DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I've had some foot issues, and I heard that shockwave therapy might be appropriate. How does it work? And how can it help?

ANSWER: This noninvasive treatment uses sound waves to transmit energy to tissues to help with the healing process. You may hear it referred to as extracorporeal shockwave treatment. Extracorporeal means ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Big Medicare changes will go into effect in 2025, giving Floridians more reason to sift through plans and make smart choices.

The 5.1 million Floridians who qualify for Medicare will have from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7 to choose original Medicare or one of the Medicare Advantage plans offered in their county.

Changes to ...Read more

Opioid use disorder affects more than 2 million people in the U.S. and contributes to the public health crisis of opioid addiction and overdoses. While previous studies have focused on how prevalent prescription opioid use is, researchers from Mayo Clinic and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health looked into who is ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Companies that manufacture slabs of engineered stone, a popular choice for kitchen and bathroom countertops, are developing and marketing new products amid mounting concerns about stonecutters being sickened with a deadly lung disease.

The new alternatives boast reduced levels of crystalline silica, a mineral that can cause an ...Read more

When Pam McClure learned she’d save nearly $4,000 on her prescription drugs next year, she said, “it sounded too good to be true.” She and her husband are both retired and live on a “very strict” budget in central North Dakota.

By the end of this year, she will have spent almost $6,000 for her medications, including a drug to control ...Read more

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — As principal of Dunaire Elementary School, Sean Deas has seen firsthand the struggles faced by children living in extended-stay hotels. About 10% of students at his school, just east of Atlanta, live in one.

The children, Deas said, often have been exposed to violence on hotel properties, exhibit aggression or anxiety ...Read more

Cold, flu, RSV and COVID-19 all have one thing in common: They are respiratory infections that cause similar symptoms such as coughing, fever and fatigue. These illnesses can range from mild to severe, especially in people who are more vulnerable.

Dr. Tina Ardon, a family medicine physician at Mayo Clinic, says these respiratory infections also...Read more

Twice a month, a 40-foot-long truck transformed into a mobile clinic travels the Rio Grande Valley to provide rural Texans with women’s health care, including birth control.

The clinic, called the UniMóvil, is part of the Healthy Mujeres program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine.

The U.S. has about 3,000 mobile...Read more

Philadelphia's leading health systems will no longer consider race in four common screening tools for lung, kidney, and obstetrics care, in an effort to make treatment more equitable for all patients.

Race has long been included in the algorithms that doctors use to evaluate patients and determine the best care plan. But mounting research has ...Read more

ATLANTA — Cases of “walking pneumonia” have been rising sharply in the United States since the spring, especially among young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC said it’s closely tracking the recent surge of these infections to better understand any changes in the illnesses since before the ...Read more

Despite an encouraging national dip in the past year, overdose deaths are still on the rise in many Western states as the epicenter of the nation’s continuing crisis shifts toward the Pacific Coast, where deadly fentanyl and also methamphetamine are finding more victims.

Overdose deaths remain sharply higher since 2019. Many states are ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Twenty-four minutes before the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade in February left one person dead and at least 24 people injured, Jenipher Cabrera felt a bullet pierce the back of her right thigh.

The 20-year-old and her family were just four blocks from Union Station, in a river of red-...Read more

Mosquito-borne illnesses are a growing concern in Northeastern states, with health officials monitoring cases and advising residents to avoid outdoor activities near standing water and other environments prone to mosquito spread.

Of particular concern is eastern equine encephalitis, a rare disease that can lead to serious and fatal illness, ...Read more

A growing number of students in public schools – right now, about 15% of them – are eligible for special education services. These services include specially designed instruction for students with autism, learning or physical disabilities, or traumatic brain injuries. But going into the current school year, more than half of U.S. public ...Read more

If you're worried about your child's risk for suicide, you are not alone.

In January 2019 I was worried about my son’s risk. Conall had been struggling with depression off and on for a few years. Even at 17, he wasn’t able to find the sweet spot of medication and therapy to keep him feeling consistently good. But just after the new year, I ...Read more

Getting your election news from social media? There's a chance it could be false.

Health myths — such as abortions occurring in the last stages of pregnancy, the government controlling the weather, and vaccines causing developmental disability — have spread during the current election cycle and gripped much of the nation.

While it's not ...Read more

It sounds like a joke: poppy seeds infused with opioids.

Indeed, it was a plotline on the sitcom Seinfeld. But for some it has been a tragedy.

People have died after drinking tea brewed from unwashed poppy seeds.

And after eating lemon poppy seed bread or an everything bagel, mothers reportedly have been separated from newborns because the ...Read more

Before Hurricane Helene, had you stopped by one of the many breweries, art galleries, or award-winning restaurants in Asheville, North Carolina, and spoken with anyone who lives in these parts — including me — most would have told you they felt pretty safe from climate disasters.

The mountains of western North Carolina have been known to ...Read more