Papaya is a sweet fruit ripe with vitamins, minerals, and health protecting compounds.

The folklore

The popular tropical treat papaya is native to the warm, humid regions of southern Mexico and Central America. Ancient Mayans, who ate the fruit and used it medicinally for skin problems and other issues, called the papaya tree the “tree of ...Read more

You have a family to protect, a legacy to leave, or both, and you know a life insurance policy can help you do that. But with so many coverage options, it can be hard to choose.

There are two main types of life insurance: term life insurance and whole life insurance. Both options offer a tax-free death benefit to your heirs, but beyond that, ...Read more

I’m all about sticking to my budget. Unfortunately, some of my favorite meats are on the expensive side. Tender cuts of beef like tenderloin and filet are delicious, but can get expensive. Even the ever-popular chicken breast is the most expensive cut of chicken. So in an effort to save money, I’m choosing cuts of meat that are more budget-...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’m pregnant with my first child, and I’ve heard a lot about pelvic floor changes during pregnancy and childbirth. I’m a bit worried and curious about what to expect. Can you explain these changes and offer advice on preparing for a healthy pelvic floor after pregnancy?

ANSWER: Pregnancy and childbirth are transformative...Read more

Most men over 50 will develop an enlarged prostate. Also called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), this bothersome condition makes it hard to urinate and can eventually lead to other problems, such as infections, kidney stones, and bladder damage, if left untreated. Many different BPH therapies are available, including medications and various ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A bill limiting when minors can consent to medical treatment without parental involvement passed the North Carolina House, with every Republican who voted supporting it and all but four Democrats who voted opposing it.

Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, a Hendersonville Republican, said the bill upheld the “essential role of parents ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — A drug that gained international attention for its controversial off-label use during the COVID-19 pandemic could soon be available in North Carolina without a prescription.

House Bill 618, titled the “Ivermectin Access Act,” would require the state to issue a standing order by Oct. 1 allowing licensed pharmacists to ...Read more

Reproductive rights groups in Alabama wasted no time resuming their work after a federal judge ruled in early April that the state’s attorney general can’t prosecute — or threaten to prosecute — people or organizations who help Alabama residents seek an abortion by traveling to another state.

One of the plaintiffs, the reproductive ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — By age 46, Bob Williams had spent more than half his life in isolation, waiting to die on San Quentin's death row.

Williams was 18 when he raped and murdered 40-year-old Mary Breck at her Kern County home in October 1994. The day before, he had broken into Breck's home and stolen her credit cards. He returned — initially ...Read more

Sumana Reddy, a primary care physician, struggles on thin financial margins to run Acacia Family Medical Group, the small independent practice she founded 27 years ago in Salinas, California, a predominantly Latino city in an agricultural valley often called “the salad bowl of the world.”

Reddy can’t match the salaries offered by larger ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — A UNLV-led study has discovered a new molecular path that leads to autism, potentially opening the way for more intervention in the future.

The study by Łukasz Sznajder, a UNLV chemistry and biochemistry professor, was published on April 21 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

It found that a gene that causes myotonic dystrophy �...Read more

Los Angeles County has declared a communitywide outbreak of hepatitis A, a highly contagious viral disease that can lead to lasting liver damage or even death.

Although cases of hepatitis A are nothing new in the region, health officials are now expressing alarm both at the prevalence of the disease and who is becoming infected.

The total of ...Read more

More than one in five people prescribed extended-release painkillers such as OxyContin developed an addiction within a year, according to a newly released study mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The study, repeatedly delayed by more than a decade and released Monday, revealed a far higher percentage of pain patients addicted ...Read more

The Trump administration’s unprecedented $500 million grant for a broadly protective flu shot has confounded vaccine and pandemic preparedness experts, who said the project was in early stages, relied on old technology and was just one of more than 200 such efforts.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shifted the money ...Read more

Carmen Aiken of Chicago made an appointment for an annual physical exam in July 2023, planning to get checked out and complete some blood work.

The appointment was at a family medicine practice run by University of Illinois Health. Aiken said the doctor recommended they undergo a Pap smear, which they hadn’t had in more than a year, and ...Read more