrusted with safeguarding the health of 330 million Americans — posted a 90-second video of himself and Kid Rock doing shirtless calisthenics in blue jeans, riding a stationary bike in the sauna, doing a slow-motion cold plunge and toasting glasses of...Read more

Research shows that metabolic surgery and GLP-1 medications are both effective therapies for treating obesity. Medications typically result in a 10% loss of body weight in a real-world setting, while surgery can achieve more dramatic results, up to 25% to 30%.

Metabolic experts at Mayo Clinic say combining the two in some instances can be an ...Read more

It’s the rare policy question that unites Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and the Democratic-led Maryland government against President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California: How should health insurers use AI?

Regulating artificial intelligence, especially its use by health insurers, is becoming a politically divisive topic,...Read more

BALTIMORE — Popular weight-loss drugs, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Trulicity and Mounjaro, produced by independent pharmacy labs, sickened some 8,000 or more Marylanders a year by 2024. The Food and Drug Administration announced this month that it will crack down on compounded versions of GLP-1 drugs, including the popular Hims and Hers brand. ...Read more

Republicans think patients should be shopping for better health care prices. The party has long pushed to give patients money and let consumers do the work of reducing costs. After some GOP lawmakers closed out 2025 advocating to fund health savings accounts, President Donald Trump introduced his Great Healthcare Plan, which calls for, among ...Read more

When you open the refrigerator and find a wedge of cheese flecked with green mold, or a package of chicken that smells faintly sour, it can be tempting to gamble with your stomach rather than waste food.

But the line between harmless fermentation and dangerous spoilage is sharp. Consuming spoiled foods exposes the body to a range of ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Montgomery County health officials on Saturday warned residents of a possible measles exposure at two locations in the county, after confirming another case of the highly contagious disease.

A person infected with measles visited a car dealership and a convenience store in Royersford and Limerick earlier this week, officials ...Read more

CELO COMMUNITY, N.C. — On a 15-degree morning in January, a clinic in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina began to fill up with patients.

An older couple in flannel pajamas sat together in the waiting room. A toddler waved as Patricia Hall walked past him, a stethoscope draped over her neck. The family physician waved and smiled back....Read more

In Megan Egbert’s experience, it can often take dozens of calls reporting possible abuse or neglect of a child before the Department of Health and Welfare finally takes action.

The first time Egbert, now a Democratic state representative from Boise, served as a court-appointed representative for a child in foster care, the department received...Read more

In Colorado, as of 2025, about 500 people a year die from lung cancer as the result of radon gas exposure. Nationally, the number of lung cancer deaths attributed to radon is about 21,000 per year.

Radon is present nearly everywhere outdoors, yet typically at levels that are not harmful. It becomes dangerous when it gets trapped and ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland has reported six times as many mumps cases in early 2026 as it did all of last year, with most infections concentrated in the Baltimore metropolitan area, state health officials said Thursday.

The Maryland Department of Health, or MDH, reported 26 cases — 19 confirmed and seven probable, compared with four cases for all...Read more

Maryland has reported six times as many mumps cases in early 2026 as it did all of last year, with most infections concentrated in the Baltimore metropolitan area, state health officials said Thursday.

The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) reported 26 cases — 19 confirmed and seven probable, compared with four cases for all of 2025. (The ...Read more

A fourth measles case has been confirmed in Los Angeles County, prompting renewed calls from health officials for residents to ensure they are protected against the highly contagious virus.

The infected individual flew from Singapore to Los Angeles International Airport on Feb. 9 aboard Singapore Airlines Flight 38. The plane landed at about 7 ...Read more

“Big Bang Theory” star Kunal Nayyar, who in the 2010s was twice ranked the world’s third-highest-paid TV actor, revealed in a recent interview that he uses his earnings to make donations on GoFundMe.

“Money has given me greater freedom and the greatest gift is the ability to give back, to change people’s lives,” the 44-year-old ...Read more