Health officials on Thursday said they don’t know how a Missouri person caught bird flu but believe it may be a rare instance of a “one-off” standalone illness. Investigators trying to determine how the person caught the virus have not been able to confirm the exact strain of flu. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said …
You might have heard that vitamin D can be crucial for bone health, and that taking supplements may be in order if you’re not getting enough naturally from sunlight or from D-rich foods like eggs, oily fish, or fortified milks. You’ve maybe even heard that vitamin D has been shown to improve cognitive function and …
Cortisol—it’s an often-vilified stress hormone that’s been implicated for its role in excess belly fat and risk for a number of chronic diseases. It’s a hormone your body releases in order to help you fight back or flee the scene in the face of a threat. But when your life is so high-stress that you’ve …
One morning in late April, a small brick health clinic along the Thurgood Marshall Highway bustled with patients. There was Joshua McCray, 69, a public bus driver who, four years after catching Covid-19, still is too weak to drive. Louvenia McKinney, 77, arrived complaining about shortness of breath. Ponzella McClary brought her 83-year-old mother-in-law, Lula, …
Across the globe, male sperm count is on the decline—a decades-long drop that has been alternately blamed on pesticides, heavy metals, obesity, and potentially microplastics. More worrying, the decline seems to be speeding up—by the calculations of one male fertility founder, sperm counts have fallen by 50% to 60% over the last four decades. “’Spermpocalypse’ …
When journalist Allison Gilbert first interviewed Dr. Ruth Westheimer in August 2023, she felt an overwhelming sense of awe. Gilbert, 54, who recalls listening to the famed sex therapist’s talk show growing up, was enamored by “Dr. Ruth’s” wisdom, mindset, and tough love as a then 95-year-old. “Once the reporting was over, we just wanted …
Orna Guralnik, PsyD, has a front-row seat to couples’ most pressing challenges—both as a clinical psychologist in New York City and the therapist featured in the popular docuseries Couples Therapy, where she coaches partners through communication blunders, unaddressed childhood traumas, and sexual disconnection in real time. She’s been praised for her “ability to perceive the …
GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist drugs, are seemingly everywhere. In recent years, this class of weight-loss and Type 2 diabetes medication has become not only a household name but inescapable. Shortages have dominated news headlines, and singsong commercials have taken over airwaves. GLP-1s have gone so far as to disrupt the food, clothing, and, of …
If Kamala Harris and Donald Trump want to earn the votes of older adults, they better pay attention to health care. A recent Pew Research Center poll shows that health care affordability tops the list of concerns for American voters—ahead of worries about the federal budget, immigration, and gun violence. Adults over 50 made up …
With just five weeks remaining until the election of the 47th U.S. president, more than half of Americans say protecting Medicare and reducing health care costs are among the most important issues influencing their choices at the ballot box, a new survey finds. What’s more, two-thirds of respondents think health care isn’t receiving enough attention …