Health Advice

/

Health

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Employers haven't a clue how their drug benefits are managed

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Most employers have little idea what the pharmacy benefit managers they hire do with the money they exchange for the medications used by their employees, according to a KFF survey released this week.

In KFF’s latest employer health benefits survey, company officials were asked how much of the rebates collected from drugmakers by pharmacy ...Read more

Happiness class is helping clinically depressed school teachers become emotionally healthy − with a cheery assist from Aristotle

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Evidence-Based Happiness for Teachers

I was discouraged. For nearly three decades, as a clinical psychologist, I trained mental health professionals on suicide assessment. The work was good but difficult.

...Read more

Elizabeth Cummings/Dreamstime.com/TNS

Mayo Clinic Minute: What to know about bats and rabies

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Bats play an important role in many ecosystems around the world. They are a major predator of night-flying insects, including pests that cost farmers billions of dollars annually. However, bats pose the biggest rabies threat in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most bats are not rabid. However, because rabies...Read more

Alyssa Pointer/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

A Georgia biotech firm finds itself fighting the FDA and former workers

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

MiMedx, a Marietta, Georgia, biomedical company that makes skin grafts and other treatments, is entangled in contentious legal battles with filings in recent weeks by a federal government agency in one court and 10 former employees in another.

Near the center of both conflicts is a new wound treatment it calls Axiofill, which the Food and Drug ...Read more

Medicare open enrollment starts Oct. 15. Here's what to know

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PHILADELPHIA — Medicare's fall open enrollment, which runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, is an opportunity to review your benefits and make changes for 2025.

Signing up for Medicare or changing plans can seem daunting, but it's important to make sure you're enrolled in the best plan for your medical needs.

To help make the process easier, The ...Read more

Saul Loeb/Getty Images North America/TNS

Your guide to the presidential candidates' views on health care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Medicare. Drug costs. The fate of the Affordable Care Act.

Health care — and who would handle it best — has continued to be contested turf in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. Polls show that Americans have ranked health care costs high on the agenda for national leaders.

It's little surprise, then, that both Vice President ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Mayo Clinic Minute: What happens to your body when you have obstructive sleep apnea?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

If you snore, it could be a sign that you have obstructive sleep apnea.

Dr. Virend Somers, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist with a focus on sleep apnea, says it's a serious medical condition that can cause heart problems and other health issues. Dr. Somers co-authored a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on ...Read more

Brian Ach/Getty Images North America/TNS

Doctors urging conference boycotts over abortion bans face uphill battle

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Soon after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade abortion ruling in 1973, Laura Esserman used her high school graduation speech to urge her classmates to vote for the Equal Rights Amendment to expand women’s access to property, divorce and abortion.

Five decades later, with 14 states banning abortion in almost all circumstances, the ...Read more

Pratchaya Leelapatchayanont/Dreamstime/TNS

What's new and what to watch for in the upcoming ACA open enrollment period

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

It’s that time of year again: In most states, the Affordable Care Act’s annual open enrollment season for health plans begins Nov. 1 and lasts through Jan. 15.

Current enrollees who do not update their information or select an alternative will be automatically reenrolled in their current plan or, if that plan is no longer available, into a ...Read more

Akira Suwa/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Inside the first 15 years of drug discovery at Temple

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In the 15 years since the founding of Temple University's Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, researchers have pursued treatments for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and antibiotic resistance. But much of the center's focus has been on addiction — especially alcoholism.

Heavy drinking can affect the ...Read more

Alan Budman/Dreamstime/TNS

Boomers expected to live longer than predecessors, but in worse health

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A new study has found that baby boomers, people born from 1946 to 1964, are experiencing worse health outcomes than their predecessors, despite living longer on average than these previous generations.

In what the study calls a “generational health drift,” baby boomers across the United States and Europe have higher levels of diabetes, high...Read more

Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Study: Severe COVID raised risk of heart attack, stroke as much as having heart disease

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — People hospitalized for COVID-19 early in the pandemic suffered an increased risk of serious "cardiac events" such as heart attacks and strokes that was akin to people with a history of heart disease, a newly released study has found.

Researchers from USC, UCLA and the Cleveland Clinic analyzed more than 10,000 COVID cases ...Read more

DEA could reclassify marijuana to a less restrictive category – a drug policy expert weighs the pros and cons

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The Drug Enforcement Administration announced in early 2024 that it would act on President Joe Biden’s call to reclassify marijuana, moving it from the tightly controlled Schedule I category that it has been in since 1970 to the less restrictive Schedule III status of the Controlled Substances Act. That triggered a long process of hearings ...Read more

Buyer beware: Off-brand Ozempic, Zepbound and other weight loss products carry undisclosed risks for consumers

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In just a few years, brand-name injectable drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound have rocketed to fame as billion-dollar annual sellers for weight loss as well as to control blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.

But the price of these injections is steep: They cost about US$800-$1,000 per month, and ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: What is a flax egg?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Q: What is a flax egg?

A: A flax egg is a popular vegan substitute for traditional eggs in baking and cooking. It is made by mixing ground flaxseeds with water, usually in the ratio of one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds to three tablespoons of water. This mixture is then left to sit for about five to 10 minutes, during which it thickens and ...Read more

7 canned foods with more than 7 grams of protein per serving

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Protein has been in the spotlight for quite some time, and for good reason. It’s important for many body functions including muscle growth and repair, immune support, and satiety. However, meeting your daily protein needs might seem like it takes a lot of time-consuming planning and meal prep. Here are seven canned foods that provide at least ...Read more

Dupuytren’s contracture of the hand

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

One of the more unusual conditions affecting the hands and fingers is Dupuytren’s contracture (also called Dupuytren’s disease). Here, one or more fingers become curled, which can make it difficult to pick up or hold objects or perform everyday activities.

Legend says the condition originated with the Vikings of Northern Europe, although ...Read more

Mayo Clinic Q&A: Could back issues be spinal arthritis

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am in my late 50s and have started having stiffness in my back. I have become much less flexible and sometimes even have a hard time looking over my shoulder. I remember my grandparents complaining about arthritis in their knees and hands — and the pain they had later in life. Could I be developing arthritis in my spine? Is...Read more

Tim Sheehan/The Fresno Bee/Fresno Bee/TNS

Do at-home COVID tests actually expire? Learn how they work as California virus season hits

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

While many respiratory viruses — including COVID-19, RSV and influenza — circulate year-round in California, they are typically more active between October and March, according to the California Department of Public Health.

You might be wondering whether your cold-like symptoms might be coronavirus, and whether you can use the old at-home ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Here's why getting a COVID shot during pregnancy is important

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Nearly 90% of babies who had to be hospitalized with COVID-19 had mothers who didn’t get the vaccine while they were pregnant, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings appear in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Babies too young to be vaccinated had the highest COVID ...Read more