Humans

St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore is one of the 131 hospitals run by Ascension Health. It's a not-for-profit, Catholic health care system that treats many low-income patients.

Expanding Medicaid Trims Hospitals' Costs Of Caring For Uninsured

4:42pm April 30, 2015

by Anders Kelto

One aim of Obamacare was to ease the financial strain on nonprofit hospitals that provide medical care to people who lack insurance and can't pay their bills. That plan is working, hospitals say.

No Rest For Your Sleeping Brain

4:28pm April 30, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

No wonder the brain needs so much energy. The same coordinated activity that allows you to retrieve a specific memory, like what you had for breakfast, continues at rest and even during sleep.

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Mmm. Smells just like your identical twin.

Why Do Mosquitoes Like To Bite You Best? It's In Your Genes

11:28am April 29, 2015

by Rob Stein

Researchers set hungry mosquitoes loose on identical and fraternal twins. They found that inherited genes do play a role in making you a mosquito magnet.

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For all the good aspirin can do in preventing second heart attacks and strokes, taking it daily can boost some risks, too — of ulcers, for example, and of bleeding in the brain or gut.

Maybe You Should Rethink That Daily Aspirin

1:48pm April 27, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

A small dose of aspirin taken regularly can help prevent a second heart attack or stroke. But too many healthy people are taking the drug for prevention, and for them, the risks may outweigh benefits.

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CDC Warns More HIV, Hepatitis C Outbreaks Likely Among Drug Users

12:29am April 27, 2015

by Anders Kelto

The U.S. epidemic of injected-opioid use could lead to more severe outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C, like those now occurring in Indiana, the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention says.

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Screening Tests For Breast Cancer Genes Just Got Cheaper

12:21am April 27, 2015

by Rob Stein

A company has priced its test for mutations linked to breast and ovarian cancer at $249 — far less than the thousands of dollars another firm charges. But is there a downside for the worried well?

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Tylenol Might Dull Emotional Pain, Too

12:17am April 27, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

People who took acetaminophen responded less strongly to happy or sad photos in a small study. It's one of several studies suggesting that there's an overlap with pain and other feelings.

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World News

Eeny Meeny Miny Mo, A Chant That Spans The Globe

10:47am April 26, 2015

Every kid seems to know a version of Eeny Meeny Miny Mo. Harvard PhD student Adrienne Raphel looked into its origins, and tells NPR's Rachel Martin it's found on playgrounds around the world.

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Why Many Doctors Don't Follow 'Best Practices'

6:21pm April 24, 2015

by Anders Kelto

Doctors, it turns out, often don't follow evidence-based guidelines. One result? Unnecessary tests. Scientists who study this contrariness think they know why.

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An artist's rendering of DNA double helix molecules and chromosomes.

Critics Lash Out At Chinese Scientists Who Edited DNA In Human Embryos

12:34pm April 24, 2015

by Rob Stein

By editing the genes in embryos in the lab, Chinese scientists showed that it's possible to change hereditary traits that cause a blood disorder. But the work also created unintended mutations.

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