Cracking your back or neck might provide quick relief and a satisfying popping noise — but is it a safe practice?
«When you stretch or manipulate your spine, such as by twisting or bending, the pressure within the joint changes,» Dr. William Kemo, a neurosurgeon at the Virginia Spine Institute, told Fox News Digital.
«This can cause a sudden release of gas bubbles, leading to a cracking sound.»
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People often crack their back or neck out of habit, or to temporarily relieve tension or stiffness, Kemo noted.
«Typically, they do this to loosen up their back or neck when it is feeling tight or stiff. The ‘cracking’ is the popping of a tight or stiff facet joint.»
While the act of cracking can release endorphins (feel-good chemicals) for temporary relief, it doesn’t address the source of the tension, according to Tori Hartline, a chiropractor at Sunlife Chiropractic in Frisco, Texas.
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P..

A major public health agency last week expanded its breast cancer screening guidelines to include younger women — but some people are concerned that one key age group has been excluded.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) announced on April 30 that women between ages 40 and 74 should get mammograms every other year.
This is a significant change from previous guidelines, which said women should begin biennial mammograms at age 50, but could opt to begin as young as 40.
BREAST CANCER MAMMOGRAM SCREENINGS SHOULD START AT AGE 40 INSTEAD OF 50, SAYS HEALTH TASK FORCE
Some experts object to the fact that the agency doesn’t include official screening recommendations for women older than 74.
«The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening mammography in women 75 years or older,» the agency stated in the guidance.
Dr. Denise Pate, medical director with Medical Offices of Manhattan and contributor to LabFinder,..

As cholera continues to surge — and as vaccines remain in short supply — experts are warning about the global risk.
Cholera is a bacterial disease typically spread by food and water, leading to severe diarrhea and dehydration. It has been on the rise around the world since 2021.
Each year, there are some 1.3 to 4 million cases of cholera worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Approximately 21,000 to 143,000 deaths occur as a result.
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Around 473,000 cases were reported to WHO in 2022, which was twice as many cases as the prior year.
Reported cases for 2023 are expected to exceed 700,000.
«It is concerning to see an increase in the number of cholera cases worldwide, with the majority of the cases in Asia, Africa and Latin America,» Dr. Renuga Vivekanandan, M.D., assistant dean and professor at the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, told Fox News Digital.
Th..

For the first time, researchers have identified a genetic form of late-in-life Alzheimer’s disease — in people who inherit two copies of a worrisome gene.
Scientists have long known a gene called APOE4 is one of many things that can increase people’s risk for Alzheimer's, including simply getting older. The vast majority of Alzheimer’s cases occur after age 65. But research published Monday suggests that for people who carry not one but two copies of the gene, it's more than a risk factor, it's an underlying cause of the mind-robbing disease.
The findings mark a distinction with «profound implications,» said Dr. Juan Fortea, who led the study the Sant Pau Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain.
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Among them: Symptoms can begin seven to 10 years sooner than in other older adults who develop Alzheimer’s.
An estimated 15% of Alzheimer’s patients carry two copies of APOE4, meaning those c..

A 10-year-old girl in Pennsylvania is in dire need of a bone marrow transplant — and her mother is on a mission to find the perfect match.
Lani Walter suffers from a disease called DOCK8 deficiency (dedicator of cytokinesis 8 deficiency), an immunodeficiency syndrome that can cause recurrent, life-threatening infections.
DOCK8 is very rare, with only 250 people worldwide currently diagnosed, statistics show. The only cure for DOCK8 is a bone marrow transplant — also known as a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT).
YOUNG GIRL SURVIVES CANCER THANKS TO LITTLE SISTER’S LIFESAVING DONATION: 'A PERFECT MATCH'
Ashleigh Walter, a kindergarten teacher, is pleading for people to join the bone marrow/blood stem cell registry to help her daughter find a donor by summer.
«Time is of the essence,» she told Fox News Digital.
Walter’s daughter was diagnosed with DOCK8 when she was 7½ years old, the culmination of a long series of symptoms and illnesses.
«Lani’s health issues started a..

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See a full list of recent health pieces at http://www.foxnews/health.
Feeling angry for as little as eight minutes a day could raise your chances of experiencing a cardiac event, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. A cardiologist shares 7 strategies to cope with anger and reduce the risk. Click here to get the story.
Regularly consuming avocados could be helpful when it comes to avoiding diabetes, according to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of ..