Health & Safety

A new study finds that women who followed a Mediterranean style of eating in their 50s were about 40 percent more likely to reach the later decades without developing chronic diseases and memory or physical problems, compared to women who didn't eat as well.

A hairdresser in Alaska is one of the first people to get health insurance through HealthCare.gov. The 37-year-old woman has a chronic thyroid problem, so she's thrilled to find affordable coverage. Insurers are bracing for sick people like her to be among the first entering the market.

Kraft says it's ditching two artificial dyes in some of its macaroni and cheese products. But why did we start coloring cheeses orange to begin with? Turn's out there's a curious history here.

President Obama travels to Dallas on Wednesday to meet with volunteers who've been working to educate consumers about the government's new health insurance marketplace. That task has been made more difficult by persistent technical problems plaguing the website.

A small business owner and her husband expect to save big on health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Their monthly health insurance bill will drop by more than half once the policy they're buying on the Colorado health exchange takes effect.

Scientists are asking people to contribute samples of their gut microbes to help figure out how those microbes affect human health. But ethicists say sharing that information, as well as the personal health data that make it useful to researchers, poses risks. That's especially true for children.

Brain scans may help people who were ill treated as children realize that they process fear differently than others. They may have a harder time realizing what's truly a threat and what's not. Researchers say that can lead to increased risk of anxiety and depression.

More than 12 million Americans buy health insurance on their own, and many are getting cancellation notices because their individual coverage does not meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act. This is causing anxiety and anger — especially since most of these people can't get onto the healthcare.gov website to figure out their options for 2014.

The rate of heroin use is up, and federal data show that nearly 80 percent of people using it had previously abused prescription painkillers. The drugs have similar effects, and curbing painkiller abuse may help stymie the draw to heroin.

Many health plans being offered on the New York state insurance marketplace do not include some of New York City's biggest hospitals in their networks. And across the state, many doctors say they are not yet participating in exchange plans at all.