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Africa’s healthcare funding crisis: 3 strategies to manage deadly diseases

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The increasing trend of reducing foreign aid to Africa is forcing the continent to reassess its approach to healthcare delivery.

African countries face a major challenge of dealing with high rates of communicable diseases, such as malaria and HIV/Aids, and rising levels of non-communicable diseases. But the continent’s health ...Read more

Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune/TNS

How a Minnesota medtech startup with big backers treats prostate cancer with water

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

MINNEAPOLIS – Michael Hoey admits he’s terrible at names. He used to call his kids “One, Two and Three.”

When naming his startup seeking to treat a common cancer with only a few drops of water, Hoey had his colleagues decide. They avoided techy terms like his last company, NxThera, and chose Francis Medical in honor of the founder’s ...Read more

Preventive care may no longer be free in 2026 because of HIV stigma − unless the Trump administration successfully defends the ACA

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Many Americans were relieved when the Supreme Court left the Affordable Care Act in place following the law’s third major legal challenge in June 2021. This decision permitted widely supported policies to continue, such as ensuring health coverage regardless of preexisting conditions, allowing coverage for dependents up to age 26 on their ...Read more

How bird flu differs from seasonal flu − an infectious disease researcher explains

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The flu sickens millions of people in the U.S. every year, and the past year has been particularly tough. Although infections are trending downward, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called the winter of 2024-2025 a “high severity” season with the highest hospitalization rate in 15 years.

Since early 2024, a ...Read more

Owen Hornstein/InvestigateTV/InvestigateTV/TNS

Rural hospitals and patients are disconnected from modern care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

EUTAW, Ala. — Leroy Walker arrived at the county hospital short of breath. Walker, 65 and with chronic high blood pressure, was brought in by one of rural Greene County’s two working ambulances.

Nurses checked his heart activity with a portable electrocardiogram machine, took X-rays, and tucked him into Room 122 with an IV pump pushing ...Read more

Jim Watson/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

This bill aims to help firefighters with cancer. Getting it passed is just the beginning

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As firefighters battled the catastrophic blazes in Los Angeles County in January, California’s U.S. senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, signed onto legislation with a simple aim: Provide federal assistance to first responders diagnosed with service-related cancer.

The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act is considered crucial by its supporters,...Read more

A two-step way to a longer life for older women

According to Mayo Clinic Proceedings, women gain around 1.5 pounds a year while going through menopause. That may not sound like a lot, but if your hormone shift takes 10 years, that's 15 pounds. So, it adds up -- 75% of women age 60 and older are overweight, increasing their risk for lower quality of life, more chronic disease, dementia, hip ...Read more

Unusual Cause Of Chronic Cough And Throat Clearing

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: Ten to 15 years ago, I had to constantly clear my throat and it was driving me and everybody around me nuts. You had written a column about chronic throat-clearing. In the article, you talked about how after all the serious things had been eliminated there was an expensive test to check out the throat or you could just ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Another brain tumor case reported amid Massachusetts nurse cluster

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOSTON — Another Newton-Wellesley Hospital staffer who worked in the maternity wing has reportedly been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

This sixth tumor case on the fifth floor of the Mass General Brigham facility comes as officials continue to assure staff and patients that there’s “no environmental risk” at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the...Read more

Chris Christo/Boston Herald/TNS

Mass. Democrats rally behind bill to 'fortify' protections for transgender, reproductive health care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOSTON — Top Democrats in the Massachusetts Senate pledged to advance sweeping legislation Monday that they argue protects reproductive and transgender health care from “attacks” by entities in other states where some practices have been deemed illegal under local laws.

The proposal, filed by Sen. Cindy Friedman of Arlington and Attorney ...Read more

Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images North America/TNS

Fired FDA communications staff worry about impact on public health

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

WASHINGTON – Vera Rosenthal, a health communications specialist at the Food and Drug Administration, woke up to an email April 1 informing her that she had been affected by the Trump administration’s “Reduction in Force” effort and no longer had a job at the agency.

About a half hour later, she got out of bed to take her border collie ...Read more

Pennsylvania may be short 20,000 nurses by 2026

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Imagine nearly every seat in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center − over 20,000 seats − are empty. That’s the scale of Pennsylvania’s projected shortfall of registered nurses by 2026, according to the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.

Hospitals in the state report an average 14% vacancy rate for registered ...Read more

How the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service protects public health at home and abroad

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

When the Trump administration announced in February 2025 that it was cutting 10% of staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it seemed that a small but storied program within it called the Epidemic Intelligence Service – also known as the CDC’s disease detectives – would also be cut. A few days later, the program was ...Read more

Paul Morigi/Getty Images North America/TNS

A fifth of Americans are on Medicaid. Some of them have no idea

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Some Americans who rely on Medicaid to pay for their health care don’t realize their insurance is funded by that very program, which congressional Republicans are looking to shrink.

One reason is that state programs aren’t always called “Medicaid.” Many states have rebranded their programs with consumer-friendly names such as SoonerCare...Read more

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Minnesota addiction and mental health providers fear federal cuts will hurt 'life-saving' services

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Substance abuse services in schools and a help line intended to prevent people’s mental health issues from escalating are among Minnesota programs scaling back amid an attempt to cancel federal funding.

The Trump administration wants to rescind $27.5 million in COVID-era grants for 85 mental health and addiction programs across the state, ...Read more

Lydia Zuraw/KFF Health News/TNS

Trump's immigration tactics obstruct efforts to avert bird flu pandemic, researchers say

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Aggressive deportation tactics have terrorized farmworkers at the center of the nation’s bird flu strategy, public health workers say.

Dairy and poultry workers have accounted for most cases of the bird flu in the U.S. — and preventing and detecting cases among them is key to averting a pandemic. But public health specialists say they’re ...Read more

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America/TNS

Ask the Pediatrician: Is baby formula safe?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Many families feed formula to their infants in the first year of life as an alternative to human breast milk. They trust that it will be safe and provide the nutrients their baby needs.

Still, you may have heard about a report that found heavy metals or other contaminants in some infant formula products. There are also new plans at the federal ...Read more

Microvone/Dreamstime/TNS

Mayo Clinic Q and A: 4 health benefits to cutting back screen time

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I catch myself constantly nagging my kids and spouse to put down their devices during dinner, in the evenings and on weekends. I feel burned out by screens by the end of the workday. How can I encourage tech-free time for my family and reduce screen time?

ANSWER: Smartphones, gaming systems and screens are everywhere. They ...Read more

Improve your surgical outcome with psychological therapy

Back in 1979, I designed a two-week habit-changing program that could be followed pre-operatively to make your RealAge 10 years younger than your calendar age and improve pre -- and post-surgical experiences. Now it's being expanded and is proving (once again) to be tremendously beneficial.

That's great news for the folks undergoing the 40-50 ...Read more

Are Screening Centers Worth The Money?

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I see screening tests advertised often. For $160 I can get screened for conditions that might cause stroke, heart disease, aneurysms, etc. My partner and I are in our early and mid-60s. Should we get these done? -- K.S.

ANSWER: Sometimes, screening tests make a great deal of sense; other times, they don't. It all depends on ...Read more