Health & Safety

Athena Haniotis leaves the Health Care for the Homeless clinic in downtown Baltimore.

Obamacare Helped The Homeless, Who Now Worry About Coverage Repeal

11:41am February 07, 2017

by Pam Fessler

Among those who benefited from Obamacare are many homeless people who were able to get Medicaid for the first time. Some are worried about what a repeal of the Affordable Care Act could mean.

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Illustration of Dr. J. Marion Sims with Anarcha by Robert Thom. Anarcha was subjected to 30 experimental surgeries.

Health & Safety

Remembering Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecology

12:00am February 07, 2017

J. Marion Sims is remembered as the father of modern gynecology. Forgotten are the mothers of that medical specialty — the enslaved women whose bodies were used for the advancement of his research.

Synthetic fibers from fleece jackets could be ending up in rivers, fields and our diet.

Are We Eating Our Fleece Jackets? Microfibers Are Migrating Into Field And Food

8:13pm February 06, 2017

by Jessica Boddy

Fleece jackets and pullovers have transformed our experience of the outdoors. But the little, tiny synthetic fibers that fleece is made of could also be ending up in our diets.

Pope Benedict XVI apologized in 2008 to victims of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergy at a mass in Sydney at St. Mary's Cathedral.

Australian Catholic Church Alleges 7% Of Priests Sexually Abused Kids Over Decades

4:47pm February 06, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

"These numbers are shocking, they are tragic and they are indefensible," says a church representative. More than 4,400 people reported allegations of abuse at more than 1,000 different institutions.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., seen here with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., at a Jan. 18 hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, says he'd like to see the individual insurance market fixed before repealing Obamacare.

Trump, GOP Lawmakers Back Off From Immediate Obamacare Repeal

2:57pm February 06, 2017

by Alison Kodjak

Both are now saying it's going to take time to come up with a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. Figure at least a year, the president said Sunday.

Some societies have come up with alternative rite-of-passage rituals to replace female genital mutilation. Above: A Massai teenager in Kenya attends such a ceremony.

Study: A New Strategy To Stop Female Genital Mutilation

2:14pm February 06, 2017

by Susan Brink

Efforts to stop the practice have focused on health risks. And yet it remains widespread. A new study may explain why.

Heat and steam from your shower or shave can rob medicine of its potency long before the drug's expiration date.

When Old Medicine Goes Bad

1:06pm February 06, 2017

by Patti Neighmond

With drug prices climbing, you may be tempted to keep unused pills and cough syrups past their expiration date. Don't do it, pharmacists warn. And get all medicine out of the bathroom cabinet now.

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Maureen O'Connell leads an insurance talk in St. Paul, Minn., in 2013 to help attendees understand how the federal health law could affect them.

Minnesota Moves To Shore Up Health Insurance Market

12:26pm February 06, 2017

by Mark Zdechlik

The Minnesota Legislature passed a bailout to make coverage under the Affordable Care Act more affordable, rejected an option for bare-bones insurance and is floating a state-sponsored public option.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a very rare and fatal disease that causes normal proteins in the brain to start misfolding, like misshapen origami — ultimately leading to holes and shrinkage in the brain.

Prion Test For Rare, Fatal Brain Disease Helps Families Cope

11:24am February 06, 2017

by Rae Ellen Bichell

Scientists now have a fairly noninvasive way to test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare form of dementia. A similar test, they say, might offer earlier diagnoses of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

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The Pyramids of El-Geezeh from the South West, from Egypt, Sinai and Jerusalem: A Series of Twenty Photographic Views, c. 1860.

Long Before There Was 'Fake News,' There Were 'Fake Photos'

7:00am February 05, 2017

by Angus Chen

The pictures of 19th-century Egypt and other scenes, in an exhibit at the Clark Art Institute, don't always show the truth.