Health & Safety

Big muscles help young men find mates. But as men get older, losing muscle mass and testosterone might actually aid in reproduction.

Flabby And Fertile: How Men Age Could Be Huge For Humans

2:13pm September 21, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

When men put on a gut and grow love handles it's not such a bad thing, according to a Yale anthropologist. That pudge might help them reproduce and pass on longevity genes to their offspring.

Aminu Gamawa at the Saving Lives At Birth conference in Washington, D.C., in July.

Once Opposed To Maternal Health, Islamic Scholars Become Champions

1:58pm September 21, 2016

by Natalie Jacewicz

One Nigerian man saw a big problem in his community: too many women were dying in childbirth. So he turned to the region's Islamic leaders for help.

Sammy Mack got tested for the Zika virus after realizing she had been in the suspected transmission zone in Miami while pregnant.

Reporter's Notebook: Pregnant And Caught In Zika Test Limbo

6:21pm September 20, 2016

by Sammy Mack

Pregnant women in South Florida can get free Zika tests through the state's health department. But delays in getting back the results are heightening worries and may affect medical options.

Gloria, 13, of Oaxaca, Mexico, holds a duck at home. Sexually abused by her father, she became a mother at the age of 12.

Health & Safety

PHOTOS: A Peephole Into The Lives Of Coal Miners, Teen Moms, City Folk

4:12pm September 20, 2016

by Malaka Gharib

A selection of winning photos from Getty Images second annual Instagram Grant highlights stories from Latin America, Ethiopia and India.

They're so cute. So colorful. But are they really making you fitter?

Weight Loss On Your Wrist? Fitness Trackers May Not Help

3:26pm September 20, 2016

by Erin Ross

Researchers were surprised that the young adults given fitness trackers lost less weight than their peers who didn't have the gizmos. Maybe they're not as motivating as we hope.

Under Internal Revenue Service rules, high-deductible insurance plans that can link to health savings accounts can only cover preventive services, such as vaccinations and mammograms, until patients pay down their deductible.

Tax Rule Limits Care For Chronic Ills Under High-Deductible Health Plans

2:06pm September 20, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

The IRS limits health plans linked to health savings accounts from covering most care until the deductible is paid off. Proposed legislation would expand what's allowed before that happens.

Health care providers have to have permission from the federal government to provide medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction.

Doctors Who Treat Opioid Addiction Often See Very Few Patients

11:59am September 20, 2016

by Nancy Shute

It can be very hard to find medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, but most doctors who provide it do so for just a small number of patients, a study finds.

Gansu province, where the family lived, is one of China's poorest. Above, rural residents do their washing.

Health & Safety

Mother Kills Her Children And Herself; Chinese Bloggers Ask Why

6:49pm September 19, 2016

by Emily Feng

They're wondering about the impact of the family's poverty on the tragic turn of events — and whether the government does enough to help the impoverished.

Miami Neighborhood Declared Zika Free As CDC Lifts Warning

6:23pm September 19, 2016

by Greg Allen

In Miami, officials touted the good news that the first area in the continental U.S. with local transmission of Zika, the Wynwood neighborhood, has had no cases for 45 days. The news comes as a second area with local Zika transmission on Miami Beach was expanded after new cases were found.

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A study of 17 people who had been blind since birth found that areas of the brain usually devoted to visual information become active when a blind person is solving math problems.

When Blind People Do Algebra, The Brain's Visual Areas Light Up

6:23pm September 19, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

A study of 17 people who have been blind since birth found that areas of the brain usually devoted to visual information become active when a blind person is solving math problems.

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