The debate over health insurance in the United States has returned to the forefront as the Affordable Care Act faces political pressure, insurance premiums continue to climb and physicians experience increasing restrictions from insurance companies. A recent poll shows that roughly 62% to 68% of Americans believe the government has a ...Read more

Stroke can happen anywhere to anyone. In the U.S., someone has a stroke every 40 seconds. And Mayo Clinic experts say knowing the risk factors of stroke can help prevent long-term disability and even death. Learn more.

"Close to 90% of all strokes are preventable," says Dr. Felix Chukwudelunzu, a Mayo Clinic neurologist.

The first step in ...Read more

In 1996, Guinea-Bissau seemed like an ideal research post for budding pediatrician Lone Graff Stensballe. Her supervisor, a fellow Dane named Peter Aaby, had spent nearly two decades collecting data on 100,000 people living in the mud brick homes of the West African country's capital.

Aaby and his partner, Christine Stabell Benn, believed that ...Read more

My friend Emma Cooksey dozed off driving her 7-month-old baby home one day. She narrowly avoided a catastrophic crash.

Her lousy sleep was the problem. It haunted her nearly her entire adult life. She talked to doctors about it over and over again, but to no avail. After this near miss, she knew she desperately needed an answer.

Because she ...Read more

The Ebola crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has drawn about $500 million in global pledges as African leaders and international health officials warned the outbreak risks spreading across the continent.

The commitments, announced during a briefing of state officials on Monday, have more than doubled from the almost $208 million ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

How much candy do Americans eat in a whole year? – Yvanna C., age 9, Nevada

From sweet treats to holiday indulgences, candy plays a big role in American culture, with ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Bob DiCola noticed something was off with his hands.

As a drummer, who has spent years keeping time with bands including the Pittsburgh PolkaMeisters and Miss Freddye, even a slight change in grip stood out.

The tingling in his fingers didn’t just feel unusual: It threatened both the 70-year-old Leechburg man’s passion for ...Read more

Lather on the sunscreen this holiday weekend and pay close attention during your skin exam.

That brown spot on your leg could look like nothing to worry about, particularly to the naked eye. But early skin cancer, including aggressive melanoma, could be missed with just a visual exam.

A recent viral headline illustrates the risk: “Mom, 37, ...Read more

Ebola is spreading faster than responders can track it in eastern Congo, where health workers managed to follow up with barely one in five identified contacts in a single day.

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo reported 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases and 1,603 identified contacts as of May 21, according to the health ...Read more

For decades, people have been told that their weight problems can be solved by math: Calories in, calories out. If weight were a simple math equation, more people would likely be the weight they desire. But it is much more complicated.

There are several theories as to why it is difficult to lose weight. Some focus on genetics and ...Read more

Federal health officials have directed enhanced Ebola-related screening of certain international travelers through a Washington-area airport, but Baltimore’s primary air hub says it is not part of the effort and does not expect to be involved.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that it has issued an order ...Read more

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Researchers at the University of California, Irvine believe a new public health study they’re helping to run – the first of its size to focus solely on Asian Americans – will help unravel some mysterious and troubling new trends linking race and cancer.

Over the next four years, UCI researchers hope to recruit 1,800 ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Artificial intelligence is helping Temple Health prevent patients with diabetes from experiencing dangerous swings in their blood sugar levels, administrators say.

The North Philadelphia health system has seen a more than twofold reduction in the number of patients who develop a low-blood sugar condition known as hypoglycemia ...Read more

Uganda urged the U.S. and other partners to reverse deep cuts to global health funding, warning the pullback may hamper efforts to contain imported Ebola cases linked to an outbreak in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sudden reductions in support for disease surveillance and healthcare programs have left African countries more exposed...Read more

Headlines on long COVID have become much more rare than during the first few years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But that doesn’t mean the more than 44 million Americans who have at some point reported long COVID symptoms – a number that continues to grow – are no longer suffering, or that the U.S. isn’t paying for it.

...Read more

MANCHESTER, England — Alison Starkie spends her days tracking down people who need testing or treatment for hepatitis C, especially those who are unhoused or actively using drugs.

Starkie, an intervention worker for a drug treatment service, recalled the difficulty of treating a man living in a tent in northwest England. Each time he started ...Read more

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting "988.”

____

As a teenager, Rei Scott spent several weeks living out of a car with four family members and their dog. Each day, Scott worried about where they would spend the following night.

One day at ...Read more

Overwhelmed by the demands of caregiving, Quette dialed 911 when she found her teenage son downstairs in their kitchen struggling to breathe.

He had rolled his wheelchair to the oven to keep himself warm as he tried to regulate his temperature, she recalled, and was drenched in sweat from an apparent infection.

In that moment, Quette knew that...Read more

As nurses continue navigating burnout, staffing shortages and an increasingly complex healthcare system, their role has never been more critical.

Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Dean Sarah Szanton sat down with The Baltimore Sun to discuss the evolving demands of the profession, the growing need for nurses beyond the bedside and why the future ...Read more