Your Health

California Moves To Stop Misuse Of Psychiatric Meds In Foster Care

12:02pm September 02, 2015

by Elaine Korry

There's ample evidence that children in foster care often get powerful psychiatric medications when other treatments would be safer and more effective. But those treatments can be hard to get.

Sleep More, Sneeze Less: Increased Slumber Helps Prevent Colds

8:54am September 02, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

Just a couple extra hours can make a real difference, a study shows. Adults who slept only five or six hours were four times more likely to get sick when exposed to a common cold virus.

Queue Listen Now

Eat fish or take a fish oil supplement? Research suggests eating fish regularly over a lifetime is good for the brain. But when it comes to staving off cognitive decline in seniors, fish oil supplements just don't cut it, a study finds.

If Fish Is Brain Food, Can Fish Oil Pills Boost Brains, Too?

7:30pm August 31, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

Research suggests eating fish regularly over a lifetime is good for the brain. But when it comes to staving off cognitive decline in seniors, fish oil supplements just don't cut it, a study finds.

Queue Listen Now

Eggs may be more vulnerable to freezing than embryos, but that's just one factor that affects the odds of having a baby with frozen eggs.

Freezing Eggs May Reduce A Woman's Odds Of Success With IVF

5:05pm August 31, 2015

by Robin Marantz Henig

Women who used frozen donor eggs instead of fresh for IVF had lower odds of having a baby, a study finds. But doctors say frozen eggs remain a good option for many women.

American Spirit is one of three brands that have gained unwanted attention from the FDA for marketing cigarettes as

FDA Warns Tobacco Companies Advertising 'Natural' Cigarettes

8:26am August 31, 2015

by Rob Stein

Unless a cigarette is safer than others, it can't be labeled "natural" or "additive-free," the Food and Drug Administration told three manufacturers.

Health & Safety

Poll Finds Most Women Believe Mammograms Should Be Done Annually

8:26am August 31, 2015

by Scott Hensley

While the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says most women should get screening mammograms every two years, an NPR-Truven Health Analytics poll finds women think they should go every year.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has been used for decades as a painkiller in the operating room.

How The Prescription Painkiller Fentanyl Became A Street Drug

11:23am August 28, 2015

by Nadia Whitehead

The synthetic opioid fentanyl is used for surgery and to treat severe pain. Abuse has always been a problem. Now that it's being used to cut heroin, the risk of overdose or death has soared.

Text messages helped remind diabetes patients to check their blood sugar and report in.

Texting Helps Low-Income Diabetes Patients Manage Insulin Dosing

10:10am August 27, 2015

by Rina Shaikh-Lesko

Many low-income patients can't make multiple visits to the doctor, which is a problem if you're a diabetic trying to get insulin dosing just right. A text-based system made remote reports possible.

Patients of the Minnesota-based St. Cloud Medical Group can follow a public page on Facebook.

Health & Safety

Why Your Doctor Won't Friend You On Facebook

2:45pm August 26, 2015

by Shefali Luthra

Public professional Facebook pages focused on medicine are catching on. But doctors aren't ready to share vacation photos and other more intimate details with their patients.

A screenshot of fire conditions on AirNow.gov, with orange icons showing fires and gray representing smoke.

Wildfire Smoke Becomes The Health Threat That Won't Go Away

2:44pm August 26, 2015

by Nancy Shute

Cities and towns across the West are warning residents that high levels of smoke from forest fires threaten their health, with no sign of abating. That means indoor recess and no vacuuming.