Your source for health news for the Pacific Northwest
While doctors and patient advocates say these drugs are critical to helping patients struggling with obesity and can save money in the long run by reducing comorbidities such as heart disease, others say the medications are just too expensive for most states to afford.
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National and state data shows that educators in the U.S., including teachers, professors and librarians, are among the least likely to die by suicide.
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It’s well understood that exposure to either wildfire smoke or extreme heat poses a significant threat to health. For example, there is substantial evidence linking wildfire smoke to an increased risk of hospitalizations for lung or heart complications, with emerging evidence that exposure may also affect birth outcomes and cognitive function. Similarly, we know that extreme heat can increase the risk of illness or death from conditions related to our lungs, hearts and brains.
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The fate of more than 15 million customers’ genetic data remains in limbo after popular DNA testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March.
The data is up for sale, stoking fears about how it might be used and prompting attorneys general from more than a dozen states to warn 23andMe users: Delete your data.
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Despite what Kennedy would have you believe, there’s no fetal debris in the MMR vaccine, and the trace amounts of DNA fragments that may remain pose no health risk.
What the evidence does show, however, is that vaccines like the MMR vaccine offer excellent protection against deadly and preventable diseases, and have saved millions of lives around the world.
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When it comes to our health, we’re constantly being warned about being taken in by misinformation.
Yet for most of us what we believe ultimately comes down to who we trust, including which “experts” we trust.
The problem is that not everyone who presents themselves as an expert is actually an expert.
And an expert in one area isn’t necessarily an expert in everything.
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You may have heard the popular claim that it only takes 21 days to form a habit.
It’s a neat idea. Short, encouraging and full of promise. But there’s just one problem: it’s not true.
Studies that measured time to reach automaticity (when a behaviour becomes second nature) found that habit formation took between 59 and 154 days. Some people developed a habit in as few as four days. Others took nearly a year.
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If you or someone you love finds it difficult to stand up without using your hands, it might seem like a small issue. But in health and ageing, this movement – known as the “sit-to-stand” – can be a red flag. It’s one of the strongest indicators of frailty, a condition that can threaten independence and quality of life.
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The prevalence of obesity among rural Americans is six times higher.
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Vaping is especially popular among teenagers and young adults, possibly due to the thousands of flavoured vape products available – from bubblegum to cotton candy to mango ice. But those fruity, candy-like flavours come with a chemical cost.
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Counties without fast, reliable internet and with shortages of health care providers are mostly rural. Nearly 60% of them have no hospital.
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Childhood immunization rates in Washington state have dropped since the COVID-19 pandemic, putting communities at risk for outbreaks
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While most cases of dementia are diagnosed in older adults, about 7% of cases occur in people under 65.
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The run-walk technique is especially welcoming for beginners. The technique is used by runners of all abilities, including those tackling full marathons.
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New immune-based treatments for kidney and pancreatic cancer have shown promising results in two small clinical trials. In both trials, the treatments appeared to prevent cancer from returning in patients who had successful surgery to remove their tumors. The treatments are called therapeutic cancer vaccines because they help the immune system eliminate an existing cancer.
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