The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its childhood vaccination schedule to say that healthy children “may receive” COVID shots — softened from its previous stance calling for them — after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it would no longer be recommended.

When parents want “their child to be ...Read more

A new, highly transmissible COVID subvariant has been detected in California — heightening the risk of a potential summer wave as recent moves by the Trump administration threaten to make vaccines harder to get, and more expensive, for many Americans, some health experts warn.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ...Read more

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. More than 6 million adults are treated for it each year, says Dr. Michael Colgan, a Mayo Clinic Health System dermatologist in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer. In 2025, an estimated 104,960 cases of invasive melanoma will be diagnosed in the U.S., and an ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For the second year in a row, California is on track to have a record-breaking number of valley fever cases, which public health officials say are driven by longer, drier summers.

There have been more than 4,000 cases of valley fever reported statewide from January to April, an increase of more than 3,000 cases compared with the...Read more

BOSTON — A nurses’ union isn’t satisfied with a Mass General Brigham investigation that found the brain tumor cluster at Newton-Wellesley Hospital is not connected to working conditions.

The hospital has identified six nurses who have worked on the facility’s fifth-floor maternity unit and reported benign (non-cancerous) brain tumors �...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Penn Medicine will no longer provide gender-affirming surgery to patients under age 19, effective this week, citing new federal orders targeting such procedures among transgender minors.

President Donald Trump issued in January an executive order that bars federal funding for gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — An association of LGBTQ+ and allied health professionals sued the Trump administration last week on behalf of researchers whose funding related to LGBTQ+ health issues was terminated.

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality filed the suit against the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Health and ...Read more

It’s a marvel of food technology: ice cream that resists melting.

In a video explaining the science behind it, a seller of food chemicals shows scoops of ice cream holding their shape under hot lights. The super ingredient? Polysorbate 80.

Polysorbate 80 is an emulsifier, a chemical used to control the consistency of thousands of supermarket...Read more

LOS ANGELES — On Oct. 29, 2022, the universe told Dr. Casey Means her fate lay in Los Angeles.

President Donald Trump’s new pick for surgeon general wrote in her popular online newsletter of her epiphany, which came during a dawn hike among the cadmium-colored California oaks and flames of wild mustard flower painting the Topanga Canyon: �...Read more

HAMILTON, Mont. — Scientists are often careful to take off their work badges when they leave the campus of one of the nation’s top research facilities, here in southwestern Montana’s Bitterroot Valley.

It’s a reflection of the long-standing tension caused by Rocky Mountain Laboratories’ improbable location in this conservative, blue-...Read more

The spring of Molly Buccola's senior year at Santa Clara University, she ran the Los Angeles marathon. The next month, she and her boyfriend enjoyed a fun Sunday tooling around on bikes they borrowed from Buccola's sister, Kelley Solberg, who lived nearby.

The next morning, Buccola didn't feel up to her usual 6 a.m. run, and she slept through ...Read more

Eating more minimally processed plant-based proteins – such as beans, nuts and lentils – may lower the risk for high blood pressure, according to new research.

The study, published recently in the Journal of the American Heart Association, also suggested that minimally processed animal proteins could be included in weekly meal plans without...Read more

Mars Inc.’s Skittles candies are no longer being made with titanium dioxide, a chemical that whitens foods, brightens colors and makes candy appear shiny, the company confirmed to Bloomberg News.

The ingredient was removed from all Skittles production at the end of last year, a spokesperson said.

The additive was banned in the European ...Read more

Medicare provides health care for 68.5 million beneficiaries. The One Big Beautiful Bill, passed by the House and in debate in the Senate, contains several provisions that would impact Medicare, including cuts to some programs.

The cost of the pending legislation would trigger automatic cuts to Medicare and some other programs; fortunately, ...Read more

One of the fun things about Asian food is when you’re with friends and everyone gets to sample a little of everything. But you don’t always have the time, or budget, for such a smorgasbord. Fortunately, Asian food at the supermarket has come a long way since the canned chicken chow mein of the 1980s. Between the frozen and international ...Read more

​​It’s no secret that exercise has a long list of health benefits, and doctors and fitness experts recommend that adults engage in some form of physical, aerobic activity every week. However, it can be unclear how to pair your food and diet with your exercise routine. Should we eat before a workout? And if so, what should we be eating? ...Read more

Metastatic prostate cancer can progress in different ways. In some men the disease advances rapidly, while other men have slower-growing cancer and a better prognosis. Researchers are developing various tools for predicting how fast prostate cancer might progress. Among the most promising are assays that count circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: We’re thinking about getting a dog. We know they’re great companions, but how are they good for your health?

ANSWER: People with dogs know the benefits of pet ownership. The unconditional love, trust and loyalty shown by your canine companions, coupled with their unbridled enthusiasm on your return home each day, is hard ...Read more

People who spend their days sedentary after a heart-related emergency – such as a heart attack or chest pain – may face a greater risk of another cardiac event or even death within a year than those who move even a little, according to new research.

The study found replacing just 30 minutes of sedentary time with 30 minutes of light-...Read more