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A view from a bridge overlooking the Harrowgate neighborhood of North Philadelphia. Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

Philadelphia’s failing air quality hits hardest in neighborhoods near industry and highways, where asthma rates soar

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Philadelphians who live near industrial land and major roads – those who live in the Port Richmond and Bridesburg neighborhoods along I-95, or the Delaware River port-industrial corridor, for example – face worse air pollution and are more likely to have asthma than residents who live farther from those sites.

Philly neighborhoods...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q&A: Strategies for calming back-to-school anxiety

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I have two sons, ages 5 and 11. My eldest is always excited to start school and have new adventures. My younger son will begin kindergarten this year. Although he went to child care part-time, my younger son has begun to express concern about being away from me all day and is showing increased anxiety as we talk about school. ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: What is umami?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Q: What is umami?

A: Umami is the fifth flavor (in addition to sweet, salty, sour and bitter), discovered in Japan over 100 years ago. The term, umami, meaning “delicious,” encompasses a flavor profile of savory, brothy, rich or meaty taste sensation. This complex flavor experience helps to deepen or complete flavors and aromas and improve ...Read more

Can you actually get paid to care for an aging parent?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Q: My mother suffers from MS and now needs daily help. I’m starting to look into programs that will pay me to be a caregiver. Am I allowed to keep my regular job or will I be forced to quit? I’m a freelance consultant with flexible hours, but I can’t give up that income (or not easily). I assume the pay to be a caregiver isn’t great.

A:...Read more

Weaning off a GLP-1? Tips for the transition

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

After a year of using a GLP-1 medication to lose weight, Abby was ecstatic to have shed more than 100 pounds. But she grew uneasy as she approached her target, wondering what happens when you stop a GLP-1 drug and how she could maintain her stellar results.

Research suggests Abby’s concern about rebound weight gain is well founded. People who...Read more

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Mayo Clinic Q&A: Heartburn or heart attack? How to tell the difference

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My father frequently experiences heartburn, but sometimes I worry that what feels like heartburn to him could be a heart attack. How can you tell the difference, and when should someone seek emergency care?

ANSWER: Many people worry that heartburn-like symptoms could be a heart attack — and that concern is understandable. ...Read more

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Nurses chase cyclospora, aided by interviews, fast-food receipts -- and the messy details

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

More than 900 people in Washtenaw County, Michigan, have been sickened with cyclosporiasis since mid-June. Linda Kim, a public health nurse, has called more than 100 of them. Almost everyone has said the same thing: It’s excruciating, and one of the worst illnesses they’ve experienced.

But on a Wednesday in July, she called one man who said...Read more

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People with disabilities fear service cuts as Trump's DOJ questions legal protections

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Amanda DeSimone-Shabrack relies on a home healthcare aide to help her high-needs autistic 12-year-old son. Virginia’s Medicaid program covers the assistance, enabling her to work as both an education technology specialist and a professor, run errands, and keep Mason in the home.

That could change. In June, the Department of Justice issued a ...Read more

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Kennedy, Oz contend fraud crackdown, not skyrocketing prices, led millions to leave Obamacare

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The Trump administration credits its fraud control efforts for the disappearance of millions of people from Obamacare rolls rather than a sharp rise in premiums — a claim disputed by policy experts that glosses over the reality that many more Americans now find themselves without health insurance.

Enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans fell ...Read more

How to do your own online health research like a scientist – a biostatistician’s step-by-step guide

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The instinct to “do your own research” when it comes to your health is a good one. The challenge often is not lack of information, but the opposite.

People are surrounded by studies, headlines, forums, family and friends, often all speaking at once in different directions and with different levels of reliability. How do you move ...Read more

Bev Klingensmith/Bev Klingensmith/TNS

Medicaid insurers' contracts on the line in tight governor's race

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

One of America’s most competitive gubernatorial races could settle a heated argument over whether private insurance companies should run Medicaid.

The race is in Iowa, whose Medicaid program has been plagued with controversy since 2016, when the state hired national insurance companies to manage billions of dollars’ worth of benefits.

That...Read more

Libby O'Neill/Boston Herald/TNS

Mass. Gov. Healey announces first steps to lower health care costs, investment in primary care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOSTON — Massachusetts is setting out to lower health care costs with steps like investing more state resources in primary care, supporting nursing recruitment, and standardizing out-of-network service rates Gov. Maura Healey announced Monday.

“We know that healthcare costs are burdening people, families, employers, budgets at the state, ...Read more

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Phil Collins' brush with death: 'My organs were just seizing' because of alcohol abuse

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Phil Collins faced death two years ago, and has lived to tell the tale.

The Grammy-winning singer recalled to the Times of London how his "kidneys were packing up, my organs were just seizing" when he was was hospitalized in Switzerland in April 2024 because of alcohol abuse. At the time, Collins' five children — including "Emily in Paris" ...Read more

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Taco Bell met With Michigan on parasite weeks before recall

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Michigan health authorities were in touch with Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum! Brands Inc., about a parasitic outbreak in early July, weeks before the company officially alerted consumers.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services held a call with Yum on July 2 to discuss cyclospora, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg ...Read more

Tasha Poullard/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

With McConnell still absent, Beshear dismisses theories about an Aug. 3 deadline

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday on social media that Aug. 3 has “no legal impact” on his options if a Kentucky U.S. Senate seat becomes vacant this year.

His statement comes amid rampant online speculation that Aug. 3 marks the deadline for holding a special election to complete the term of Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has been absent since his ...Read more

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Cyclospora cases have nearly doubled again in Missouri. See the latest numbers

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Cyclospora cases in Missouri have nearly doubled for the second consecutive week, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The gastrointestinal illness caused by the cyclospora parasite that’s caused havoc on thousands of people’s stomachs nationwide, with the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention Control ...Read more

Jim Watson/AFP/AFP/TNS

Vermont turns to the free market to lower health insurance costs

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Those who believe government can provide health insurance better than the free market need to look at Vermont.

For years, Vermont has geared its health-care policy toward creating a single-payer system. Perhaps that’s not a surprise given that the state keeps re-electing Sen. Bernie Sanders, an ardent socialist. As it turns out, it’s easier...Read more

Linda Robertson/Miami Herald/TNS

2 people in Michigan have died amid cyclosporiasis outbreak, perhaps first in US

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DETROIT — Two people have died from the massive cyclosporiasis outbreak in Michigan, state health officials reported Monday, though they provided few details about the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The deaths appear to be the first reported by a state health department in the United States amid this summer's cyclosporiasis outbreak, ...Read more

Senior centers are often vital community hubs for older adults. Vladimir Vladimirov/E+ via Getty Images

In memory care deserts, senior centers can help close the gap in brain-related healthcare

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

About 90 miles north of Phoenix, the town of Yarnell nestles atop a winding mountain road. Phoenix, a sprawling city of more than 1.6 million people, has one physician for every 2,407 people. But in Yarnell and other rural areas in Arizona, the ratio is one for every 3,896. Like many rural residents across the U.S., people in this small town ...Read more

Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

How local hospitals treat heat stroke before it's too late

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As temperatures in the Las Vegas Valley climbed to 110 degrees on a recent Wednesday afternoon, an elderly woman who had been outside became dizzy and then passed out.

The 78-year-old’s body temperature was about 105 degrees when she arrived at MountainView Hospital in northwest Las Vegas, said Dr. Clarence Dunagan. That’s far above the ...Read more