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Federal officials say Baltimore ICE office safe amid Legionella concerns from lawmakers

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BALTIMORE — Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation are pressing for “immediate remediation” as Legionella bacteria remains in the water at Baltimore’s federal building, which houses ICE and other agencies. Meanwhile, federal officials say safety measures are already in place and there is no threat.

In a letter sent Friday to ...Read more

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government expanded access to telehealth for older adults insured by Medicare.   FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

Telehealth is widely used by older adults insured by Medicare, new research shows

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Americans age 65 and older who are insured by Medicare logged about 60 million telehealth visits annually between 2021 and 2023 – about 31 million for mental health and 29 million for other health issues. That’s the key finding in a new study I co-authored in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

We also found that people with ...Read more

Communities rely on vaccination clinics, restaurant inspections and disease surveillance systems run by local and state public health departments.  Sean Rayford/Stringer via Getty Images

Public health needs steady budgets – and federal funding uncertainty cause real harms, even if the money is later restored

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Since early 2025, several large federal health grants to states have been suspended and then restored after legal challenges. On Feb. 13, 2026, for example, the federal government moved to suspend about US$600 million in public health grants to four states before a federal court temporarily blocked the action. Hundreds of millions of dollars ...Read more

Is the social media platform she's using, rather than the content she's viewing, a threat to her well-being? Fiordaliso/Moment via Getty Images

How Instagram addictiveness lawsuit could reshape social media – platform design meets product liability

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A Los Angeles courtroom is hosting what may become the most consequential legal challenge Big Tech has ever faced.

This is an inflection point in the global debate over Big Tech liability: For the first time, an American jury is being asked to decide whether platform design itself can give rise to product liability – not because of ...Read more

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

How a successful Colorado startup turned into a nearly $1 billion health care fraud scheme

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Marian Houk was rehabbing from a major spinal surgery in 2022 when her physical therapist at UCHealth in Aurora, Colorado, recommended she try electrical stimulation to manage the pain.

Like many providers around the country, UCHealth sent Houk to Zynex Inc., an Englewood, Colorado-based medical device company that manufactures and sells ...Read more

The neuro disease rat lungworm has reached California

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — A disease that can cause neurological illness and meningitis in people, rat lungworm, has been found in wild opposums, rats and a zoo animal in San Diego County, indicating its establishment in California for the first time.

Researchers reported their findings in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, published by the U.S. ...Read more

Noipornpan/Dreamstime/TNS

Mayo Clinic expert highlights improved survival in muscle-invasive bladder cancer and kidney cancer

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Cancers of the reproductive and urinary organs, known as genitourinary cancers, affect millions of people worldwide each year. At Mayo Clinic, Yousef Zakharia, M.D., a medical oncologist and chair of the Genitourinary Disease Group at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, leads clinical research aimed at improving outcomes for patients ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: Best fish catches

Health Advice / Nutrition /

Reader Dianne K. writes: “Hello Barbara, I enjoy reading your column in the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star. Now that Lent is here, I'm thinking about my choices of fish. Wild caught or farm-raised? I have read that fish that are farm-raised are fed with known carcinogens. What countries should be trusted? Which countries should be avoided?...Read more

Defining The Characteristics Of The Four Stages Of Cancer

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: Can you define the characteristics of the four stages of cancer? I understand that stage I is generally when cancer is caught early and can be treated with a good success rate, while stage IV is usually the opposite. But I'm not sure what the intermediate stages are. -- B.G.

ANSWER: Unfortunately, the exact staging for cancers...Read more

Caffeine and cognition

We're a country of coffee drinkers -- 66% of us have at least a cup daily. We're also tea lovers, but it has a much lower level of caffeine than coffee. An average cup of black tea serves up about 50 milligrams of caffeine, while a typical cup of coffee contains 90-200 milligrams. However, in addition to bioactive caffeine, both beverages offer ...Read more

Pennsylvania legalized online gambling in 2017. Tatiana Maksimova/Moment Collection via Getty Images

Nearly a third of Pennsylvania gamblers are at risk of problem gambling − but few seek treatment

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Nearly three times as many Pennsylvania adults gamble online today than just a few years ago.

And as online platforms make gambling easier and more convenient, some Pennsylvanians are gambling more often and may be more prone to developing problems.

We are researchers at Penn State’s Criminal Justice Research Center and the ...Read more

The parasites that cause river blindness and elephantitis have been afflicting people for centuries.  Alexis Huguet/AFP via Getty Images

Billions of dollars, decades of progress spent eliminating devastating diseases may be lost with undoing of USAID

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In Greek mythology, King Sisyphus was condemned by the god Zeus to spend eternity rolling a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down, having to start anew every day.

His story captured our attention as researchers studying neglected tropical diseases – a collection of conditions that primarily affect poor people in low-...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Measles exposure locations in Colorado: 2 schools, 3 restaurants and a grocery store

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Colorado has its first measles outbreak of 2026, with three cases linked to students at Broomfield schools.

Measles symptoms can take up to three weeks to appear and initially are nonspecific: a fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes.

The rash, which typically starts at the hairline and moves down, appears about four days after someone becomes ...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

LA County banned sales of kratom. Now some residents say they're losing a lifeline for pain and opioid withdrawal

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County banned sales of kratom and 7-OH in November following overdose deaths, but experts question whether the drugs alone caused the fatalities.

Residents who relied on kratom for chronic pain and opioid withdrawal now struggle to access the substance, turning to online orders and black markets.

The crackdown ...Read more

Kyle Green for KFF Health News/KFF Health News/TNS

Families defend disability services amid Medicaid cuts

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Families of Idahoans with disabilities say their lives could be upended as lawmakers in the state’s Republican-dominated legislature mull sweeping cuts.

Services at risk include the 24/7 care that allows a 39-year-old with cerebral palsy to live independently; the in-home caregiving that lets a 26-year-old with brain damage from a hemorrhage ...Read more

Shalina Chatlani/Stateline/TNS

States try 'public option' Obamacare plans to reduce coverage costs

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Nearly two decades ago, progressives fought to include a so-called public option — a government-run health plan — in the broad health care overhaul known as Obamacare. That effort failed, defeated by heavy lobbying from the insurance industry and opponents who decried it as a government takeover of health care.

But the final Affordable Care...Read more

WARNER/TNS

Commentary: What HBO's 'The Pitt' gets wrong about AI -- and what medicine misses

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Generative artificial intelligence has already reshaped industries such as computer programming, retail, and manufacturing. In medicine, however, fears of clinical error have slowed adoption.

At present, two-thirds of doctors report using GenAI tools in practice, though half insist that stronger safeguards are needed.

This split — between ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Would you eat fruits and vegetables with a doctor's prescription?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BALTIMORE -- A prescription fruit-and-vegetable program seeks to stave off illnesses caused by poor nutrition and diet in Maryland’s food-insecure communities. Backed by a $480,000 grant from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, the program will be developed and tested by researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park.

...Read more

Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

GOP says Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear supports surgery for trans kids. What does his record show?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LEXINGTON, Ky. — When Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear ran for reelection in 2023, a reoccurring Republican line of attack was that he’d allow minors to undergo gender-affirming surgeries.

Now, as the governor builds his national name ID ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run, Republicans in Kentucky and beyond are re-upping that line of ...Read more

How Doctors Use Ai Scribes To Draft Up Clinical Notes

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: My doctor's office makes patients sign in for appointments on their electronic kiosks. When you sign in, you must accept that doctors are using an AI tool during your appointment. You cannot decline using AI; either you accept, or you cannot sign in for the appointment. It says that you can tell your doctor if you do not wish ...Read more