Архив рубрики: Здоровье Америка

The Best and Worst Things to Say to Someone Just Diagnosed With Cancer 

When Katie Thurston was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer earlier this year, at age 34, people kept telling her they knew someone with the same diagnosis. Solidarity, you might think. A helpful way to relate. Not exactly: Their friend or family member had died.

This scenario is “pretty recurring,” says Thurston, who starred on season 17 of The Bachelorette, and while people have good intentions—they want you to know they have experience with what you’re going through—the remark doesn’t land well. “We understand that death is a possibility in this diagnosis,” she says. “I don’t need to hear that.”

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Thurston has been on the receiving end of a lot of outreach and opinions since she shared her breast cancer diagnosis—from strangers online, as well as people she knows in real life. While death-related stories are particularly painful, there are plenty of other comments that fall short of helpful.

Communication slip-ups in this area are com..

Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Lead to 1,000 More Overdose Deaths A Year, Researchers Warn

The sweeping tax and spending package that President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this month could cause thousands of people to lose access to treatment for opioid use disorder, leading to roughly 1,000 additional overdose deaths each year, researchers estimate.

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Fatal overdoses have been on the decline since they reached a record high in 2022. Drug policy and health experts have widely credited the drop to public health measures, such as investing in treatments, expanding therapies, and decreasing stigma.

But now, they fear that Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will undo that progress.

The day before the bill passed the House, a group of researchers sent a memo to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, estimating that the package would cause about 156,000 people to lose access to treatment for opioid use disorder. The next day, the bill cleared the House, and the day after, Trump signed it into law.

“I’m angry,” says ..

What Experts Think About the Japanese Walking Trend

“Japanese walking” isn’t new, but the workout recently gained legs on TikTok: People credit it with making their walking routines more exciting and leading to an array of benefits, from weight loss to better heart health.

While its name is derived from research conducted in Japan, this style of workout—known as interval walking—is popular around the world, and for good reason. It involves walking at a high intensity level for three minutes, followed by three minutes at a lower intensity, on repeat for at least 30 minutes, four times a week.

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“We know that exercise matters, and we know that intensity matters,” says Laura Richardson, an exercise physiologist and clinical associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Michigan. “I think it’s caught on because it’s so sustainable—it’s short, it’s doable, you don’t have to be in a gym, and there are lots of benefits to walking.”

We asked experts to break down exactly why Japanese walking is so ef..

COVID-19 Is Rising Again. Here’s What to Know

As much as we want to put it behind us, COVID-19 isn’t going away. Cases are currently rising across the country in a summer surge.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that cases of COVID-19 are increasing in nine states and likely growing in another 16. The trends are estimates, as the CDC no longer conducts rigorous surveillance of cases based on results from lab tests. Fewer people are also getting tested. But the data do provide a hint of how the disease is changing over time, and new monitoring systems that track viruses in wastewater confirm the rise.

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The CDC says that the overall level of respiratory diseases in the U.S.— COVID-19, flu, and RSV—remains “very low,” but that emergency room visits for COVID-19 are on the rise, accounting for 0.5% of emergency room visits in the country as of mid July, compared to 0.3% of cases at the beginning of the summer. While that may seem like a small increase, emergency room v..

The FDA Might Ban Fluoride Supplements. Dentists Are Upset

Dr. James H. Bekker made it clear while standing at a podium in front of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Silver Spring, Md. on July 23: there is no way to replace fluoride supplements if the government decides to take them off the market.

In communities without fluoridated water, these supplements are the only way that families can help children access fluoride, the dentist said, thus protecting their teeth from decay.

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“When we don’t have fluoride, there are certain things that happen that are very disturbing,” said Bekker, a professor at the University of Utah School of Dentistry and a past president of the American Dental Association, at a hearing debating the FDA’s plan to ban ingestible fluoride tablets from the marketplace. “We have an increase in tooth decay, and we have an increase in the use of emergency services to receive care for dental emergencies.”

Yet the FDA appears to be moving towards banning these supplements after ..

Why So Many Seniors Can’t Afford Long-Term Care

Aisha Adkins’ mother Rosetta was adamant that she wanted to age at home. So when Rosetta’s dementia started worsening at age 59, Aisha started looking around for options.

