DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have a family member taking a prescription weight-loss drug. She has been successful thus far, which I know is improving her health. She admitted, though, that she often eats less than 1,000 calories per day. How can I encourage her weight-loss journey, but also ensure she is getting adequate nutrition?

ANSWER: While weight-...Read more

Children, teens and their families are facing a lot of stress and challenges to mental wellness. Is it possible to prevent mental health problems and help kids be resilient during tough times?

The answer is yes. Parents and caregivers have powerful tools to help their children thrive, no matter what life throws their way. Positive experiences ...Read more

All women should begin breast cancer screening at the age of 40, says the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. In a new recommendation, the task force advises cisgender women and all other people assigned female at birth aged 40 to 74 years get screened every other year.

"This is good news for women," says Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, with Mayo Clinic's...Read more

Doctors traditionally use a finger to gauge how well a baby suckles, but researchers at UC San Diego have come up with a new way to more precisely measure just how well each child gets the job done.

Led by engineer James Friend, a team in the university's Medically Advanced Devices Laboratory rigged up a "non-nutritive suckling system" by ...Read more

Patients admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital get a monitoring device about the size of a half-dollar affixed to their chest — and an unwitting role in the expanding use of artificial intelligence in health care.

The slender, battery-powered gadget, called a BioButton, records vital signs including heart and breathing rates, then wirelessly...Read more

The myth that people with dark skin are immune to melanoma, a type of skin cancer, has persisted for many years. It's a dangerous misconception that has caused some people not to be diligent about protecting themselves against dangerous ultraviolet (UV) rays.

Dr. Dawn Davis , a Mayo Clinic dermatologist, says people with darker skin tones need ...Read more

May is National Stroke Awareness Month, and as part of everyday awareness, Mayo Clinic healthcare professionals suggest reducing stroke risk and knowing the signs. A stroke happens every 40 seconds in the U.S., and the likelihood of stroke increases with age, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Preventing a stroke is a crucial ...Read more

Harnessing the body’s own cells to fight disease, long a medical dream, is finally a reality.

Now comes the bill.

Last month, Stanford became the first hospital in the nation to use a new $515,000 cell therapy to treat a patient with advanced melanoma. A related approach, costing $420,000 to $475,000, is offering hope to patients with lethal...Read more

When dermatologist Adewole “Ade” Adamson sees people spritzing sunscreen as if it’s cologne at the pool where he lives in Austin, Texas, he wants to intervene. “My wife says I shouldn’t,” he said, “even though most people rarely use enough sunscreen.”

At issue is not just whether people are using enough sunscreen, but what ...Read more

President Joe Biden counts among his accomplishments the record-high number of people, more than 21 million, who enrolled in Obamacare plans this year. Behind the scenes, however, federal regulators are contending with a problem that affects people’s coverage: rogue brokers who have signed people up for Affordable Care Act plans, or switched ...Read more

Patients could wean themselves off blockbuster obesity drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy without piling the pounds back on, according to a scientific study.

Data presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, Italy on Sunday provides some of the first evidence that it could be possible to stop taking Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic or Wegovy ...Read more

CHICAGO — Julie Harris had never been tested for lung cancer. A low-dose CT scan, the only recommended screening for adults at risk of developing lung cancer, was not something she’d ever found time to do.

But when her primary care doctor recently suggested a new blood test to help look for signs of the disease, Harris was intrigued. She ...Read more

Hennessy Sepulveda thought she was going to die.

“I began dissociating as I was driving. I was 10 minutes away from my house. My vision started warping and the lights were hitting me really bright,” she said. “I felt my chest pounding, I felt a wave of panic hit me — I knew something was wrong.”

Sepulveda, a Florida International ...Read more

Low in nutrition and high in calories, ultraprocessed foods account for 57% of adult diets in the United States. A study published in the BMJ on Wednesday associated these snacks, drinks and ready meals with an increased risk of death by any cause.

“Higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with slightly increased all cause mortality,...Read more

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

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

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

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

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