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Recent health news and videos.

Staying informed is also a great way to stay healthy. Keep up-to-date with all the latest health news here.

02 Apr

Keeping Your Bad Cholesterol in Check Protects You from Dementia, New Study Finds

People with low LDL cholesterol levels are much less likely to be diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research.

01 Apr

Intermittent Fasting Leads to Greater Weight Loss Than Calorie Counting, New Study Finds

Overweight and obese adults who followed a 4:3 intermittent fasting plan dropped more pounds in one year than those who counted calories.

31 Mar

Vaccine Hesitancy Is on the Rise. Who Do Americans Trust to Help Them Make Important Vaccine Decisions? A New HealthDay/Harris Poll

F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE, of the Yale School of Medicine talks with Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, of the Baylor School of Medicine about the rise in vaccine refusal and the backlash against scientists.

Blood Test Can Predict Recovery From Spinal Cord Paralysis

Blood Test Can Predict Recovery From Spinal Cord Paralysis

An experimental blood test might be able to help doctors predict whether someone will recover their mobility following a spinal cord injury.

The test looks for fragments of spinal cord DNA floating freely in a person’s blood, researchers recently reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Higher levels of this ...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 3, 2025
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Unnecessary Imaging Scans Contributing To Climate Change

Unnecessary Imaging Scans Contributing To Climate Change

Thinking of splurging on a whole-body MRI or CT scan, based on the latest health fad?

Just keep in mind that you’ll be contributing to climate change, a new study says.

Unnecessary imaging scans for Medicare recipients alone create up to 129 metric kilotons of carbon dioxide emissions a year – equivalent to powering a tow...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 3, 2025
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Screen Time Linked To Poor Sleep, Depression Among Teen Girls

Screen Time Linked To Poor Sleep, Depression Among Teen Girls

THURSDAY, April 3, 2025 -- Can’t get your teenage girl off her smartphone, iPad or laptop?

This could cost her much-needed sleep and increase her risk of depression, a new Swedish study says.

Teenagers who spend more time on screens tend to get worse sleep, both in terms of sleep quality and duration, researchers reported April...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 3, 2025
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Even Wealthy Americans Die Younger Than Europeans

Even Wealthy Americans Die Younger Than Europeans

Death comes for everyone, be they rich or poor.

But no amount of money will help Americans live longer than Europeans, a new study says.

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans compared to well-heeled Europeans, according to results published April 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

And in some cases, ...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 3, 2025
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Shingles Vaccine Protects Against Dementia

Shingles Vaccine Protects Against Dementia

The shingles vaccine can do more than protect seniors from painful, blistering rashes.

It also appears to protect older folks from dementia, researchers say.

Seniors who got the shingles vaccine when it became available in the U.K. were 20% less likely to develop dementia than those who did not take the jab, according to research pub...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 2, 2025
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FDA Removes Top Expert on Vaping and Tobacco

FDA Removes Top Expert on Vaping and Tobacco

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) top tobacco regulator, Brian King, has been placed on leave as part of a large wave of cuts across federal health agencies. 

King, who led the FDA's tobacco control efforts, told his staff Tuesday that he was removed with “a heavy heart and profound disappointment.”

  • I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 2, 2025
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More Americans Can't Afford Health Care, Prescriptions

More Americans Can't Afford Health Care, Prescriptions

The inability to pay for health care has reached a new high in the United States, a new study says.

More than one-third of Americans — an estimated 91 million people — say they couldn't afford to access quality health care if they needed it today, according to the latest West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index.

...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 2, 2025
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Swallowing Disorder Not Widely Known, Understood By Public

Swallowing Disorder Not Widely Known, Understood By Public

Insomnia and vertigo are health conditions so well-known that movies have been named after them.

But only a quarter of Americans know about a condition that occurs even more often than vertigo or insomnia, called dysphagia, a new study says.

Dysphagia is a condition in which people have trouble swallowing, due to nerve, muscle or str...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 2, 2025
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Drug Overdose Deaths Rising Faster in Black Americans, Study Finds

Drug Overdose Deaths Rising Faster in Black Americans, Study Finds

Black Americans have been dying from drug overdoses (OD) at higher rates than white Americans, a new study says.

Both Black men and women are at greater risk of a fatal OD compared to white people, researchers reported April 1 in JAMA Network Open.

