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Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Salmonella outbreak tied to raw oysters reaches Maryland

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BALTIMORE — A Maryland resident is among at least 64 people in 22 states who have fallen ill after being infected with the same strain of salmonella linked to raw oysters, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of those sickened nationwide, 20 people were hospitalized as of Tuesday. No deaths have been reported. Federal ...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Georgia requests $1.4 billion to transform rural health care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

ATLANTA — By New Year’s Eve, the Trump administration is scheduled to award one-time grants to states to “transform” their rural health care, and Georgia is asking for $1.4 billion.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration has submitted an application with a long list of proposed pilot projects, including drop-in telehealth “pods,” health...Read more

KFF Health News//TNS

Guns marketed for personal safety fuel public health crisis in Black communities

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PHILADELPHIA — Leon Harris, 35, is intimately familiar with the devastation guns can inflict. Robbers shot him in the back nearly two decades ago, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. The bullet remains lodged in his spine.

“When you get shot,” he said, “you stop thinking about the future.”

He is anchored by his wife and child ...Read more

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America/TNS

States advance medical debt protections as federal support turns to opposition

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Lawmakers in several states are working to expand medical debt protections for patients, even after the Trump administration reversed course and told states they don’t have authority to take action on credit reporting.

In Alaska and Michigan, legislators are nonetheless advancing bills to keep medical debt off consumer credit reports.

The ...Read more

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Commentary: US health care in 2025: Chaos, costs, and controversy without real progress

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The year 2025 has been one of the most turbulent years in modern U.S. health care. The headlines were explosive, the rhetoric dramatic, and the controversies nonstop. Yet for all the hoopla and upheaval, the medical care Americans receive now, month in and month out, looks no better than what they experienced on Jan. 1 — but far more expensive...Read more

Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images North America/TNS

A year of discovery: 10 Mayo Clinic research breakthroughs moving medicine forward

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

ROCHESTER, Minn. — From AI-powered drug discovery to regenerative therapies and next-generation neurology tools, Mayo Clinic researchers made significant strides in 2025 toward predicting, preventing and treating some of the world's most serious and complex diseases.

These discoveries reflect progress across three major innovation ...Read more

Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times/TNS

Public health emergency declared for Washington after flooding

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

SEATTLE — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared a public health emergency for Washington after dozens of communities across the western side of the state were pummeled by flooding.

The declaration, issued Christmas Eve, is meant to address ensuing health impacts caused by the flooding, back-to-...Read more

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/TNS

'Truly an amazing act': Idaho doctor donates year's salary to cure blindness

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOISE, Idaho — One Treasure Valley doctor is putting off his retirement and doing something “profound” with his last year in the emergency room.

Stuart Clive, who was a longtime St. Luke’s Medical Center emergency room physician, is donating an entire year’s salary in an effort to cure blindness for thousands of people.

Clive works ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts' health department warns residents about possible measles exposures in multiple locations

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOSTON — An out-of-state adult visitor who spent time in the region earlier this month has been diagnosed with measles, according to health officials who are warning the public of possible exposures in multiple locations.

The visitor arrived at Boston Logan airport on American Airlines flight 2384 from Dallas-Fort Worth on Dec. 11 at 2:39 p.m...Read more

Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Salmonella linked to raw food sickens people across 22 states

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a warning about consuming raw oysters, citing an ongoing salmonella outbreak.

In total, 64 people have reported getting sick with 20 hospitalizations across 22 states, the CDC said.

Pennsylvania and New York both have the most cases with 17 total.

“The true number of sick people in this outbreak is...Read more

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images North America/TNS

States eager for final decisions on $50 billion health care fund

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

WASHINGTON — States are expecting clarity within days for a key feature of Republicans’ signature budget reconciliation law — a $50 billion rural health care fund that has an end-of-year deadline for the administration to announce its plans.

The wide-ranging law reduces health spending by about $1 trillion over a decade, primarily from ...Read more

A 5-step plan for parents of children with special needs, from a financial planner

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Raising a child with special needs presents unique and long-term financial planning considerations.

Parents need to focus on ensuring their child has the care, resources and support they require — today, and, quite often, well into adulthood and their own retirement.

This level of planning often involves complex financial decisions and, in ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: Understanding dates

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Q: What’s the difference between expiration dates and “best by” or “sell by” dates?

A: The terms expiration date, “best by,” and “sell by” are often confused, but they do have different meanings and purposes.

Expiration: This is the last date the manufacturer recommends using the product for safety reasons.

Best By/Best ...Read more

The best cool-season vegetables to enjoy all winter long

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Colorful, nutritious winter vegetables — crops that thrive in the cooler months or are harvested in the fall and maintain their flavor and health benefits throughout the winter — play an important role in the eating-seasonally movement. This lifestyle trend, which promotes packing your plate with food grown naturally at that time of year in ...Read more

Try this: Winter skin care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Here’s how to prevent and treat dry skin during the cold-weather months.

Use a humidifier to pump moisture into dry indoor air. Set it to around 60%, a level that should be sufficient to replenish moisture in the skin.

Limit yourself to one 5- to 10-minute bath or shower daily. Bathing for too long will strip away some of the skin’s ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q&A: 5 things to know about stroke

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: A friend from my book club recently had a stroke. I learned that women have a higher risk of strokes. What are the risk factors, and are there signs to watch for that indicate someone is having a stroke?

ANSWER: A stroke can happen at any time and to anyone. You might be talking to your loved one and notice they’re suddenly ...Read more

Christiana Botic/KFF Health News/TNS

Call 911 or risk losing the baby? Raids force some immigrants to avoid care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As immigrants in southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi braced for this month’s U.S. Homeland Security operation, Cristiane Rosales-Fajardo received a panicked phone call from a friend.

The friend’s Guatemalan tenant, who didn’t know she was pregnant, had just delivered a premature baby in the New Orleans house. The parents lacked legal ...Read more

Elizaveta Galitskaya/Dreamstime/TNS

Mayo Clinic smartwatch system helps parents shorten and defuse children's severe tantrums early

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a smartwatch-based alert system that signals parents at the earliest signs of a tantrum in children with emotional and behavioral disorders — prompting them to intervene before it intensifies.

In a new study published in JAMA Network Open, these alerts helped parents intervene ...Read more

Alejandro A Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

One thousand Pennsylvanians now dropping health insurance daily

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PITTSBURGH — Nansi Armstrong is living in America's painful health insurance purgatory: earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to cover premiums set to double next year.

The 48-year-old mother works multiple jobs, including a full-time gig as an office manager for a Harrisburg law firm that comes without benefits.

At $650 ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Boston reports 114% recent surge in flu cases in December, urges vaccinations

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOSTON — Boston is seeing a early surge in flu cases this year, city and health officials warned, with sharp upticks in cases and hospitalizations and even higher increases for children and teens as winter sets in.

“Flu cases are on the rise in Boston, and we are urging residents to protect themselves and their loved ones from respiratory ...Read more