She quickly found that round-the-clock at-home care was extremely costly, and that her mother didn’t qualify for government assistance. Stuck in the middle, Aisha, who was 29 at the time, ended up quitting her job to take of her mother care of her herself.

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At first, Rosetta just needed help preparing meals and reminders to take her medication. But as her care needs deepened, Aisha had to learn how to bathe and dress and feed her mother. She and her father hired a home health aide for a few hours a week when they could, but most of the care fell to the two of them until her mother finally qualified for Medicaid through a complicated process called spousal impoverishment protection, which allowed her father to keep some assets.

“We faced so many challenges; it was really a struggle..

Talc Is Suddenly in the Spotlight. Is it Bad for You?

Federal health officials are scrutinizing a mineral—added to some makeup, medications, and foods—that many people have never thought twice about: talc.

In a recent viewpoint article called “Priorities for a New FDA,” published in the medical journal JAMA, Dr. Martin Makary, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Dr. Vinay Prasad, the FDA’s Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, wrote that the FDA conducted an expert panel on talc in May. They also noted that some companies have removed talc from baby powder because it’s a carcinogen. Johnson & Johnson, for example, stopped using talc in 2023 following more than 60,000 legal claims from ovarian cancer patients.

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The JAMA article added that talc remains common, since people still “ingest it regularly” as an ingredient in various medications and foods.

Despite the lawsuits, though, research hasn’t confirmed whether talc causes cancer, especially when consumed through food. Mean..

AI Helps Prevent Medical Errors in Real-World Clinics

There has been a lot of talk about the potential for AI in health, but most of the studies so far have been stand-ins for the actual practice of medicine: simulated scenarios that predict what the impact of AI could be in medical settings.

But in one of the first real-world tests of an AI tool, working side-by-side with cliniciansin Kenya, researchers showed that AI can reduce medical errors by as much as 16%.

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In a study available on OpenAI.com that is being submitted to a scientific journal, researchers at OpenAI and Penda Health, a network of primary care clinics operating in Nairobi, found that an AI tool can provide a powerful assist to busy clinicians who can’t be expected to know everything about every medical condition. Penda Health employs clinicians who are trained for four years in basic health care: the equivalent of physician assistants in the U.S. The health group, which operates 16 primary care clinics in Nairobi Kenya, has its own guid..

Coca-Cola to Launch New Version of Its Drink in U.S. After Trump’s Input Over Ingredients

Coca-Cola has announced that it will be introducing a cane sugar version of its leading soda product to the U.S. market this fall, confirming President Donald Trump’s pre-emptive announcement made days earlier.

The new offering of Coca-Cola will be available in the U.S. alongside the iconic version, which uses high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener and will remain unchanged. (Diet and Coke Zero products use aspartame and other artificial sweeteners.)

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The soda company said that the upcoming availability of the cane sugar product is part of its “ongoing innovation agenda.”

“This addition is designed to complement the company’s strong core portfolio and offer more choices across occasions and preferences,” Coca-Cola said on Tuesday in its second quarterly update of the year.

The company’s chairman and CEO James Quincey elaborated further on a conference call with investors, during which he referenced Trump’s recent comments and praised his interest i..

How to Tell if You’re Allergic to Alcohol

Your body will almost certainly rebel if you drink too much alcohol in a night. But what if it reacts after just a sip or two? If you notice odd symptoms like facial flushing, a runny nose, or even a racing heartbeat after drinking, you might not just be sensitive to alcohol—you could be allergic.

While true alcohol allergies are uncommon, they do exist, and alcohol intolerance and reactions to ingredients in your favorite drinks are pervasive. Here’s how to spot the clues that you might not get along well with alcohol.

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Is it an intolerance or an allergy?

Both involve different biological reactions, and an alcohol allergy can be dangerous.

A true alcohol allergy is an immune-system response to a component of the beverage. It may mean your immune system reacts to alcohol—or ingredients in alcoholic beverages like grains, yeast, or preservatives—as if it’s a harmful invader. Symptoms can include a rash; itching; swelling of the lips, tongue, or mou..