Within weeks, for the first time in the U.S. consumers will be able to find a birth control pill on retail shelves.
Continue reading
Beware online mental health chatbots, UW specialists warn
AI chatbots may someday play an important role in mental health care, but many currently online are untested and unsafe.
Continue reading
First Cancer TIL Therapy Gets FDA Approval for Advanced Melanoma
In this treatment, immune cells from the patient’s tumor are collected and expanded in culture and then infused back into the patient.
Continue reading
By looking for fragments of DNA that have escaped from tumors into the bloodstream, or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), doctors may be able to identify which of their patients with colorectal cancer need chemotherapy after surgery.
Continue reading
Some Medicines and Driving Don’t Mix
Although many medicines will not affect your ability to drive, some nonprescription and prescription medications can have side effects that may make it unsafe to drive or operate other heavy machinery.
Continue reading
Syphilis Is Killing Babies. The U.S. Government Is Failing to Stop the Disease From Spreading.
The only drug that treats syphilis during pregnancy is in short supply. Untreated, the disease can pass to newborns, killing them or leaving them with disabilities. As cases rise sharply, the government isn’t doing much to prevent shortages.
Continue reading
The Powerful Constraints on Medical Care in Catholic Hospitals Across America
More than half a million babies are born each year in the U.S. in Catholic-run hospitals, including those owned by CommonSpirit Health, Ascension, Trinity Health, and Providence St. Joseph Health. That’s 16% of all hospital births each year, with rates in 10 states exceeding 30%. In Washington, half of all babies are born at such hospitals, the highest share in the country.
Continue reading
Your heart changes in size and shape with exercise – this can lead to heart problems for some athletes and gym rats
Exercise can significantly reduce the risk of developing conditions that affect the heart, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity. But large amounts of exercise throughout life may also harm the heart, leading to the development of a condition called athletic heart.
Continue reading
Women may realize health benefits of regular exercise more than men
Even when women and men get the same amount of physical activity, the risk of premature death is lower for women, NIH study finds
Continue reading
What is ‘fried rice syndrome’? A microbiologist explains this type of food poisoning – and how to avoid it
Enzo Palombo, Swinburne University of Technology A condition dubbed “fried rice syndrome” has caused some panic online in recent days,
Continue reading
Millions of older people don’t get enough nutrients – how to spot it and what to do about it
Weight loss in older adults is a key sign of malnutrition that needs to be addressed – but it can be easily missed, especially when many older adults associate the idea of thinness with good health. But clothing that’s too loose or a watchstrap that floats on the wrist are all warning signs of undernourishment.
Continue reading
Several companies are testing brain implants – why is there so much attention swirling around Neuralink? Two professors unpack the ethical issues
Putting a computer inside someone’s brain used to feel like the edge of science fiction. Today, it’s a reality. Academic and commercial groups are testing “brain-computer interface” devices to enable people with disabilities to function more independently. Two two scholars at the University of Washington School of Medicine – Nancy Jecker, a bioethicst, and Andrew Ko, a neurosurgeon who implants brain chip devices – discuss the ethics of this new horizon in neuroscience.
Continue reading
Running or yoga can help beat depression, research shows – even if exercise is the last thing you feel like
We found walking, running, strength training, yoga and mixed aerobic exercise were about as effective as cognitive behaviour therapy – one of the gold-standard treatments for depression.
Continue reading
Oregon’s Drug Decriminalization Aimed to Make Cops a Gateway to Rehab, Not Jail. State Leaders Failed to Make It Work.
Ballot Measure 110, approved by voters in 2020, created a new role for law enforcement in Oregon. While there’s evidence people living with addiction in the state are increasingly finding their way into treatment, the failure to turn police encounters into successful on-ramps to rehab has been cited by critics as prime evidence the measure isn’t working. Oregon lawmakers, noting an ongoing rise in overdose deaths, are now looking to restore jail time for drug possession.
But Oregon’s political leaders themselves played central roles in failing to deliver on the potential for law enforcement to connect people with lifesaving services under the new measure, documents and interviews with a wide array of people involved in the system indicate.
Continue reading
It’s time for a heart-to-heart about women’s cardiovascular health, unique risk factors and symptoms
Although cardiovascular disease is often considered a disease of men, women are more likely to die from a heart attack when compared with men. This fact often surprises women and even their health-care providers. Many women are not aware that heart disease is a significant health threat to them, but the reality is that five times as many women die from heart disease as breast cancer.
Continue reading