Category: Health News
Heat Advisory Issued this Weekend for Washington State
The National Weather Service is forecasting temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s for much of western Washington by Monday. Since many Washingtonians do not have air conditioning in their homes, cooling off can be a challenge, particularly for people with health conditions, the elderly, and infants.
My scan shows I have thyroid nodules. Should I be worried?
Thyroid nodules are very common, with more than half of people scanned show small nodules. At age 30 it is estimated around 30% of women will have a nodule. By age 70, approximately 70% of women will have at least one. Most never cause problems. But when should you follow up and get treatment?
Medication abortion could get harder to obtain – or easier: There’s a new wave of post-Dobbs lawsuits on abortion pills
Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States, but there are a raft of new legal battles that may expand or limit access.
Rare genetic disease may protect Ashkenazi Jews against tuberculosis – new study
Genes carried by many Ashkenazi Jews that put them at a higher risk of a rare disorder, Gaucher disease, also help protect them against TB.
Why it’s hardest to lose those last few pounds
The last 5 kilos really are the hardest to lose. Here’s why, and what you can do about it
How to look up the immunizations rate at your neighborhood school and in King County
What percentage of children in your child’s school are vaccinated against measles? How does your school district compare to others in King County? How have student immunization rates changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic? Find this and more on Public Health’s School Immunizations Data Dashboard, recently updated to include data for the 2021-22 school year.
RSV: A pediatric disease expert answers 5 questions about the surging outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus
Jennifer Girotto, University of Connecticut Respiratory syncytial virus, more commonly known as RSV, sends thousands of children to the hospital every year in the U.S. But during September and October 2022, health professionals across the country have watched an unprecedented…
Five things to do in your 20s and 30s to reduce your risk of preventable cancer
Most of us don’t think about cancer when we’re in our 20s and 30s. But recent research has shown that people born after 1990 are more likely to develop cancer before the age of 50 than any other generation before.
Public Health urges those more sensitive to heat to take precautions for high temperatures this week
Heat can be deadly, but deaths from heat are preventable.
TB cases rise in Washington state.
Cases then rose notably beginning in 2021, when 199 cases of TB disease were reported, a 22% increase from 2020. Thus far in 2022, 70 cases have been reported and officials continue to monitor the situation closely. Seventeen new cases of TB disease all have connections with each other and several Washington state prisons, making it the state’s largest outbreak in the last 20 years.
States Likely to Resist CDC Proposal Easing Opioid Access
For the eased guidelines to have their intended effect, states would need to amend or repeal existing statutes that limit opioid prescriptions to three to seven days and set ceilings on the daily dose doctors can prescribe.
States Craft Their COVID Exit Strategies
Why weren’t governors willing to wait for the CDC to make the call?
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.
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.
Here’s where (and how) you are most likely to catch COVID – new study
We yearn to get back to normal. We’d like to meet friends in a pub or have them over for dinner. We’d like our struggling business to thrive like it did before the pandemic. We’d like our children to return to their once-familiar routine of in-person schooling and after-school activities. We’d like to ride on a bus, sing in a choir, get back to the gym, or dance in a nightclub without fear of catching COVID. Which of these activities is safe? And how safe exactly? These were the questions we sought to answer in our latest research.