Health & Safety

Troy Hodge was only 41 years old when a vessel in his brain burst. "You don't think of things you can't do until you can't do them," he says.

Strokes On The Rise Among Younger Adults

7:33pm February 22, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

Fewer people are having strokes now than decades ago. But that improvement seems to be mostly among the elderly. Young people are actually having more strokes, partly because of the rise in obesity.

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Mylene Helena Ferraira of Recife, Brazil, carries her 5-month-old son, David Henrique Ferreira, who was born with microcephaly. She's returning home after a medical visit.

CDC Arrives In Brazil To Investigate Zika Outbreak

6:33pm February 22, 2016

by Rob Stein

U.S. disease detectives are launching a research project that health authorities hope will produce the most definitive evidence yet about whether the virus is really causing birth defects.

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Treatment for breast cancer can have side effects including painful sex, to the point that women forgo cancer medications.

Topical Estrogen May Help With Side Effects After Breast Cancer

6:20pm February 22, 2016

by Dana Farrington

Estrogen supplements have been linked to cancer risk, but vaginal estrogen is probably safe for women who have had breast cancer, a national gynecologists's group says. It can help with side effects.

Sonia Shah is also the author of The Fever and The Body Hunters.

'Pandemic' Asks: Is A Disease That Will Kill Tens Of Millions Coming?

5:40pm February 22, 2016

Author Sonia Shah says that urbanization and air travel put the global population at an increased risk for disease. "Zika is a great example of how new pathogens are emerging today," she says.

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CDC Arrives In Brazil To Investigate Spread Of Zika Virus

4:24pm February 22, 2016

by Rob Stein

Disease detectives from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention begin their crucial effort on the ground in Brazil to firmly establish whether the Zika virus is really causing terrible birth defects.

A fake anti-smoking ad in Moscow reads: "Smoking kills more people than Obama, although he kills a lot of people. Don't smoke! Don't be like Obama!"

Russian Pranksters Feature Obama In Fake Anti-Smoking Ad

3:28pm February 22, 2016

by Corey Flintoff

The poster at a Moscow bus stop read: "Smoking kills more people than Obama, although Obama kills a lot of people. Don't smoke! Don't be like Obama!" No one has claimed responsibility for it.

Feet and ankles are a feast for mosquitoes.

Why Zika-Spreading Mosquitoes Love Feet And Ankles

2:42pm February 22, 2016

by Maanvi Singh

How do these buggers manage to find and feast on even the smallest cracks of exposed skin? Well to start, they're really good at sniffing out our B.O.

More and more surgeries are being performed in outpatient centers, and mastectomy is among them.

More Women Are Having Mastectomies And Going Home The Same Day

11:32am February 22, 2016

by Julie Appleby

There's very little data on how having a mastectomy as same-day outpatient surgery affects a woman's health. Laws in some states have restricted the use of so-called "drive by" mastectomies.

Health & Safety

Prescription Drugs Fuel Overdose Increase In North Carolina

9:50am February 22, 2016

by Neal Charnoff

A new study shows fatal drug overdoses in North Carolina jumped over a 12-year period. Officials believe prescription opioid use has played a large role in that rise.

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Johann Castro Hernandez, 18, is recovering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome after he appeared to have fallen sick with Zika virus around New Year's. His mom, Janina Hernandez, is at right.

Colombian Clinic Probes A Mystery: Is Zika Triggering A Rare Disorder?

12:44am February 22, 2016

by Nurith Aizenman

Since the fall, Colombia has seen about 100 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Most of the patients reported they'd had Zika virus. Researchers are trying to figure out what's going on.

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