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Commentary: How Trump could make it harder for you to see a doctor
The Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act puts so many people at risk of losing their health insurance and food assistance, it’s hard to focus on other fires set by the new law. And yet — there’s one crucial conflagration I hope the state of California will fight.
The budget bill contains multiple changes in federal student ...Read more

Many Minnesotans in sober homes just lost housing. Where will they go?
A dozen men left Nick Carchedi’s St. Paul sober home last week as the housing dollars they relied on came to an abrupt halt.
He worries about what the displacement will mean for their recovery — and for the sober home he started last year, which was left with just two residents.
“These people are going to be out on the street or doing ...Read more
Man Waiting For Hip Replacement Is Torn Between Surgeons
DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband is 72 years old and on a waiting list for a hip replacement due to severe osteoarthritis. The surgeon he was referred to is quite young, has been performing anterior minimally invasive hip replacements for five years, and does about 250 per year.
Originally we had asked to be referred to a different surgeon who has ...Read more
Nurture your gut biome to clear forever chemicals from your body
Psst! PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are toxic chemicals that show up in nonstick cookware, grease-resistant food packaging, waterproof clothing, and stain-resistant upholstery, and are then shed into the water supply, fish, and the air you breathe. According to the Natural Resources Defense Fund, animal and human studies link them ...Read more

US Health Department pulls back on funding mRNA vaccines
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is ending contracts to develop vaccines using messenger RNA technology, another step in the agency’s changing practices toward vaccines under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The agency is terminating 22 contracts worth almost $500 million, according to a statement Tuesday.
The move comes as ...Read more

Harm reduction techniques being phased out under Trump
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is escalating its push against what has become a key part of the way states, localities and communities respond to the overdose epidemic: harm reduction.
A public health approach aimed at mitigating the negative health effects associated with drug use, harm reduction aims to prevent overdoses and ...Read more

2 dead, 58 sick amid Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York City
NEW YORK — A second person has died and 58 others have fallen ill amid an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease wreaking havoc in the Harlem area, New York City health officials announced.
It marks an increase from previous figures released by the New York City Health Department on Thursday, when there was a total of 22 reported cases and a ...Read more

Historically redlined communities have slower EMS response times
Residents of historically redlined communities experience slower response times from emergency medical services, according to a study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.
Redlining refers to the discriminatory practice under which the federal government and banks systematically denied mortgages to Black and Hispanic residents. The practice ...Read more

Stigma still keeps police from seeking mental health care, study finds
Police officers may face hundreds of traumatic incidents over the course of their careers, but many still hesitate to seek mental health support when they need it.
Despite growing investments in wellness programs by law enforcement agencies across the country, a recent study of just over 100 surveyed officers from the Fargo Police Department in...Read more

Commentary: Erosion of democracy threatens our health
Even before the Trump administration’s headline-grabbing assaults on public institutions, our democracy was showing alarming signs of distress. A 2023 Brookings Institution report found that the United States “is experiencing two major forms of democratic erosion in its governing institutions: election manipulation and executive overreach.�...Read more
High blood pressure, stress, depression and dementia
I don't want to put pressure on you ... but did you know that if you develop high blood pressure in middle age and it's uncontrolled, you're at an increased risk for dementia? That's because high blood pressure damages blood vessels and can reduce blood flow to the brain. As a result, your blood isn't effectively clearing harmful waste products ...Read more
Person With Mild Sleep Apnea Is Wary Of Pap Machines
DEAR DR. ROACH: I have been diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. (No surprise there as symptoms were omnipresent.) CPAP machines seem incredibly uncomfortable. Are they the preferred gold standard even for mild sleep apnea? (I'm not even sure if "mild" is accurate since all sleep issues are serious to me.)
Also, I believe my deviated septum is ...Read more

California man in dire need of a kidney transplant finds 1-in-100,000 match: His wife
LOS ANGELES — For much of his adult life, Jim Irish was a self-proclaimed bachelor — moving cities every few years, too busy as a business executive and entrepreneur to devote much time to romantic endeavors.
By the time he was in his mid-50s, he had pretty much given up on the idea of finding a life partner.
But fate had other plans.
...Read more

'Relentlessly debilitating': The chronic symptoms of Lyme disease
LOS ANGELES — Grammy award-winning pop star Justin Timberlake, 44, recently took to Instagram to share his diagnosis of Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that he said was "relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically." His statement comes on the heels of criticism from fans who felt he was under-performing during his recent world ...Read more

Ask the Pediatrician: Everyday ways to talk about mental health: Tips for families
Mental health is health. We keep track of our child's physical growth and milestones such as learning to walk or talk. But we also need to check in on their mental health and how they are feeling.
Talking about mental health can take practice; the more we do it, the easier it gets. Having these conversations even while things are going well is ...Read more

Student loan caps might worsen the national doctor shortage, critics say
Twenty-eight-year-old Michaela Bonner has been working 12-hour shifts as an emergency medical technician in Norfolk, Virginia, for the past four years, while attending and paying for college to finish her prerequisites for medical school.
But now that President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending law bars students from borrowing more ...Read more

Commentary: Ending LGBTQ+ health research will leave science in the dark
In recent months, the Trump administration has terminated thousands of federally funded medical research grants, gutting $9.5 billion in critical health science efforts. More than half of those cuts — 1,246 grants worth $5.5 billion — targeted studies focused on LGBTQ+ health. These cuts don’t just reflect shifting policy priorities. They ...Read more

A brain-dead pregnant woman was kept alive in Georgia. It's unclear if state law required it
A Georgia woman declared brain-dead and kept on life support for more than three months because she was pregnant was removed from a ventilator in June and died, days after doctors delivered her 1-pound, 13-ounce baby by emergency cesarean section. The baby is in the neonatal intensive care unit.
The case has drawn national attention to Georgia�...Read more
Water may help wash away Type 2 diabetes
Wouldn't it be great if you could wash away your worries about Type 2 diabetes? Well, a new 18-month study presented recently at the Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association reveals just how powerful an influence your choice of beverage can be.
Researchers divided women with Type 2 diabetes who were in a weight management ...Read more
Case Of Diarrhea Can Only Be Helped With Cholestryamine
DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a 67-year-old female in pretty good health. The only medications I take are for my thyroid, arthritis and hormone replacement. Early last year, I was sick with a cold/flu for a couple of weeks and had diarrhea during this time. I figured it was from my sickness; however, the sickness went away, but the diarrhea did not.
...Read more