May 21 Watch Prescriptions for opioids decline amid epidemic By PBS News Hour Nearly 30,000 deaths a year can be attributed to the abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers - opioids like oxycontin, vicodin, percocet, and methadone. But a new report indicates that opioid prescriptions in the last three years have declined. New… Continue watching
May 21 How Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle cracked the case of the tuberculosis ‘remedy’ By Dr. Howard Markel Today marks the birth of the man who created the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. To celebrate, here's one of the great detective stories in medical history. Continue reading
May 20 Watch 5:47 News Wrap: CDC says 157 pregnant women in the U.S. have Zika virus By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Friday, health officials reported that the number of pregnant women in the U.S. infected with Zika virus has tripled to 157, though fewer than a dozen have had miscarriages or babies born with birth defects so… Continue watching
May 20 Watch 5:12 New food labels to emphasize calories, amount of ‘added sugar’ By PBS News Hour The FDA rolled out new rules for nutrition labels on packaged foods and drinks Friday, designed to highlight the amount of “added sugar” and calories in a given product. The measures, which take effect this summer, are part of a… Continue watching
May 20 Does city life pose a risk to mental health? By Diana Kwon, Scientific American Recent studies shed light on the link between urban living and psychosis. Continue reading
May 20 How many U.S. pregnancies affected by Zika? Almost 300, CDC says By Nsikan Akpan The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has changed the way it reports Zika-affected pregnancies, making a broader number of cases known to the public. Continue reading
May 20 People with HIV are far less likely to get cancer treatment, study shows By Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News 33 percent of patients with HIV and lung cancer failed to receive any treatment for the cancer compared with 14 percent of those who weren’t infected. Continue reading
May 20 Added sugar takes center stage in new food label rules By Darlene Superville, Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press Nutrition advocates have long asked for the added sugars line on the label because it's impossible for consumers to know how much sugar in an item is naturally occurring, like that in fruit and dairy products, and how much is… Continue reading
May 19 Watch 8:39 Our long and winding road to understanding ‘The Gene’ By PBS News Hour The field of genetics has seen exponential growth in recent years, and today may be on the verge of further breakthroughs that will radically change the way we function as a species. But to understand genetics now, one must first… Continue watching
May 19 There is a push to insure immigrants before Obama leaves office By Pauline Bartolone, Kaiser Health News California state legislators and advocates are racing to get federal approval in the waning months of the Obama administration for a proposal to allow immigrants living in the U.S. illegally onto the California insurance exchange… Continue reading