Health A-Z News & Features

May 30, 2023 — AI’s potential depends on how it’s used, Robert Califf, MD, said. “It could be used for tremendous gain or it could be used for tremendous harm.”

The corporate takeover of health care and why it matters.

May 22, 2023 — Researchers have found that mosquitoes are attracted to human scent that contained a high level of carboxylic acids, which are secretions that protect the skin, said the study published in Current Biology. Some of those carboxylic acids are also found in “stinky” cheeses.

May 18, 2023 — While most cases of mpox are spread via skin-to-skin contact, a new study reveals it's possible to catch the virus by touching a contaminated surface in a house or a hospital room.

May 17, 2023 — African-Americans have a starkly higher rate of early mortality than whites, with 1.63 million “excess deaths” occurring among Black people over two decades, according to a new study published in JAMA.

May 16, 2023 — A resurgence of mpox (formerly called monkeypox) this summer could be larger than last year’s caseload, the CDC said in a warning to public health officials this week.

May 15, 2023 — As AI algorithms ramps up, should patients be raging against the machine or encouraged that they might eventually be treated equally?

May 11, 2023 — The CDC said this week it is investigating several new cases of mpox, formerly called monkeypox. Most of the people infected had been previously vaccinated.

May 5, 2023 — CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, will step down from her position at the end of June, 2 ½ years after assuming the role during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 5, 2023 — Experts say the breeding programs should be expanded while also developing alternatives to monkey testing.

May 4, 2023 — Research shows that hospital clowns, aka medical clowns, therapeutic clowns, or clown doctors, can enhance patients’ quality of life and healing. We found a clown to show us how it’s done.

May 4, 2023 — Dangerous chemicals are found in dozens of everyday consumer products, according to a new survey. The chemicals were found in more than 100 products commonly used in homes and workplaces.

May 3, 2023 — What happens when a chatbot slips into your doctor’s direct messages? Depending on who you ask, it might improve outcomes. On the other hand, it might raise a few red flags.

April 27, 2023 — The COVID-19 pandemic helped untether the primary care visit from the doctor’s office, empowering patients to demand access to their primary care doctors via video or other virtual means. Experts took notice.

April 25, 2023 — Researchers have determined that cranberries in juice, tablet or powder form may lower the risk of repeated, symptomatic urinary tract infections based on the results of 50 trials involving almost 9,000 people.

April 24, 2023 — Research on mice led scientists to conclude that chronic alcohol consumption can make people more sensitive to pain in two ways – through alcohol intake and alcohol withdrawal, says a study just published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

April 20, 2023 — For years, research into cannabis’s health effects has been severely limited. That’s finally changing, slowly. The results could alter the future of medicine and improve public health.

April 20, 2023 — Cases of strep throat surged this past winter, breaking a pre-pandemic trend that had been predictable since 2017, a new report says.

April 19, 2023 — Poverty rates may help explain lower life expectancy, according to a research letter.

April 17, 2023 — While the virus has partially adapted to spread between mammals, officials say the public health risk still remains low.

April 17, 2023 — Hybrid assistive limb technology, which senses the movement you want to perform and then helps you do it, is starting to catch on in the U.S.

April 7, 2023 — The CDC has issued a health advisory about an outbreak of the Marburg virus disease in two African nations, saying U.S. doctors should be aware of the chance of imported cases.

April 4, 2023 — Carbon monoxide (CO) from generators used to temporarily restore power can be dangerous and can kill in minutes.

April 4, 2023 — Persistent fatigue — the feeling of having no energy — can contribute to frailty and affects 40% to 74% of older patients with chronic illness. Yet its causes can be elusive.

April 3, 2023 — A new survey finds that about half of all respondents still use an electronic device most or every time they drive.

April 3, 2023 — While visiting Costa Rica with her family, the little girl was on the beach eating cake when an iguana ran up and bit her left hand.

Mattiedna Johnson was a Black American nurse who may have played a key role in the search for a scarlet fever cure.

March 29, 2023 — Although relatively rare, C. auris infections can lead to death for between 30% to 70% of those at higher risk.

Older Asian Americans face a number of health disparities. Here are the biggest health concerns for aging Asian Americans.

March 26, 2023 — Most major chain stores still give receipts that have potentially toxic chemicals on them that can easily transfer to people’s skin, a new study shows. Studies have shown possible effects on the brains of fetuses, infants, and children, plus potential links to blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and childhood behavior.

March 24, 2023 — At least half a million urinary tract infections are caused by eating meat contaminated with E.coli bacteria, a new study reports.

March 23, 2023 — The CDC says cases of invasive group A strep infections, which rose in December after a pandemic lull, have remained high so far this year, ABC News reports.

March 23, 2023 — Nearly 200 years after his death, researchers continue to try to grant a dying wish of composer Ludwig Van Beethoven to study his health problems. Progressive hearing loss beginning in his early 20s left him deaf at his time of death, and he complained of chronic stomach problems.

March 21, 2023 — Cases of a potentially deadly and increasingly treatment-resistant fungus called Candida auris have skyrocketed 200% since 2019, prompting the CDC to issue a warning to healthcare facilities about the rising threat.

March 20, 2023 — A faster way to identify bacterial infection in blood combines nanoparticles, AI, and ink-jet printer technology.

March 19, 2023 — A nationwide recall of organic frozen strawberry products is underway. The FDA is advising people who ate the products to get vaccinated against hepatitis A to prevent liver infection and symptoms like nausea and jaundice.

How the field of legal epidemiology uses rigorous scientific methods to investigate the link between policy and public health.

March 15, 2023 — The EPA on Tuesday announced the proposal for six substances commonly known as PFAS, which are human-made chemicals that are used as oil and water repellents and coatings for common products including cookware, carpets, and textiles.

March 10, 2023 — As researchers revive 48,000-year-old “zombie” viruses and other microbes from Siberian permafrost, what does it mean for pandemic-weary humans encountering things our modern immune systems have never seen?

March 6, 2023 — While there are no hard-and-fast rules about when to opt for a telehealth visit versus seeing a doctor face-to-face, physicians offer guidance about when it may make more sense to choose one or the other.

March 3, 2023 — The man may have acquired this very rare infection after rinsing his sinuses with tap water.

February 28, 2023 — An FDA advisory panel is considering two drugmakers to make the first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. Pfizer and GSK seek to lead the market that could be worth between $5 billion and $10 billion.

February 26, 2023 — The DEA plans to make changes to the prescribing criteria for ADHD medications and highly addictive drugs like opioids, the agency announced.

February 19, 2023 — Former President Jimmy Carter will forgo further hospital care and will enter hospice care at his home in Georgia, the Carter Center in Atlanta announced.

February 16, 2023 — Bruce Willis, who rose to stardom in the 1980s on the TV series “Moonlighting” and in movies such as “Die Hard,” has frontotemporal dementia, the actor’s family announced in a statement Thursday.

February 16, 2023 — The bird flu currently poses a low risk to the public, but experts worry that the virus could gain mutations that help it more easily spread among humans.

February 15, 2023 — Here's why gene therapies are the most expensive drugs in the world —and how these groundbreaking treatments could severely strain our health care system.

February 13, 2023 — It’s not often that a high school brawl with gang members sets you down a path to becoming a Harvard-trained doctor. But that’s exactly how Alister Martin’s life unfolded.

February 12, 2023 — The rising national suicide rate is being driven by increases among younger people and among people of color, according to a new report. Significant increases in suicide occurred among Native American, Black and Hispanic people, with a startling rise among young Black people.