The OD death rate for Black men surpassed the rate for white men in 2016, and...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 2, 2025
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Eye Exam Can Assess Risk Of Delirium Following Surgery

Eye Exam Can Assess Risk Of Delirium Following Surgery

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul.

The eyes also might help detect seniors at risk for a common syndrome in which they emerge from surgery in a state of delirium, new research suggests.

Seniors who have thicker retinas are about 60% more likely to develop post-surgical delirium, researchers reported April 1 in the journal...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 2, 2025
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Low 'Bad' Cholesterol Might Protect Against Dementia, Alzheimer's

Low 'Bad' Cholesterol Might Protect Against Dementia, Alzheimer's

Lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol could mean a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a new study says.

People with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels lower than 70 mg/dl had a 26% lower risk of dementia and 28% lower risk of Alzheimer’s, compared to people with LDL levels above 130 mg/dl,...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 2, 2025
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Experts Concerned as NIH Axes Critical Vaccine Study Funds

Experts Concerned as NIH Axes Critical Vaccine Study Funds

Hundreds of U.S. research projects aimed at boosting vaccine confidence have been shut down -- just as preventable diseases like measles and flu are on the rise.

Since Jan. 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has canceled more than 1,600 research grants. 

Around 300 of those were for vaccine-related projec...

  • I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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Brain Implant Lets Woman Talk After 18 Years of Silence Due to Stroke

Brain Implant Lets Woman Talk After 18 Years of Silence Due to Stroke

For nearly two decades, a stroke had left a woman unable to speak -- until now. 

Thanks to a new brain implant, her thoughts are being turned into real-time speech, giving her a voice again for the first time in 18 years.

The device was tested on a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who lost her ability to speak after a stroke....

  • I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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Major Job Cuts at NIOSH Pose Risks to Worker Safety, Critics Warn

Major Job Cuts at NIOSH Pose Risks to Worker Safety, Critics Warn

A major round of job cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) could weaken efforts to protect American workers, according to federal health officials.

About two-thirds of NIOSH staff -- roughly 875 people -- may lose their jobs as part of a larger restructuring ordered by U.S. Department of Health and Human...

  • I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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Microplastics Linked To High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Stroke

Microplastics Linked To High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Stroke

Microplastics appear to be contributing to chronic diseases in shoreline areas of the United States, a new study suggests.

High blood pressure, diabetes and stroke rates are higher in coastal or lakefront areas with greater concentrations of microplastics in the environment, researchers reported at a meeting of the American College of Card...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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Pregnant Women, New Moms Dying More Often From Heart Conditions

Pregnant Women, New Moms Dying More Often From Heart Conditions

The heart-related death rate among pregnant women and new mothers more than doubled between 1999 and 2022, researchers have found.

Just under 9.1 mothers for every million people died from heart-related diseases in 2022, up from 3.6 per million in 1999, according to results presented Sunday at the American College of Cardiology’s ann...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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Navigators Help Patients Get Colonoscopy For Suspected Cancer

Navigators Help Patients Get Colonoscopy For Suspected Cancer

Personalized support can help more people at risk of colon cancer attend a potentially life-saving colonoscopy appointment, a new study says.

About 55% of people assigned a patient navigator got a follow-up colonoscopy after their stool test revealed a risk of colon cancer, compared with nearly 43% of patients who were simply notified of t...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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GLP-1 Drug Use For Weight Loss Has Soared, Costing Billions

GLP-1 Drug Use For Weight Loss Has Soared, Costing Billions

The number of Americans taking cutting-edge weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound has skyrocketed in recent years, a new study says.

The number of people without diabetes taking a GLP-1 drug more than tripled between 2018 and 2022 in the U.S., researchers reported March 31 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Sp...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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Fasting Outperforms Calorie Cutting, Clinical Trial Says

Fasting Outperforms Calorie Cutting, Clinical Trial Says

Fasting every other day can prompt more weight loss than simply cutting calories, a new clinical trial shows.

People who undertook 4:3 intermittent fasting lost just under 8% of their body weight within a year, compared to a 5% loss among people who cut their daily calories by about a third, researchers reported March 31 in the Annals ...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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Cardiac Arrest Deaths During Marathons Down By Half

Cardiac Arrest Deaths During Marathons Down By Half

A marathon can be a daunting challenge, particularly for folks worried their hearts can’t stand the strain of running 26.2 miles.

But these events are safer than ever for those with heart concerns, according to a new study published March 30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The risk of dying from car...

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • April 1, 2025
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