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On Nutrition: Oxalates: Bad for bones?
Kathy C. from Indiana writes: “Recently, I read that people with osteopenia should avoid foods with oxalates. It's hard for calcium to be absorbed. The partial list includes healthy food that I like to eat: spinach, beets, tofu, cocoa, kiwi, oranges, pineapple, peanuts, cashews. Is there a safe amount that can be eaten? How often? Thank you....Read more
Hair Loss Treatment Can Have Sexual Health Side Effects
DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 70-year-old man and have been taking finasteride for hair loss for about five years. I realized while reading your recent column that I have the sexual side effects the letter-writer described. I had been unable to obtain a satisfactory erection even when taking 150 mg of sildenafil, which is three times my prescribed ...Read more
The skinny on fatty liver risks
Fatty liver disease, now called MASLD, which stands for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease, is a silent epidemic affecting around 100 million Americans. That means, because of elevated lousy LDL cholesterol, insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes and/or obesity, a person's liver is laced with excess fat, interfering with its ...Read more

FDA covered up E. coli outbreak that killed 1 person, spread to 15 states
The federal government covered up an outbreak of E. coli that killed one person and spread across at least 15 states, according to a report published Thursday.
A series of E. coli cases was first reported in November in St. Louis County, Mo., but the Food and Drug Administration never released any information about the outbreak, NBC News ...Read more

More psych hospital beds are needed for kids, but neighbors say not here
If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”
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In January, a teenager in suburban St. Louis informed his high school counselor that a classmate said he planned to kill himself later that day.
The 14-year-old classmate denied it, but his ...Read more

Do you sweat while you drive? Researchers say stress affects your decisions behind the wheel
DULUTH, Minn. – When a Jeep cut me off and then slowed to several notches below the speed limit, I first gasped and then gestured wildly, swearing. These things I remember.
But a sensor I was wearing to capture my heart rate and electrical changes in my skin, along with a vehicle “black box,” revealed more: aggressive braking and ...Read more

Deportation fears add to mental health problems confronting Colorado resort town workers
SILVERTHORNE, Colo. — When Adolfo Román García-Ramírez walks home in the evening from his shift at a grocery store in this central Colorado mountain town, sometimes he thinks back on his childhood in Nicaragua. Adults, he recollects, would scare the kids with tales of the “Mona Bruja,” or “Monkey Witch.” Step too far into the dark, ...Read more

Misinformation about fentanyl exposure threatens to undermine overdose response
Fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid driving the nation’s high drug overdose rates, is also caught up in another increasingly serious problem: misinformation.
False and misleading narratives on social media, in news reports, and even in popular television dramas suggesting people can overdose from touching fentanyl — rather than ingesting ...Read more

Oregon health officials investigate rare brain disease blamed for 2 deaths
Health officials in Hood River County, Oregon, are investigating three cases of a rare and fatal brain disease known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Two people have died and a third person is showing symptoms consistent with the disease. The disease has been confirmed in one of the deceased through an autopsy; the other two cases are considered ...Read more

Republicans in Congress are eyeing cuts to Medicaid. But what does Medicaid actually do?
Republicans in Congress are eyeing $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid, the joint federal-state government health care program for lower-income people.
Depending on how states respond, a Republican proposal that would slash the 90% federal contribution to states’ expanded Medicaid programs would end coverage for as many as 20 million of the 72 ...Read more
Severe Pain After Knee Surgery Requires Reevaluation
DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband had left knee replacement surgery three weeks ago. He has had continuous unrelenting pain since. He was initially on hydrocodone with acetaminophen alternating with tramadol. This barely touched the pain. We were referred to a pain specialist who prescribed hydrocodone, but our insurance wouldn't allow it. He is also...Read more
One more virtue of light to moderate wine drinking
"All things in moderation" isn't always true -- moderate exposure to someone with measles when you haven't been vaccinated (or had the disease) isn't smart. Neither is moderate indulgence in highly processed foods -- that'll up your risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. But you'll be glad to hear that sometimes ...Read more

Measles outbreak in Kansas rises to 37 cases, mostly unvaccinated patients
The measles outbreak in Kansas continued to grow over the past week, driven largely by unvaccinated children and teens, according to health officials.
The Kansas Department Health and Environment reported Wednesday that there have been 37 positive cases of measles, up from 32 cases a week ago, according to the 2025 Kansas Measles Outbreak ...Read more

US, Europe diverge on infectious disease messaging
STOCKHOLM — In both the United States and Europe, two public health agencies aim to fight the spread of infectious diseases.
But the Trump administration’s rapidly evolving approach to public health prevention has highlighted stark and growing differences in their approaches.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was born ...Read more

Idaho law allows over-the-counter sale of controversial drug ivermectin
BOISE, Idaho — It was a scene that doctors saw play out over and over during the COVID-19 pandemic, said David Pate, the former president and CEO of St. Luke’s Health System.
People brought critically ill family members to the hospital and were “in shock” when they learned that a family member had been infected by the coronavirus even ...Read more

Commentary: Searching for the cause of autism diverts attention from where it's needed: Helping autistic people
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data this week showing that 1 in 31 children in the U.S. is autistic. As researchers and physicians, we welcome the growing national attention—and federal funding—this condition is receiving.
But we worry the money is being directed toward the wrong question.
For decades, the lion...Read more
Let's Hear It for Gene Therapy
Ten out of 11 kids who received gene therapy for a rare variant of congenital deafness enjoyed significant improvements when tested one year after the surgery, according to doctors involved in the study.
The therapy addresses mutations in the OTOF gene that cause hearing loss by delivering a new working copy of the gene. The hope is that by ...Read more
Could Meds Be The Cause Of Mom's Dizziness?
DEAR DR. ROACH: My 86-year-old mother wears hearing aids, has tinnitus and is constantly dizzy. She also has atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure and some anxiety issues. She has had several urinary tract infections in the past few years. We have been to a neurologist, EN&T specialist, physical therapist and a chiropractor, and have had...Read more
Breakthrough in slashing elevated LDL cholesterol to save lives
More than 92 million Americans take statins, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and you can bet all of them are hoping that will protect them from having what doctors like to call "an adverse cardiovascular event" (aka heart attack, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease or A-fib) and prevent death from such conditions. But for folks...Read more
A two-step way to a longer life for older women
According to Mayo Clinic Proceedings, women gain around 1.5 pounds a year while going through menopause. That may not sound like a lot, but if your hormone shift takes 10 years, that's 15 pounds. So, it adds up -- 75% of women age 60 and older are overweight, increasing their risk for lower quality of life, more chronic disease, dementia, hip ...Read more
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