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Ask the Pediatrician: Teen curfews: Safety, sleep and how to set rules that work

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As teens grow more independent and begin to spend more time away from home, questions about curfews often come up. How late should your teen stay out, and how do you set limits without constant conflict?

Adolescents are programmed to hate curfews because they think they're about control or trust. But a curfew is a reflection of your concern for...Read more

Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Lifelike simulator keeps rural Minnesota childbirth centers ready -- and open

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Even if it wasn’t a real emergency, nurse Pam Johnson sensed the clock ticking as she tried to deliver a baby doll whose shoulder had lodged in the birth canal of a high-tech childbirth mannequin.

An instructor guided her on where to put her hands and how hard to press to get the baby unstuck.

“That’s a lot of pressure!” Johnson ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Colorectal cancer isn't the only gastrointestinal cancer rising in young adults

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PHOENIX — You may have heard that colorectal cancer is increasingly affecting young adults. However, it is not the only gastrointestinal (GI) cancer that doctors are diagnosing in patients below the age of 50, explains Christina Wu, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Arizona.

"People under 50 are not too young ...Read more

Become a palm reader -- on labels

You may think of palm trees as a symbol of a tropical paradise, but palm oil is far from a thing of beauty when you ingest it. A new study in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism says that saturated-fat-laden palm oil, which is very common in packaged foods, fuels insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes by triggering inflammation, toxic fat ...Read more

Ra Patient Hasn't Found A Medication That Alleviates Joint Pain

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but my rheumatologist hasn't been helpful in finding a medication that I'm not allergic to for alleviating joint pain. (I seem to be allergic to most meds that I've tried.) I'm only 68. I saw the term "biological" medication for RA in one of your recent columns. What is this, and ...Read more

RYAN BOWIE/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Profs and Pints: Psychedelics' emerging role in therapy

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

While sipping on pints of beer and eating soft pretzels at Guilford Hall Brewery, more than 100 people eagerly listened as professor Whitney Marris outlined new research in psychedelic medicine and how the drugs can be used to treat a range of conditions.

Marris, who works at the University at Buffalo’s School of Social Work, was the featured...Read more

Liz Rymarev/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Measles cases in California already double 2025 totals. Here's what to know

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Measles cases in California in 2026 have already more than doubled the total for all of 2025, state health officials reported.

In California, there have been 52 confirmed cases of measles in 2026, the California Department of Public Health said July 20.

The state had 25 confirmed cases in all of 2025.

Children ages 5 to 19 account for 52% of ...Read more

Handout/U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/TNS

COVID-19 levels run high in Bay Area wastewater, prompting calls for precautions

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Public health officials and infectious disease experts are urging Bay Area residents to take added precautions against COVID-19 as wastewater testing shows high concentrations of the virus in parts of the region.

Measurements at wastewater treatment plants in Santa Clara County and San Francisco have shown high concentrations of the virus over ...Read more

Handout/U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/TNS

Is COVID returning? Summer uptick of virus may have begun in California

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — COVID-19 is on the upswing in California and across a swath of the West and the South, a sign that the virus may be starting its seasonal summer uptick.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that COVID is growing in California, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Alabama, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii...Read more

VOCAL-NY/KFF Health News/TNS

Leadership vacuum: Agencies in New York and beyond pass the buck on opioid cash oversight

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Companies accused of recklessly marketing and distributing prescription opioid painkillers are paying roughly $58 billion to settle lawsuits over their role in fueling the addiction crisis. It’s a pot of gold eyed by addiction treatment providers, companies creating the latest opioid-related products, and government officials struggling to ...Read more

Dangerous online trends have become a major public health problem. Xavier Lorenzo/Moment via Getty Images

The Benadryl Challenge isn’t going away – here’s how public health officials are trying to stop this deadly viral trend

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

A dangerous social media trend that started in 2020 has persisted into 2026, with heartbreaking consequences.

In May and June 2026, four American teens died participating in the “Benadryl Challenge.” This trend encourages adolescents and young adults to consume excessive amounts of diphenhydramine – the active ingredient in ...Read more

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America/TNS

Cyclospora outbreak tied to shredded lettuce now linked to Illinois and 3 more states

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

WASHINGTON — Federal health officials on Friday said they have linked cases of a diarrhea-causing parasite tied to shredded lettuce to an additional four states, expanding the scope of the largest U.S. outbreak of cyclospora.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak first tied to Taco Bell restaurants now includes ...Read more

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America/TNS

Measles cases hit US record not seen since 1991

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Measles cases have hit a record in the United States not seen since 1991, nearly a decade before the viral disease was declared eliminated.

The grim milestone comes amid a generational setback in controlling the highly contagious disease, which prior to the vaccine era caused millions of infections a year, and annually left 400 to 500 people ...Read more

Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images North America/TNS

4 more states report cyclosporiasis outbreak. Here's how the FDA does a traceback investigation

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Identifying the source of a food-borne illness such as cyclosporiasis — a diarrhea-causing parasite that has sickened thousands of people in the United States — is almost as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

It's not impossible to narrow down the culprit but it is a challenge because public health investigators are analyzing ...Read more

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Reported cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan pass 8,000

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

DETROIT — The number of reported cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan rose to 8,176 on Friday, a 6.7% increase over the previous day's case count.

Health officials continue to investigate the state's worst outbreak of the parasitic illness that usually causes frequent, watery and explosive diarrhea. As of Thursday, 160 people have reportedly been...Read more

Children’s Aid/Children’s Aid/TNS

Feds have a new teen pregnancy prevention plan: Fertility and 'reproductive goals'

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The Trump administration has a new plan for teenagers learning about pregnancy: Beginning this summer, it will steer millions of dollars toward organizations that focus on anatomy, fertility tracking, hormonal production and “reproductive goals counseling.”

The plan will also emphasize abstinence from sex and the importance of marriage.

In...Read more

Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Measles surge dramatically in California among children and young adults

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Measles cases have doubled in California so far this year compared to last year — and 2026 is barely half over.

California has confirmed 52 measles cases in the first 6½ months of the year; that's more than double the 25 cases reported in all of 2025. If this pace continues, the number of cases will pass California's high from 2015, when ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

On Nutrition: Nutrition affects hormones

Health Advice / Nutrition /

I first heard of the condition while attending a conference several years ago.

Its symptoms matched what my daughter was going through at the time — weight gain, irregular periods and excessive hair growth. Sure enough, after some tests she was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), a hormone-related disorder.

Over the years, ...Read more

An Extremely High CAC Score Frightens 76-Year-Old Man

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a 76-year-old Caucasian male who's in excellent health. (Or so I thought.) Recently, my cardiologist suggested a coronary artery calcium (CAC) test, and my score was a frightening 1,241! I'm now extremely concerned about my heart health.

I've been extremely active all my life, and I routinely work out -- about 10 hours per ...Read more

Three unexpected ways you may be sabotaging your health

You know that being sedentary, smoking, eating highly processed foods, and being socially isolated can cause disability and shorten your life. But do you know that holding a grudge, fear of learning you have a health problem, and thinking only major lifestyle upgrades are helpful can amplify your risk of illness and increase your ActualAge?

...Read more