You Might Fare Better If Your Doctor Is Female, Study Finds

The gender of your doctor may play a part in your prognosis: New research shows that hospitalized patients are less likely to die if they’re treated by a female physician.

About 10.15% of men and 8.2% of women died while under the care of a female doctor, versus 10.23% and 8.4% when treated by a male doctor, according to results publishe...

CDC Launches Online 'Heat Forecaster' Tool as Another Summer Looms

Last summer was a record-breaker for heat emergencies, so the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday launched a new online heat forecaster to help folks better prepare as summer nears.

The HeatRisk Forecast Tool is a joint effort between the CDC and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather S...

Biden Administration Sets Nursing Home Staffing Minimums

The first-ever minimum staffing rule has been set for nursing homes, the Biden administration announced Monday.

Central to the final rule, first proposed in September, is a requirement that a registered nurse be in every skilled nursing facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It also mandates that there be enough staff to provi...

Neosporin Ointment in the Nose Might Be Potent Antibiotic

Want to prevent a respiratory infection?

A fingerful of Neosporin antibiotic swabbed inside your nose might help you fight off a range of invading respiratory viruses, a new study claims.

Lab animals whose noses were treated using neomycin -- the main ingredient in over-the-counter Neosporin ointment -- mounted a robust immune defens...

Physical Ills Often Plague People With Schizophrenia, Bipolar

Severe mental illness can contribute to a decline in a person’s physical health, with many chronic conditions slowly eroding their wellness, a new review finds.

People with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are more than twice as likely to have multiple chronic health problems such as heart disease or diabetes, researchers reported recen...

Taking Psilocybin for Depression? Relationship With Therapist Is Key

Many people dogged by depression are turning to the psilocybin found in "magic mushrooms" to ease the condition, and often reporting success.

Now, new research suggests much of the credit for that success lies in the relationship between the patient and his or her therapist.

It's the magic of what researchers at Ohio State University...

Few Young Adults Could Administer Naloxone to Reverse Fentanyl Overdose

Even though fentanyl-linked fatal overdoses are soaring among young adults, a new survey of American college students found that just 1 in 7 knew how to administer the overdose antidote drug naloxone.

Many who took the survey "reported high willingness to intervene during an overdose, yet only a small proportion knew how to administer nalo...

Pandemic Had Only Minor Effect on Young Kids' Development

The pandemic caused only “modest” delays in developmental milestones for infants and toddlers, a new study has found.

Previous research has reported that pandemic-related lockdowns disrupted the lives of many people, including families with young children.

Day-to-day life was upended as schools and child care centers closed, many...

What Folks Consider 'Old Age' Is Getting Older

People’s idea of “old age” is aging itself, with middle-aged folks and seniors believing that old age starts later in life than did peers from decades ago, a new study finds.

The study revolves around the question “At what age would you describe someone as old?”

Decades ago, folks born in 1911 set the beginning of old age a...

A-Fib More Common in Middle-Aged Folk Than Thought

The dangerous heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation is becoming more common in middle-aged people, a new study warns.

More than a quarter of patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) seeking care for A-Fib during the last decade were younger than 65, researchers found.

That’s much higher than the 2% ...

U.S. Measles Cases Reach 125, Surpassing Recent Peak in 2022

Measles infections continue to spread across the country, with 125 cases now reported in 18 states, new U.S. government data shows.

That is more cases than were reported in all of 2022, the most recent annual peak for measles infections, the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.

So far this ...

WHO Chief Sounds Alarm on Bird Flu Circulating in U.S. Cattle

The H5N1 avian flu virus that's infecting U.S. cattle is increasingly showing up in mammals -- a dangerous sign that it could someday easily infect people.

That's the warning issued late last week by World Health Organization chief scientist Dr. Jeremy Farrar, CNN reported.

“We have to watch, more than watch, we have to m...

EPA Designates Two 'Forever Chemicals' as Hazardous

Two common PFAS "forever chemicals" have been deemed hazardous substances by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The new designation, enacted under the country's Superfund law, will let the EPA investigate and clean up leaks and spills of these harmful chemicals, agency officials said Friday.

It will also mean polluters can be char...

Many Parents Cook Special Meals for Little Picky Eaters: Poll

Parents too often wave the white flag when it comes to young picky eaters, a new survey finds.

Three out of five parents say they’re willing to play personal chef and cobble up a separate meal for a child who balks at the family dinner, according to a national poll from the University of Michigan.

This often leads to the kids munch...

Relationship With Partner Affects Outcomes for Breast Cancer Survivors

A strong relationship can help a breast cancer survivor thrive in the aftermath of their terrible ordeal, a new study finds.

Diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer places tremendous stress on the women and their partners, researchers said.

Those women in a solid relationship with their partner tend to have less depression and fatig...

Parents, Coaches: Help Young Athletes Avoid Summer Heat Hazards

Another broiling summer looms, along with another season of kids' summer sports.

It's a potentially harmful, even lethal combination. But experts at Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH) have advice for kids, parents and coaches on how to keep young athletes safe when thermometers rise.

Each year, an estimated 240 people die from hea...

Hoping to Conceive? Experts Offer Tips to Better Female Fertility

Women hoping to get pregnant sometimes wonder if there’s anything they can do to make it easier to conceive.

Those questions might take on an added edge if a couple has been having unprotected sex for at least a year with no success, according to the Mayo Clinic.

There are medical issues that affect the ability to become pregnant, ...

Stigma, Shame Hit Many Gay Men Affected by Mpox Outbreak

A British study finds that beyond the physical pain and turmoil of an mpox diagnosis, many of the mostly gay and bisexual men infected during the 2022 outbreak faced stigma, homophobia and shame.

Mpox is spread largely through skin-to-skin contact, and the outbreak in Europe and the United States was largely localized to men who have sex ...

Calories, Not Meal Timing, Key to Weight Loss: Study

A head-to-head trial of obese, pre-diabetic people who ate the same amount of daily calories -- with one group following a fasting schedule and the other eating freely -- found no difference in weight loss or other health indicators.

So, despite the fact that fasting diets are all the rage, if you simply cut your daily caloric intake, weig...

Dietary Changes May Beat Meds in Treating IBS

The right diet may be the best medicine for easing the painful symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), new research shows.

In the study, two different eating plans beat standard medications in treating the debilitating symptoms of the gastrointestinal disease. One diet was low in “FODMAPs,” a group of sugars and carbohydrates foun...