Lead from old paint and pipes is still a harmful and deadly hazard in millions of US homes

Lead is a potent neurotoxin that causes severe health effects such as neurological damage, organ failure and death. Widely used in products such as paint and gasoline until the late…

Michigan Gov. Whitmer proposes a caregiver tax credit − an idea many Americans support

People caring for elderly or disabled relatives need a break – and, in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a proposal to give them one. Whitmer’s recently proposed $5,000 tax credit,…

Hispanic health disparities in the US trace back to the Spanish Inquisition

Many of the significant health disparities and inequities Hispanic communities in the United States face are tied to a long history of health injustice in the Hispanic world. The health…

Could the days of ‘springing forward’ be numbered? A neurologist and sleep expert explains the downside to that borrowed hour of daylight

As people in the U.S. prepare to set their clocks ahead one hour on Sunday, March 10, 2024, I find myself bracing for the annual ritual of media stories about…

from fortunetelling and exorcism to herbal medicines

“The Tale of Genji,” often called Japan’s first novel, was written 1,000 years ago. Yet it still occupies a powerful place in the Japanese imagination. A popular TV drama, “Dear…

Altitude sickness is typically mild but can sometimes turn very serious − a high-altitude medicine physician explains how to safely prepare

Equipped with the latest gear and a thirst for adventure, mountaineers embrace the perils that come with conquering the world’s highest peaks. Yet, even those who tread more cautiously at…

Measles is one of the deadliest and most contagious infectious diseases – and one of the most easily preventable

“You don’t count your children until the measles has passed.” Dr. Samuel Katz, one of the pioneers of the first measles vaccine in the late 1950s to early 1960s, regularly…

COVID-19 rapid tests still work against new variants – researchers keep ‘testing the tests,’ and they pass

By September 2020, just six months after COVID-19 triggered shutdowns across the U.S., it was clear that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, had mutated from its original form. The…

What is IVF? A nurse explains the evolving science and legality of in vitro fertilization

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 ended the federal right to abortion, legislative attention has extended to many other aspects of reproductive rights, including access to…

Mounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including with significant drops in IQ scores

From the very early days of the pandemic, brain fog emerged as a significant health condition that many experience after COVID-19. Brain fog is a colloquial term that describes a…