Health Advice

/

Health

Jessica Fischer/Dreamstime/TNS

The rise in children's melatonin use and what experts want you to know

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Packed holiday schedules, no school, disrupted bedtime routines — a parent’s worst nightmare. And if you are one of the many turning to melatonin to help their little ones get to sleep, you may want to think again. New research suggests this increasingly popular solution deserves a closer look.

Nearly 1 in 5 school-age children now ...Read more

Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Avocados, salmon, strawberry yogurt: Which of these meets FDA's new definition of a 'healthy' food?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In an effort to improve American diets, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday released a new definition of what it means for a food to qualify as "healthy."

Products like fruit-flavored yogurt, fortified white bread and sweetened energy bars will no longer be allowed to label themselves as healthy if they exceed certain limits on ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Obamacare sign-ups lag after Trump election, legal challenges

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

New enrollments under the Affordable Care Act are on pace to trail last year’s record numbers by as many as a million as the outgoing Biden administration confronts upheavals in the program.

Donald Trump’s election to a second term has cast uncertainty around the future of the health law. In addition, the Biden administration implemented ...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Democratic senators ask watchdog agency to investigate Georgia's Medicaid work rule

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Three Democratic senators asked the country’s top nonpartisan government watchdog on Tuesday to investigate the costs of a Georgia program that requires some people to work to receive Medicaid coverage.

The program, called “Georgia Pathways to Coverage,” is the nation’s only active Medicaid work requirement.

Pathways has cost tens of ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

How parents can have fun during the holidays, too

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The holiday season can be a particularly busy time for families, with everything from mall photos with Santa to class Christmas parties to Elf on the Shelf demanding attention and care. All of that constant fun often leaves out parents, with the season sometimes being more stressful than the rest of the year.

However, the holidays should be ...Read more

Pratchaya Leelapatchayanont/Dreamstime/TNS

There are more heart attacks on Christmas than any other day of the year

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

We sing about how Christmas brings “tidings of comfort and joy,” but the holiday also brings something not so “merry and bright.”

In fact, heart attacks and strokes surge during the last two weeks of December, according to the American Heart Association, with Dec. 25 being the day of the year with the highest number of cardiac events.

...Read more

Parents and caregivers: How to stop feeling like a Grinch and be more present with your kids this holiday season

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Holidays are often depicted as picture-perfect moments: families blissfully united around a table filled with seasonal food favorites against an immaculate backdrop. For many parents, attempting to meet such unrealistic expectations can undermine their self-worth – and their sanity.

In the real world, parents are juggling more ...Read more

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Rage has long shadowed American health care. It's rarely produced big change

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Among the biggest-grossing films in America in February 2002 were a war drama about American troops in Somalia (“Black Hawk Down”), an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie (“Collateral Damage”), and a future Oscar winner about a brilliant mathematician struggling with schizophrenia (“A Beautiful Mind”).

But none of these films topped ...Read more

Imago/Imago via ZUMA Press/TNS

Gov. Gavin Newsom declares emergency in California after CDC confirms severe case of bird flu in Louisiana

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday as the H5N1 bird flu virus moved from the Central Valley to Southern California dairy herds, while federal officials confirmed the first U.S. case of severe illness in a hospitalized Louisiana patient — a concerning development as the virus continues to spread throughout the ...Read more

Imago/Imago via ZUMA Press/TNS

Gov. Gavin Newsom declares emergency in California after CDC confirms severe case of bird flu in Louisiana

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as the H5N1 bird flu virus moves from the Central valley to Southern California herds and federal officials confirmed flu in a Louisiana patient hospitalized with severe illness. This is the first case of severe illness caused by bird flu in the U.S., and is considered a concerning ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declares state of emergency over bird flu infections

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday in response to rising cases of bird flu, the same day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed a person in Louisiana had been hospitalized with a ‘‘severe’’ case of the disease.

“This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies ...Read more

Detroit cancer center unveils new device for treating liver cancer at home

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DETROIT — A new device is now available for treating advanced liver cancer at home using electromagnetic waves, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute announced Wednesday.

Called the "TheraBionic P1," the device works via a small spoon-shaped antenna the patient places on their tongue, said co-inventor Dr. Boris Pasche at a news conference...Read more

Ron Agam/Getty Images North America/TNS

Federal government to permanently fund 9/11 health care program facing financial cliff

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The pivotal World Trade Center Health Program that covers medical expenses for those suffering from 9/11-related illnesses will be fully funded for the next 15 years, thanks to a bipartisan agreement hammered out in Washington, D.C., officials said Wednesday.

A federal budget bill coming up for a vote next week will include permanent funding ...Read more

Over 162,000 Dreamers cut off from Affordable Care Act insurance

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BBarely a month after gaining access to Affordable Care Act coverage for the first time, millions of Dreamers across 19 states were barred from getting health insurance.

A North Dakota federal judge’s ruling prevents Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigrants in Kansas, along with 18 other states including Florida, from ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: Keep it local for the holidays

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The holidays are the season for gathering, giving, sharing meals, and, yes, shopping. Lots of shopping to make it all happen. This year, as you plan menus, decorations, and gifts, consider shopping locally and supporting local farmers and artisans.

There’s a cache of unexpected treasures in the offerings to be discovered in your community. ...Read more

3 resolutions you can actually stick to for a happier, healthier year

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The new year is a great time for a health reset. But when we set the bar too high, we inevitably blow it, blame ourselves, and go back to the status quo," says nutrition therapist Dana Sturtevant, RD, a co-owner of Be Nourished in Portland, Oregon.

Take fad diets like juice cleanses: We’re drawn to them because they promise big results and ...Read more

Health care should improve your health, right?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

It’s undeniable: modern medicine offers ever-expanding ways to heal and prevent disease. But it’s also true that health care can cause harm. One analysis found that about 6% of health care encounters caused preventable harm, leading to thousands of deaths each year. And it’s not just errors that cause trouble. Highly skilled health care ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q&A: Reducing teen’s risk of diabetes

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am a 40-year-old overweight woman diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a little over a year ago. I have become more mindful about the food our family eats, limiting sugar and incorporating more fruits and vegetables into meals at home. Recently, though, I learned my 14-year-old daughter has been “snacking” on spoons of ...Read more

Jesse Costa/WBUR/TNS

Patients couldn't pay their utility bills. One hospital turned to solar power for help

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Anna Goldman, a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, got tired of hearing that her patients couldn’t afford the electricity needed to run breathing assistance machines, recharge wheelchairs, turn on air conditioning, or keep their refrigerators plugged in. So she worked with her hospital on a solution.

The result is a pilot effort...Read more

Hannah, Norman/KFF Health News/TNS

Toxic 'forever chemicals' taint rural California drinking water, far from known sources

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Juana Valle never imagined she’d be scared to drink water from her tap or eat fresh eggs and walnuts when she bought her 5-acre farm in San Juan Bautista, California, three years ago. Escaping city life and growing her own food was a dream come true for the 52-year-old.

Then Valle began to suspect water from her well was making her sick.

“...Read more