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Anonymous livestock veterinarian/Anonymous livestock veterinarian/TNS

How America lost control of the bird flu, setting the stage for another pandemic

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Keith Poulsen’s jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack.

But the scale of the farmers’ efforts to treat the sick cows stunned him. They...Read more

Amy Beth Bennett/Sun Sentinel/TNS

Norovirus is rampant in Florida. Blame oysters, cruise ships and holiday travel

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tis the season to wash your hands and watch what you eat.

Norovirus, a vomit- and diarrhea-inducing stomach bug, is sickening Floridians through tainted surfaces and contaminated shellfish.

The Sunshine State is one of 12 in the U.S. with a high number of confirmed outbreaks of the virus. Anyone suffering from a bout ...Read more

If your kid wants skin care gifts for the holidays, here are some risks to consider

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — As parents rush into malls for the final days of Christmas shopping, many will be armed with wish lists full of beauty products for their children.

Skin care is a fast-growing phenomenon among Gen Alpha, typically defined as those born from 2010 and on. Dubbed "Sephora kids," the tweens and teens have been buying up products ...Read more

Pratchaya Leelapatchayanont/Dreamstime/TNS

Employers press Congress to cement health price transparency before Trump's return

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

It seems simple: Require hospitals and insurers to post their negotiated prices for most health care services and — bingo — competition follows, yielding lower costs for consumers.

But nearly four years after the first Trump administration’s regulations forced hospitals to post massive amounts of pricing information online, the effect on ...Read more

Legionella bacteria found in 3 Baltimore City courthouses

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BALTIMORE — Traces of Legionella were discovered in three courthouses in Baltimore City, the latest in a series of downtown public facilities where the bacteria has been detected.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s office reported that precautionary testing at the Baltimore City District (People’s) Courthouse, the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. ...Read more

Emory Healthcare/TNS

Emory heart team implants new blood-pumping device for first time in US

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

ATLANTA — Physicians at Emory University Hospital performed the first-ever surgical implantation in the United States of a brand-new type of heart pump designed to help save patients with heart failure, using a smaller, more comfortable device.

“It’s exciting to see innovation is still happening,” said Dr. Mani Daneshmand, an Emory ...Read more

The ‘choking game’ and other challenges amplified by social media can come with deadly consequences

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The “choking game” has potentially deadly consequences, as players are challenged to temporarily strangle themselves by restricting oxygen to the brain. It sounds terrifying, but rough estimates suggest that about 10% of U.S. teenagers may have played this type of game at least once.

There’s more, unfortunately: The Skullbreaker...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Your black plastic kitchen utensils aren't so toxic after all. But you should still toss them, group says

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A recent study that recommended toxic chemicals in black plastic products be immediately thrown away included a math error that significantly overstated the risks of contamination, but its authors are standing by their conclusions and warn against using such products.

Published in the peer-reviewed journal Chemosphere, experts from the ...Read more

Satjawat Boontanataweepol/Dreamstime/TNS

Ask the Pediatrician: Cold and flu season tips

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In most parts of the U.S., fall marks the start of cold and flu season. This means kids will face higher risks of getting sick. Respiratory viruses are usually the culprit and the symptoms they cause can make your child feel miserable.

What can you do to ease aches, sniffles and fever so your child can get better? Here's a closer look at the ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

On Nutrition: Holiday drinks

Health Advice / Nutrition /

There is truly something extra special about this season. Thinking about loved ones near and far. Wrapping gifts. Hoping you remembered what you need at the grocery store.

It’s interesting how eggnog hits the shelves in November and disappears the day after New Years. It’s what grocers call a “seasonal” item. Take a look at eggnog’s ...Read more

Jessica Fischer/Dreamstime/TNS

The rise in children's melatonin use and what experts want you to know

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Packed holiday schedules, no school, disrupted bedtime routines — a parent’s worst nightmare. And if you are one of the many turning to melatonin to help their little ones get to sleep, you may want to think again. New research suggests this increasingly popular solution deserves a closer look.

Nearly 1 in 5 school-age children now ...Read more

Man Continues To Use Nicotine Gum After Quitting Smoking

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have a good friend who is almost 77 years old. He was a heavy smoker until about 14 years ago. He decided to quit smoking and used nicotine gum to help with this process. It's my understanding that nicotine gum should only be used for a fairly short period of time to help a person quit smoking.

However, he is still using it ...Read more

Reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems in Type 2 diabetes

Around 30% of people with Type 2 diabetes have cardiovascular disease (CVD). But that's just what's been diagnosed. A new study shows that another third of adults in the U.S. with Type 2 diabetes may have symptomless or undetected CVD. That may explain why more than 70% of people with Type 2 diabetes die from cardiovascular causes.

One of the ...Read more

Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Avocados, salmon, strawberry yogurt: Which of these meets FDA's new definition of a 'healthy' food?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In an effort to improve American diets, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday released a new definition of what it means for a food to qualify as "healthy."

Products like fruit-flavored yogurt, fortified white bread and sweetened energy bars will no longer be allowed to label themselves as healthy if they exceed certain limits on ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Obamacare sign-ups lag after Trump election, legal challenges

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

New enrollments under the Affordable Care Act are on pace to trail last year’s record numbers by as many as a million as the outgoing Biden administration confronts upheavals in the program.

Donald Trump’s election to a second term has cast uncertainty around the future of the health law. In addition, the Biden administration implemented ...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Democratic senators ask watchdog agency to investigate Georgia's Medicaid work rule

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Three Democratic senators asked the country’s top nonpartisan government watchdog on Tuesday to investigate the costs of a Georgia program that requires some people to work to receive Medicaid coverage.

The program, called “Georgia Pathways to Coverage,” is the nation’s only active Medicaid work requirement.

Pathways has cost tens of ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

How parents can have fun during the holidays, too

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The holiday season can be a particularly busy time for families, with everything from mall photos with Santa to class Christmas parties to Elf on the Shelf demanding attention and care. All of that constant fun often leaves out parents, with the season sometimes being more stressful than the rest of the year.

However, the holidays should be ...Read more

Pratchaya Leelapatchayanont/Dreamstime/TNS

There are more heart attacks on Christmas than any other day of the year

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

We sing about how Christmas brings “tidings of comfort and joy,” but the holiday also brings something not so “merry and bright.”

In fact, heart attacks and strokes surge during the last two weeks of December, according to the American Heart Association, with Dec. 25 being the day of the year with the highest number of cardiac events.

...Read more

Parents and caregivers: How to stop feeling like a Grinch and be more present with your kids this holiday season

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Holidays are often depicted as picture-perfect moments: families blissfully united around a table filled with seasonal food favorites against an immaculate backdrop. For many parents, attempting to meet such unrealistic expectations can undermine their self-worth – and their sanity.

In the real world, parents are juggling more ...Read more

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Rage has long shadowed American health care. It's rarely produced big change

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Among the biggest-grossing films in America in February 2002 were a war drama about American troops in Somalia (“Black Hawk Down”), an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie (“Collateral Damage”), and a future Oscar winner about a brilliant mathematician struggling with schizophrenia (“A Beautiful Mind”).

But none of these films topped ...Read more