MINNEAPOLIS -- Just days before Quinyana Price rushed to the HCMC emergency room in Minneapolis, Betsy Murray went to Memorial Blood Center in St. Paul to donate two units of red blood.

The two strangers then became linked when, by chance, Price was given Murray’s same type O blood.

Each year in Minnesota, thousands of such exchanges occur, ...Read more

When Genevieve Postlethwait’s water broke in her sleep one July morning, she knew something was wrong. At 17 weeks pregnant, it was too soon for this to be normal.

That afternoon at her OB-GYN’s office, Genevieve and her husband saw their daughter’s moving shape on an ultrasound screen. But she looked different — opaque, hard to see, ...Read more

Jen Fisher can do only so much to keep her son safe from the types of infections that children can encounter at school. The rest, she said, is up to other students and parents in their hometown of Franklin, Tennessee.

Fisher’s son Raleigh, 12, lives with a congenital heart condition, which has left him with a weakened immune system. For his ...Read more

SEATTLE — It's been five years since the country's first COVID-19 outbreak was recorded in Washington state.

Health officials announced the first documented case in the U.S. in Snohomish County on Jan. 21, 2020.

By March 2020, the virus had spread throughout the U.S., with 4,896 cases in Washington. This led to Gov. Jay Inslee using ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: When the holidays end, it's hard to have things to look forward to and find motivation to exercise. How can I stay ahead of the slump and help my family stay active?

ANSWER: As winter settles in, shorter days and colder nights can feel dull. But the mystery of winter nights also offers opportunities for fun, joy, connection ...Read more

Children need enough healthy food to grow, but food can cost a lot. Many families worry that they will run out of food and not have enough money to buy more each month.

When you go to the doctor with your child, you might be asked one or two questions about whether your family has enough food. It's OK to answer honestly. These answers are just ...Read more

As flu season progresses, so does the chorus of advice, professional and otherwise, to drink plenty of fluids and take fever-reducing medications, like acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin.

These recommendations, well-intentioned and firmly entrenched, offer comfort to those sidelined with fever, flu or vaccine side effects. But you ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The widening U.S. bird flu outbreak has made its way to Maryland, which has counted two cases on commercial poultry farms — one in Caroline County and another in Queen Anne’s County — since the start of the year.

Health experts say the general public is at little risk of exposure and illness, thus far. While human infections...Read more

Georgia officials suspended the sale of poultry in the state after confirming a positive case of bird flu in a commercial operation, threatening one of the state’s prime industries.

The case, found Friday in Elbert County, northeast of Atlanta, is the first confirmed instance of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or bird flu, detected in a ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the nation braces for potential policy shifts under President-elect Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” mantra, the nation’s most populous state and largest health care market is preparing for a few changes of its own.

With supermajorities in both houses, Democrats in the California Legislature passed �...Read more

The new Trump administration could be coming for your snacks.

For years, the federal government has steered clear of regulating junk food, fast food, and ultra-processed food.

Now attitudes are changing. Some members of President-elect Donald Trump’s inner circle are gearing up to battle “Big Food,” or the companies that make most of the...Read more

The thousands of firefighters and other first responders on the front lines of the fires that are raging in the Los Angeles area are at increased risk for anxiety, depression, acute stress and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Amanda Mascarelli, The Conversation U.S.’s senior health and medicine editor, spoke with Ian H. Stanley, a ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I'm 52 years old and enjoy long walks with my husband and our dog. I recently started to experience pain in my left calf during our walks. The leg pain goes away when I rest. Because I have a history of high blood pressure, I went to see my primary care physician and was diagnosed with peripheral artery disease. What is this ...Read more

A commercial flock of broiler chickens on the Eastern Shore has tested positive for H5N1, or bird flu.

According to an announcement from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the entire operation in Accomack County had been quarantined with a 10-kilometer (6 mile) perimeter. The positive flock was depopulated Thursday, ...Read more

After a relatively quiet fall, there’s been another spike in cases of bird flu in Michigan.

When state officials announced on Dec. 16, 2024, that bird flu had been found in another poultry facility in Ottawa County, it was the first time the H5N1 virus had been detected in Michigan poultry in over six months. Since then, the U.S. ...Read more

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Frank Wampol had a dark realization when he came across some alarming data a few years ago: More than 5,000 male construction workers die from suicide annually — five ...Read more

While postpartum depression is often associated with mothers, research shows fathers also face significant mental health challenges after welcoming a new baby.

A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found about one in 10 men experience depression during the postnatal period, shedding light on an often-overlooked aspect of ...Read more

Jessie Mazar squeezed the grab handle in her husband’s pickup and groaned as contractions struck her during the 90-minute drive from her home in rural northeastern California to the closest hospital with a maternity unit.

She could have reached Plumas District Hospital, in Quincy, in just seven minutes. But it no longer delivers babies.

...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Wednesday finalized a long-awaited rule laying out how some health care providers can prescribe gold-standard opioid use disorder treatments through telehealth.

The final rule from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within the Department ...Read more