Health & Safety

Health & Safety

The winter holidays are once again colliding with a surge in illnesses

5:08am December 23, 2022

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID Response coordinator, about COVID, flu, RSV and what Americans need to know to stay healthy during the holiday season.

When women get a blood test during pregnancy that looks at free-floating DNA, they expect it to tell about the health of the fetus. But the test sometimes finds signs of cancer in the mother.

A new kind of blood test can screen for many cancers — as some pregnant people learn

5:08am December 23, 2022

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Testing pregnant people's blood to look at free-floating DNA can tell doctors about the health of the fetus. But these tests sometime turn up DNA that might be shed by cancerous cells.

One of the warehouses where stockpiled medicine, and medical supplies, are kept.

Why does the U.S. government lock medicine away in secret warehouses?

5:01am December 23, 2022

by Giulia Heyward

Launched in 1999, the Strategic National Stockpile squirrels away huge quantities of medicine and medical supplies in case a mass outbreak or other health crisis occurs.

A bottle of disinfectant sits by gym equipment in a park in the eastern suburbs of Sydney Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Personal trainers turned a waterfront park at Sydney's Rushcutters Bay into an outdoor gym to get around pandemic lockdown restrictions.

Health & Safety

Greater exercise activity is tied to less severe COVID-19 outcomes, a study shows

4:38am December 23, 2022

by Ayana Archie

A team of researchers' study suggests that COVID-19 health leaders incorporate exercise into their mitigation strategies.

Health & Safety

Americans are under a lot of stress, but there are ways to manage it

4:05pm December 22, 2022

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Americans are understandably stressed and anxious about a range of things, such as inflation, politics and war. But psychologists say research offers a host of ways to manage anxiety.

Afghan women protest a new Taliban ban to keep women from studying in university. This demonstration took place on Dec. 22 in Kabul. Now there is added concern about the future of education for girls of all ages, with reports that the Taliban has sent home women who teach in primary schools.

Taliban expels female teachers from some schools. So who will teach the girls?

4:05pm December 22, 2022

by Diaa Hadid

Early this week, the leaders of Afghanistan declared that women could not attend university. Now there are fears the any education for girls is in jeopardy as some female teachers are sent home.

Can dogs smell time? Just ask Donut the dog

11:02am December 22, 2022

by Michaeleen Doucleff

After decades of wondering, an NPR reporter finally figures out how her husband's family dog knew when the school bus would arrive everyday. She did some digging — and now it all makes scents.

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Artist Bryce Cobbs stands next to the drawing he created of Henrietta Lacks, which was unveiled in Roanoke, Va., on Monday. The drawing will be used in the design process of a larger-than-life bronze statue.

Henrietta Lacks' hometown will build statue of her to replace Robert E. Lee monument

7:23am December 22, 2022

by Giulia Heyward

A statue of the woman, whose cells were taken without her consent and became integral in several major medical breakthroughs, will be built in Roanoke, Va.

In 2021, the three leading causes of death were heart disease, cancer and COVID-19.

Health & Safety

American life expectancy is now at its lowest in nearly two decades

6:00am December 22, 2022

by Yuki Noguchi

A new report shows the pandemic and the overdose crisis helped push down the average life expectancy in the U.S. for a second year in a row.

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Sarasota Memorial Hospital's campus in Sarasota, Fla. Three newly-elected members of the public hospital's board are so-called "health freedom" activists who are opposed to COVID vaccines and treatment protocols for the illness.

In Florida, 'health freedom' activists exert influence over a major hospital

5:25pm December 21, 2022

by Zach Hirsch

Earlier this year, three activists who are opposed to COVID vaccines and standard treatment protocols for the illness were elected to the board of Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

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