History holds lessons for why low vaccination rates for children are so risky and why officials should strongly consider school mandates for the covid vaccine.
Washington state re-opens COVID-19 test portal for the third time.
Rapid antigen tests can be ordered and shipped directly to Washington households at no-cost.
The baffling case of metabolically healthy obese people: Are they protected from chronic diseases?
Some studies have demonstrated that a significant number of obese people are metabolically healthy, leading to the contention that one could be healthy at any size.
‘It changed who I felt I was.’ Women tell of devastation at early menopause diagnosis
Around 10% of women – including many who believe they have the prospect having children ahead of them – are suddenly told they are at the end of their fertile life, and at greater risk of diseases normally associated with middle age.
Missouri’s War on Public Health Shows Extent of National Rift
At least 1 in 5 Americans live in places that had lost their top local public health official amid a wave of threats to the profession and chronic stress that led to firings, resignations, and retirements since the pandemic began. Such blows endanger the public health system’s ability to respond to other issues in the future, public health officials said.
Monroe School District offers $34 million to students to settle chemical exposure case
A school district in Washington state has offered an extraordinary $34 million settlement to students and parents exposed to toxic chemicals that lingered for at least eight years on a public school campus.
What is earwax?
Everyone’s earwax is unique. Some is more pasty, some is dry, some is yellow, brown or black. Scientists have figured out a gene that seems to calibrate how wet or dry your wax is. So, if your wax is really pasty and stinky, it’s another thing you can blame on your parents.
Pre-workout supplements: why five of the six most common ingredients probably aren’t helping you
Here we take a look at some of the most common pre-workout ingredients to see whether there’s any evidence they work.
Why is it harder to build muscle as you age?
50-year-old muscles just can’t grow big like they used to – the biology of how muscles change with age
Why taking fever-reducing meds and drinking fluids may not be the best way to treat flu and fever
As flu season progresses, so does the chorus of advice, professional and otherwise, to drink plenty of fluids and take fever-reducing medications, like acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin. These recommendations, well-intentioned and firmly entrenched, offer comfort to those sidelined with fever, flu or vaccine side effects. But you may be surprised to learn the science supporting these recommendations is speculative at best, harmful at worst and comes with caveats.
Have the benefits of mindfulness been overhyped in the West?
Mindfulness is seemingly everywhere these days. A Google search I conducted in January 2022 for the term “mindfulness” resulted in almost 3 billion hits. The practice is now routinely offered in workplaces, schools, psychologists’ offices and hospitals all across the country. Most of the public enthusiasm for mindfulness stems from the reputation it has for reducing stress. But scholars and researchers who work on mindfulness, and the Buddhist tradition itself, paint a more complex picture than does the popular media.
What we know now about COVID immunity after infection – including Omicron and Delta variants
We’re starting to get a more detailed understanding of COVID immunity across variants. Here’s what we know so far . . .
What is the best mask for COVID-19?
A mechanical engineer explains the science after 2 years of testing masks in his lab
Can an equation be racist?
Medical algorithms that correct for gender, age, comorbidities, and race span specialties from nephrology to cardiology to pediatrics to obstetrics. Such calculators help guide practitioners in daily decisions about everything from drug dosages to surgery to organ transplants. But race modifiers especially raise problems, since race is often an imprecise proxy for actual ancestry.
Here’s How Abortion Access Would Change if Supreme Court Erodes Roe
As the nation awaits a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could significantly erode abortion rights, state laws on the issue have taken on a whole new meaning. Soon, more than at any time in nearly half a century, obtaining an abortion will depend on where you live.