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Spokane County resident tests positive for measles

February 21, 2024, 9:59am Business

A Spokane County resident has tested positive for measles, spurring health officials to warn residents of possible sites of exposure to the highly contagious virus. Read story

Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are ‘children’ under state law

February 20, 2024, 10:36am Health

The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos created during fertility treatments can be considered children under state law. Read story

Study finds form of zinc plays role in hearing loss

February 20, 2024, 6:02am Health

It could be a band at a wedding, an explosion on a battlefield or the constant drone of machinery: In the United States, about 17 percent of adults have hearing loss caused by exposure to loud noises. Read story

Abbott Laboratories’ BinaxNOW is an at-home rapid COVID test.

Johns Hopkins study: Trust your home COVID result

February 20, 2024, 6:01am Health

People can test themselves about as accurately at home with rapid antigen coronavirus tests as health care professional using the same tests, according to a Johns Hopkins Medicine-led study published this week. Read story

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah and introduced as evidence at a trial shows fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone pills collected during an investigation. Accidental overdoses contribute to 90 percent of all U.S. opioid-related deaths. Rising use of illicitly manufactured and highly potent synthetic opioids including fentanyl has likely contributed to the unintentional death rate, which surged nine-fold between 2000 and 2017, the study found. (U.S.

Gov. Inslee talks fentanyl, clean energy in Walla Walla

February 19, 2024, 10:45am Health

In Walla Walla, fentanyl overdoses have become run-of-the-mill calls for first responders, and they happen almost every day. Read story

This image provided by the Alaska Department of Health shows several Alaskapox lesions. “A” is a lesion about 10 days after symptom onset, and “B” is the same lesion two days later. “C” is a lesion about 5 days after symptom onset, about 1.2 cm across. “D” is a lesion about 5 days after symptom onset, about 1 cm across, and “E” is same lesion about 4 weeks after symptom onset. “F” is a lesion around the reported symptom onset date. Alaskapox belongs to a family of viruses that can infect animals and humans, known as orthopoxviruses, which tend to cause lesions, or pox, on the skin.

What is Alaskapox? The disease has claimed its first fatality

February 19, 2024, 9:50am Health

Public health officials in Alaska have disclosed the first known human death from Alaskapox, a virus typically found in small mammals. Read story

FILE- Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife former First Lady Rosalynn Carter sit together during a reception to celebrate their 75th anniversary Saturday, July 10, 2021, in Plains, Ga. In the year since Jimmy Carter first entered home hospice care, the 39th president has celebrated his 99th birthday, enjoyed tributes to his legacy and outlived his wife of 77 years. Rosalynn Carter, who died in November 2023 after suffering from dementia, spent just a few days under hospice.

A year after Jimmy Carter entered hospice care, advocates hope his endurance drives awareness

February 18, 2024, 3:33pm Health

Since Jimmy Carter entered hospice care at his home in south Georgia one year ago, the former U.S. president has celebrated his 99th birthday, enjoyed tributes to his legacy and lost his wife of 77 years. Read story

Healthy Men: No, men aren’t getting what they deserve

February 18, 2024, 6:01am Health

Dear Healthy Men: I’ve read some of your columns and you spend a huge amount of time griping about how when it comes to health, men and boys are worse off than women and girls. Not true. Everyone knows that women’s health has been ignored for decades. And it’s clear… Read story

FDA’s plan to ban hair relaxer chemical called too little, too late

February 18, 2024, 6:00am Health

In April, a dozen years after a federal agency classified formaldehyde a human carcinogen, the Food and Drug Administration is tentatively scheduled to unveil a proposal to consider banning the chemical in hair-straightening products. Read story

Cities know that the way police respond to mental crisis calls must change. But how?

February 17, 2024, 6:52am Health

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741. Read story