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Environmental Nutrition: Debunking dietary deceptions: Is a vegetarian or vegan diet automatically healthy?
With all the praise for plant-based diets, it’s easy to think that a vegan or vegetarian diet guarantees that your diet is healthful and nutritious. But does it? The research in support of plant-based diets is bountiful, which is likely because they include higher levels of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber and lower levels of ...Read more
Mayo Clinic Q&A: Living kidney donation may be option for those with Type 2 diabetes
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I was surprised to learn that even though I have Type 2 diabetes, I possibly could be a candidate to donate a kidney to my husband who has end-stage kidney disease. Would donating a kidney be safe for me and my husband? I thought diabetes could cause kidney failure.
ANSWER: Thank you for considering the gift of life through ...Read more
GLP One Less for the Road
Apart from their widely celebrated effect at weight loss and diabetes management, GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy might also reduce alcohol use.
In a pilot study published in Scientific Reports, researchers found that GLP-1 agonists (which mimic the effects of GLP-1 compounds) slowed the speed at which alcohol enters the bloodstream, ...Read more
Is AI making some people delusional? Families and experts are worried
Generative artificial intelligence has quickly permeated much of what we do online, proving helpful for many. But for a small minority of the hundreds of millions of people who use it daily, AI may be too supportive, mental health experts say, and can sometimes even exacerbate delusional and dangerous behavior.
Instances of emotional dependence...Read more
A hidden health crisis following natural disasters: Mold growth in homes
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After returning from what felt like the best internship of her life, Danae Daniels was excited to unwind and settle into a new semester at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. But when she opened the door to her off-campus apartment, she was met with an overwhelming smell — and a devastating reality.
“There ...Read more
Learn More On How Candidates Are Selected For Research Trials
DEAR DR. ROACH: Your recent column about the advancement of medical science relying on clinical trials, not testimonials, begs me to ask the following: How are the candidates for these research trials selected? What information is provided to them to consider before volunteering? Are the candidates aware that they may receive a placebo rather ...Read more
Three biomarkers that reveal your increased risk of heart disease
You may be sailing along, thinking you're doing a good job of taking care of yourself. After all, your LDL is 110 mg/dL and you're only a little overweight, when -- bam! You have a heart attack.
That wake-up call may happen because you weren't paying close enough attention to five biomarkers: genetic risks, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood ...Read more
Jefferson Health has been sued for violating federal rules during recent layoff of hundreds
A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Philadelphia accused Jefferson Health of violating federal labor rules when it laid off 1% of its 65,000 employees in October and this month without providing a 60-day notice.
The purported class action lawsuit says the proposed lead plaintiff, Ciara Brice, lost her job as a medical assistant on Nov. 12 with no notice...Read more
California braces for early, sharper flu season as virus mutation outpaces vaccine, experts say
LOS ANGELES — California could see an early start to the annual flu season, as a combination of low vaccination rates and late mutations to the virus may leave the state particularly exposed to transmission, health experts say.
Already, there are warning signs. Los Angeles County recently reported its first flu death of the season, and other ...Read more
Kennedy sharpens vaccine attacks, without scientific backing
As the federal government prepares for the next meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has intensified his attacks on aluminum vaccine components used in many shots to boost the body’s immune response.
Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist before seeking ...Read more
A 3-year-old's epilepsy care is uncertain due to UnitedHealth-Fairview dispute
CHANHASSEN, Minnesota — Keeping Parker McEnaney smiling has required well over a dozen expensive drugs, a medevac flight to California and the expertise of just about every specialty team at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.
A cord snaking into the 3-year-old’s grippy sock connects to a device reading her pulse...Read more
US cancer registries, constrained by Trump policies, to recognize only 'male' or 'female' patients
The top authorities of U.S. cancer statistics will soon have to classify the sex of patients strictly as male, female, or unknown, a change scientists and advocates say will harm the health of transgender people, one of the nation’s most marginalized populations.
Scientists and advocates for trans rights say the change will make it much ...Read more
Canada measles outbreak shows that vigilance must not slip
The next outbreak of serious disease is merely “a plane ride away,” public health officials have long warned. The current crop of measles cases in Canada proves that point.
A traveler infected with measles visited a community in New Brunswick with a low vaccination rate, sparking a national outbreak of the disease in 2024. About 50 people ...Read more
Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes? Don't 'wait and watch'
There are several diseases that doctors say can -- maybe -- be safely tracked using active surveillance, allowing folks to postpone treatment. These include some forms of prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an enlarged prostate, and maybe gallstones. Type 2 diabetes definitely is not one of these maybes.
When you are diagnosed, the smart ...Read more
Big Changes In Height And Weight Should Prompt An Evaluation
DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm an 80-year-old male who has spent most of my life at 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 185 pounds. At about age 70, my body started to compress to the point that I now get measured at 5 feet, 11 inches and sometimes a tad less. I currently weigh 212 pounds, which makes me overweight. Is my former height a nonfactor here? As a chart...Read more
Trump still working on health care proposal, White House says
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is still working on a proposal to address a spike in Obamacare health insurance premiums, but the eventual plan may differ significantly from details reported over the weekend, the White House said Monday.
“As you all know, sometimes you report things and then President Trump comes out with an ...Read more
Complaints about gaps in Medicare Advantage networks are common. Federal enforcement is rare
Along with the occasional aches and pains, growing older can bring surprise setbacks and serious diseases. Longtime relationships with doctors people trust often make even bad news more tolerable. Losing that support — especially during a health crisis — can be terrifying. That’s why little-known federal requirements are supposed to ...Read more
Waning immunity and falling vaccination rates fuel pertussis outbreaks
Rates of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, are surging in Texas, Florida, California, Oregon, and other states and localities across the country.
The outbreaks are fueled by falling vaccination rates, fading immunity, and delays in public health tracking systems, according to interviews with state and federal health officials. Babies too...Read more
Ask the Pediatrician: Emergency medical services
If your child breaks a bone, struggles to breathe or suffers frightening thoughts that tell them life isn't worth living, will you know how to help them?
These are examples of medical emergencies that parents and caregivers must be ready to manage.
A medical emergency is defined as any point when a sudden injury or illness could end a child's ...Read more
A small Texas think tank cultivated COVID dissidents. Now they're running US health policy
Martin Kulldorff, chair of the Trump administration’s reconstituted CDC vaccine panel, made a shocking — and misleading — statement as the group met in September. Referring to a clinical trial, Kulldorff, a biostatistician and former professor at Harvard Medical School, said eight babies born to women who received Pfizer’s COVID vaccine ...Read more
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