Health Advice
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California banned sales of flavored e-cigarettes in 2022 − but a study finds online stores are still selling them, even to kids
This article was originally published on Dec. 21, 2023 Californians – including minors – are still able to buy flavored electronic cigarettes online, even after the state’s much-publicized ban went into effect. That’s the key finding of my team’s 2023 study, published in JAMA Network Open.
On Dec. 21, 2022, California ...Read more
Child measles case at Sacramento hospital may have exposed 200 people, health officials say
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — At least 200 Northern California residents may have been exposed to measles after a child with the airborne disease came to the UC Davis Medical Center’s emergency department twice during the past week, Sacramento County health officials said Thursday.
A child came to the Oak Park facility on Monday between 10 p.m. to 3...Read more
There's a new highly transmissible COVID-19 variant. Could FLiRT lead to a summer uptick?
Two new COVID-19 subvariants, collectively nicknamed FLiRT, are increasingly edging out the winter's dominant strain ahead of a possible summer uptick in coronavirus infections.
The new FLiRT subvariants, officially known as KP.2 and KP.1.1, are believed to be roughly 20% more transmissible than their parent, JN.1, the winter's dominant ...Read more
Do zinc products really help shorten a cold? It's hard to say
You feel a cold coming on, or maybe it's already upon you: the telltale cough, sore throat and stuffy head. You swing by the drugstore, where a shelf full of over-the-counter products containing the mineral zinc claim to be able to shorten the duration of your symptoms.
The promise of relief is tempting. But is it one these products can make ...Read more
Bill of the Month: Sign here? Financial agreements may leave doctors in the driver's seat
Cass Smith-Collins jumped through hoops to get the surgery that would match his chest to his gender.
Living in Las Vegas and then 50, he finally felt safe enough to come out as a transgender man. He had his wife’s support and a doctor’s letter showing he had a long history of gender dysphoria, the psychological distress felt when one’s ...Read more
Partner talks in their sleep? Here's how to slumber soundly
Parasomnia — it’s a blanket term for pesky behaviors that wreak havoc on your sleep. A third of U.S. adults get less than the recommended amount of shut-eye, a nationwide struggle linked to chronic diseases ranging from depression to Type 2 diabetes. Some parasomnias, however, don’t affect just the sleeper; they can affect others within ...Read more
How cannabis and psilocybin might help some of the 50 million Americans who are experiencing chronic pain
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced in late April 2024 that it plans to ease federal restrictions on cannabis, reclassifying it from a Schedule I drug to the less restricted Schedule III, which includes drugs such as Tylenol with codeine, testosterone and other anabolic steroids. This historic shift signals an acknowledgment of the ...Read more
Bill of the Month: Sign here? Financial agreements may leave doctors in the driver's seat
Cass Smith-Collins jumped through hoops to get the surgery that would match his chest to his gender.
Living in Las Vegas and then 50, he finally felt safe enough to come out as a transgender man. He had his wife’s support and a doctor’s letter showing he had a long history of gender dysphoria, the psychological distress felt when one’s ...Read more
Could better inhalers help patients, and the planet?
Miguel Divo, a lung specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, sits in an exam room across from Joel Rubinstein, who has asthma. Rubinstein, a retired psychiatrist, is about to get a checkup and hear a surprising pitch — for the planet, as well as his health.
Divo explains that boot-shaped inhalers, which represent nearly 90% of ...Read more
Should you be worried about bird flu? Here are 5 things to know about the virus
As a new virus takes center stage at the heart of a global outbreak, it’s easy to get flashbacks of March 2020.
Now more than four years after the world was rocked by a pandemic, H5N1, or avian or bird flu, has exploded in bird and livestock populations, and at least one human case has been confirmed by health officials.
This isn’t the ...Read more
A Pennsylvania study on racial bias in health care algorithms shows 'race is a bad variable'
PHILADELPHIA — University of Pennsylvania researchers undertook the most comprehensive review yet on the algorithms that doctors and health systems use to help make decisions on patient care and whether they contribute to long-standing racial biases in health care.
Their wide-ranging review of more than five dozen studies on algorithms and ...Read more
New COVID 'FLiRT' variants are spreading nationwide. Chicago health experts urge up to date vaccination
CHICAGO — A new family of COVID variants nicknamed “FLiRT” is spreading across the country, as vaccination rates in Chicago — as well as nationwide — remain concerningly low for some public health experts.
While symptoms and severity seem to be about the same as previous COVID strains, the new FLiRT variants appear to be more ...Read more
Amgen plows ahead with costly, highly toxic cancer dosing despite FDA challenge
When doctors began using the drug sotorasib in 2021 with high expectations for its innovative approach to attacking lung cancer, retired medical technician Don Crosslin was an early beneficiary. Crosslin started the drug that July. His tumors shrank, then stabilized.
But while the drug has helped keep him alive, its side effects have gradually ...Read more
A mother's loss launches a global effort to fight antibiotic resistance
LOS ANGELES -- In November 2017, days after her daughter Mallory Smith died from a drug-resistant infection at the age of 25, Diane Shader Smith typed a password into Mallory's laptop.
Her daughter gave it to her before undergoing double-lung transplant surgery, with instructions to share any writing that could help others if she didn't survive...Read more
Hospitals no longer must report COVID data to CDC, spotlighting clunky system
As COVID-19 swept over Phoebe Putney Health System and Southwest Georgia in the first days of the pandemic, residents and public health officials were desperate to know what patients had and how far it was spreading. The Albany, Georgia-based outbreak turned out to be one of the four largest in the world in terms of the percentage of the ...Read more
Counterfeit Botox found in California. Here's how to spot fake products and report them
Counterfeit versions of Botox have been found in multiple states, including California, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The health agency is warning consumers and medical providers to be wary of the counterfeit products, which have caused “hospitalizations and other serious reactions in people who received injections ...Read more
Bird flu has spread to cows in Colorado. Is avian influenza threat? We answer your questions.
DENVER — The bird flu has arrived in Colorado, and while it doesn’t represent anywhere near the threat that COVID-19 did at the beginning of the pandemic, people should take some precautions with animals that could carry it, experts say.
The Denver Post compiled the latest information on H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza, the bird flu ...Read more
Arizona’s now-repealed abortion ban serves as a cautionary tale for reproductive health care across the US
When the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on April 9, 2024, that the state’s Civil War-era law banning nearly all abortions was enforceable, it brought into stark reality the potential impacts of leaving reproductive rights up to the states to regulate, and the related consequences for women’s health.
The ruling, set to go into effect ...Read more
Environmental Nutrition: Lime time!
Tart and tangy, limes are the key ingredient that make flavors pop in our favorite sweet and savory foods.
The folklore
This tiny citrus fruit can certainly steal the spotlight as the star in tasty key lime pie, limeade and margaritas, but it shines even brighter in supporting roles, lending brightness and zing as condiment, garnish or finish....Read more
6 healthy summer foods to add to your diet
It’s almost summer — that amazing time of year when fresh produce abounds. We love that there’s an abundance of fresh, delicious and healthy choices. Better yet, many of summer’s fruits and vegetables are brimming with secret health benefits. Here are some of our favorites and why they're a particularly good choice in the summer.
1. ...Read more
Popular Stories
- New COVID 'FLiRT' variants are spreading nationwide. Chicago health experts urge up to date vaccination
- Bill of the Month: Sign here? Financial agreements may leave doctors in the driver's seat
- Could better inhalers help patients, and the planet?
- How cannabis and psilocybin might help some of the 50 million Americans who are experiencing chronic pain
- Should you be worried about bird flu? Here are 5 things to know about the virus