DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I am a 40-year-old overweight woman diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a little over a year ago. I have become more mindful about the food our family eats, limiting sugar and incorporating more fruits and vegetables into meals at home. Recently, though, I learned my 14-year-old daughter has been “snacking” on spoons of ...Read more

Anna Goldman, a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, got tired of hearing that her patients couldn’t afford the electricity needed to run breathing assistance machines, recharge wheelchairs, turn on air conditioning, or keep their refrigerators plugged in. So she worked with her hospital on a solution.

The result is a pilot effort...Read more

Juana Valle never imagined she’d be scared to drink water from her tap or eat fresh eggs and walnuts when she bought her 5-acre farm in San Juan Bautista, California, three years ago. Escaping city life and growing her own food was a dream come true for the 52-year-old.

Then Valle began to suspect water from her well was making her sick.

“...Read more

You might notice an uptick in your drinking habits, now that the holiday season is in gear. The gatherings and celebrations that are filling your schedule often include alcohol as a part of the festivities.

For those who typically keep their drinking low throughout the year, this change in consumption can have adverse effects — particularly ...Read more

Liver cancer rates have more than tripled in the U.S. since 1980 and continue to rise. More than 41,000 people will be diagnosed with liver cancer in the U.S. this year, and about 29,000 will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

Dr. Lionel Kankeu Fonkoua, a Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center oncologist, discusses...Read more

MIAMI — More than seven months after Manatee County launched a pilot program for a drone that can quickly respond to medical emergencies, 911 dispatchers have yet to use it.

The program, which is a partnership between Manatee County government, Tampa General Hospital and Archer First Response Systems, aims to deploy a drone in situations ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Ever since I had my son, I tend to worry whenever he gets ill, so I try to educate myself on different viruses and autoimmune disorders. I recently came across encephalitis. What is it? What are some of the warning signs? And how is it treated?

ANSWER: It's normal to worry as a parent. However, encephalitis is a rare disease. ...Read more

Vaccinations provide significant protection for the public against infectious diseases and substantially reduce health care costs. Therefore, it is noteworthy that President-elect Donald Trump wants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading critic of childhood vaccination, to be secretary of Health and Human Services.

Doctors, scientists and ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A growing number of people — many of them older and homeless — are freezing to death during winter.

Hypothermia from exposure to cold temperatures was the underlying or contributing cause of death for 166 Californians last year, more than double the number a decade ago, according to provisional death certificate data...Read more

Junk food like potato chips, ice cream and ready-made meals have long been linked with a spate of health conditions including cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

Now, a new study by University of South Florida Health and Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute has revealed that these ultra-processed foods may be fueling cancerous growths in ...Read more

Andrea Deutsch, the mayor of Narberth, Pennsylvania, and the owner of a pet store in town, doesn’t get health care coverage through either of her jobs. Instead, she is enrolled in a plan she purchased on Pennie, Pennsylvania’s health insurance exchange.

Deutsch, who has been mayor since 2018, is paid $1 per year for the job. Her annual ...Read more

Many researchers can go their entire careers, and sometimes their entire lives, without making a groundbreaking discovery. They might contribute to a body of research, or dive deeper into a topic, but many may not make waves in their fields until much later in their careers, or maybe not at all.

This isn’t the case for Camarria Williams.

The...Read more

The U.S. has made great progress in getting more people insured since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014. The share of uninsured Americans ages 18 to 64 fell from 18% before the ACA to 9.5% in 2022. And preexisting conditions no longer prevent coverage or lead to an increase in premiums.

Yet even for those with health ...Read more

In a public health breakthrough, U.S. obesity rates have decreased for the first time in more than a decade, with new weight loss medications potentially playing a role in the turnaround, according to a new study. The research shows the percentage of adults with obesity dropped from 46% in 2022 to 45.6% in 2023.

Although the decline is modest, ...Read more

Black adults living with long COVID pointed to challenges with their physical health – rather than their mental health – when asked to describe their long-COVID symptoms. That is one key finding from our new study, published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

When we examined the data further, however, we ...Read more

The holiday season, often considered a time of joy and togetherness, can also be one of the most challenging periods for those who are grieving a loss.

Nearly 95% of people who have experienced loss report dealing with at least one symptom of physical or mental distress. Approximately 10% of them develop prolonged grief disorder, a ...Read more

For many people, this time of year is all about the shopping. And there's a fair chance many feel less than joyful about the prospect.

If fulfilling your lengthy list feels overwhelming, learning what brain science and evolutionary psychology say about shopping and gift-giving might help you understand exactly why you're stressed – and even ...Read more

When you hear a favorite holiday tune, you might not immediately connect it with CPR.

But there's an easy-to-understand reason why you might want to start, said Dr. John W. Hafner, a clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine Peoria.

"You can really save a life just by doing simple chest ...Read more

How many days has your child been absent from school over the past four weeks? Was it just one sick day or two? What about the day they left early for the dentist? Or the days you took off to extend a vacation? It can be hard to keep track.

Missing a day here or there may not seem like a problem. But school absences add up quickly. Missing two ...Read more

Rates of infection for respiratory viruses are currently low in the U.S. but are starting to rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Flu, COVID-19 and RSV spread more in fall and winter, especially during holiday gatherings, travel and time spent indoors.

Dr. Robert Jacobson, medical director of Mayo Clinic's Primary...Read more