PHOENIX — Medication has long been the cornerstone of treatment for people with epilepsy, but it doesn't stop seizures for everyone and may come with significant side effects. New options in use or under development include devices and gene and cell therapies aimed at resetting or rehabilitating the brain circuits that cause seizures, explains...Read more

After any crisis or disaster, families often struggle with what they should say to children and how to help them cope.

The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages parents, teachers, child care providers and others who work closely with children to review information about the event and present it in a way that their child can understand, ...Read more

A team co-led by a Pitt professor was able to restore sight to blind patients with advanced macular degeneration, according to a report published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study was conducted in Europe by a team of researchers including senior author José-Alain Sahel, who moved from his native France to join ...Read more

Mary Catherine Johnson is a retired small-business owner from outside Rochester, New York. She voted for Donald Trump three times.

Lexy Mealing, who used to work in a physician’s office, is from Long Island. She’s a Democrat.

But the women share a common bond. They both survived breast cancer.

And when the American Cancer Society Cancer ...Read more

For people whose autumn agenda includes getting vaccinated against respiratory diseases — COVID, flu, and, for some, RSV — this year may be surprisingly routine.

Following several confusing months this summer when federal officials announced and then retreated from changes to COVID vaccine recommendations, the Centers for Disease Control ...Read more

The idea that Affordable Care Act marketplaces are riddled with fraud has become a major talking point among Republicans, as lawmakers in Congress argue about whether to extend the enhanced tax credits that are helping offset the cost of health care marketplace coverage for low- and middle-income people. Those ACA subsidies expire at the end of ...Read more

There's been a long-standing belief that urinary tract infections are largely caused by poor personal hygiene. New research, however, suggests that many cases may actually be caused by infections of E. coli bacteria from contaminated meat purchased in grocery stores.

UTIs are common — globally there are 400 million cases a year — and can ...Read more

While plowing a wheat field in rural Washington state in the 1990s, William Wallace spotted a gray plane overhead that he believed was releasing chemicals to make him sick. The rancher began to suspect that all white vapor trails from aircraft might be dangerous.

He shared his concern with reporters, acknowledging it sounded a little like “...Read more

WASHINGTON — Nationwide, states are racing to win their share of a new $50 billion rural health fund. But helping rural hospitals, as originally envisioned, is quickly becoming a quaint idea.

Rather, states should submit applications that “rebuild and reshape” how health care is delivered in rural communities, Centers for Medicare & ...Read more

Companies running private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans inaccurately list many mental health professionals as being available to treat the plans’ members, a new federal watchdog report says.

The investigators allege that some insurers effectively set up “ghost networks” of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Thirteen moderate House Republicans are urging party leadership to find a path toward extending enhanced expiring health care tax credits once the government reopens.

“Let us be clear: significant reforms are needed to make these credits more fiscally responsible and ensure they are going to the Americans who need them most,”...Read more

The price tag of health insurance from employers keeps getting bigger across the U.S., and the increases this year are fueling concerns over medical spending across all health insurance markets.

The average annual premium for family health insurance rose about 6% this year to nearly $27,000, according to widely watched survey results released ...Read more

HSAs or Health Savings Accounts provide a powerful triple tax benefit — on contributions, growth, and withdrawals — but they remain a woefully underused retirement tool.

They are so underutilized that Fidelity Investments found that one in two Americans is unfamiliar with the HSA and its triple tax benefits. There’s even a National HSA ...Read more

True to their name, hearts of palm are the creamy white vegetable harvested from the inner core, or heart, of certain palm trees.

The folklore

Native to South and Central America, hearts of palm (as well as the nuts, bark, and leaves of the palm tree) have been used by indigenous people for thousands of years, dating back to Mayan times. ...Read more

You know the feeling: You’re a little irritable. Distracted. Sleepy. Anxious. You can’t quite focus, but it’s not quite mealtime. What can help? A snack — but not just any snack. While snacking sometimes gets a bad rap, certain foods are packed with nutrients that help regulate mood, support brain health, and give you the steady energy ...Read more

Taking part in an online support group has many benefits, such as convenience, camaraderie, and encouragement. “It’s social support you don’t always get from a busy clinician’s office. Someone in the group might say, ‘I went through this, too. Hang in there, it will get better,’” says Kasisomayajula Viswanath, a health ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I’m a people-pleaser by nature and have difficulty saying no or setting limits in my relationships. How can I start to create healthier boundaries in a kind yet firm way?

ANSWER: People have various types of relationships, including partners, spouses, children, friends, co-workers, neighbors and acquaintances. Different ...Read more

As the federal shutdown continues, states have been forced to fall back on their own resources to spot disease outbreaks — just as respiratory illness season begins.

The shutdown has halted dashboards and expert analysis from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which monitors indicators such as wastewater to provide early ...Read more

In Kentucky, patients drive up to two hours to see Dr. Manikya Kuriti, one of the few endocrinologists who serve the rural communities surrounding Louisville.

Kuriti’s husband, a pulmonologist, drives from Louisville to small hospitals an hour south and north, in Indiana, to help small teams treat critically ill patients.

Rural communities ...Read more