Health

Oksana Smith / EyeEm/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — People with heroin dependency don’t use less of that drug if they start also using cannabis, according to a new study. The findings cast some doubt on the idea that cannabis might help people reduce their dependence on opioids, experts say. “Cannabis is becoming increasingly recognized as […]

National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System (NEW YORK) — After two consecutive years of declines, life expectancy in the United States increased between 2021 and 2022, new provisional federal data shows. Life expectancy, defined as the average number of years a person is expected to live from the time they are born, […]

xijian/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — The number of suicides in the United States has hit a record high, new provisional federal data shows. In 2022, an estimated 49,449 people died by suicide, which is 3% higher than the 48,183 people who died in 2021, according to a report published early Wednesday by the Centers for […]

Cavan Images/Getty Images (BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) — She delivered a healthy child, but left the maternity ward traumatized and ashamed. “The most happy moment in my life is at the same time the most terrible moment in my life because of what they did to me,” said a California mother who alleges hospital staff physically restrained […]

ATU Images/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — A surge of respiratory illnesses related to flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other infections has been sweeping across some parts of China and mainly infecting children, as the country experiences its first full winter since easing COVID-19 restrictions. Amid media reports of “undiagnosed pneumonia” cases overwhelming hospitals over […]

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — A record number of people are expected to travel during the upcoming holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving — just as respiratory illnesses are rising around most of the United States. Currently, kids under 5 years old are being hospitalized with respiratory illnesses at a higher rate than […]

Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images (NEW YORK) — Abortion rates increased by 5% in the United States in 2021, the final year the procedure remained a constitutional right under Roe v. Wade, according to new federal data. In 2021, there were 625,978 abortions reported, according to an annual report published Wednesday by […]

GMVozd/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — When Tara Rothenhoefer sits down at the Thanksgiving table this year, she said she envisions being able to enjoy herself rather than feel stressed about the food on the table. Rothenhoefer said she attributes that change to Mounjaro, a medication that she said has helped her lose more than 200 […]

Thana Prasongsin/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — Millions of people are getting ready to gather with their family and friends for Thanksgiving, celebrating the holiday in a way that most closely resembles pre-pandemic ways for the first time in more than three years. However, respiratory illness activity — defined as people going to the doctor with […]

Isabel Pavia/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — More than two dozen premature, low-birthweight babies have been evacuated from Gaza to Egypt to receive specialized care amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. But that is only the beginning of their precarious journey back to health as they escape the conflict zone. A joint mission between the United Nations […]