A new paper is calling for an end to the term ‘healthy obesity’ – a phrase used to denote individuals who are apparently healthy despite being obese. The term originated in the 1980s and was used to describe overweight people who did not suffer from metabolic complications like hypertension or diabetes.
Can you go an entire weekend without drinking any alcohol? It’s a 72-hour-long experiment that the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) would like you to try during the month of April, which is designated as Alcohol Awareness Month.
The EPA, cabinet members and a host of federal agencies – all part of the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children -- gathered last week to hear the EPA’s strategy for reducing childhood lead exposure and associated health risks.
A popular herbal remedy for – among other things – opioid abuse has opioid properties that can lead to abuse, addiction and even death, says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A scientific analysis of the botanical substance kratom identified opioid properties in its compounds. In other words, kratom compounds may affect the body just like opioids.
Although tobacco control measures have reduced overall smoking rates in the United States (from 42% in 1965 to 15% in 2015), a new report says several vulnerable subpopulations continue to smoke at high rates. The report by American Cancer Society (ACS) investigators calls high rates of smoking among specific subpopulations one of the most pressing challenges facing the tobacco control community.
The Trump administration’s top health official resigned today after revelations surfaced that she bought stock in a tobacco company one month into her tenure as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – an agency whose responsibilities include reducing tobacco use among Americans.
A high level of antibiotic resistance reveals to a number of serious bacterial infections has been found in both high- and low-income countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The organization’s new Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System (GLASS) reveals widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance among 500 000 people with suspected bacterial infections across 22 countries.
It’s naturally occurring and it’s just about everywhere, so we are all exposed to it. People who are regularly exposed to high radon levels, though, are at increased risk of lung cancer – especially if they smoke. Because radon is odorless and colorless, the only way to determine if your home is safe is to conduct testing.
Neighborhood-level socioeconomic factors in low-income areas may significantly predict heart failure risk beyond individual health factors and socioeconomic status, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.
When her black cat rapidly dropped from a healthy 14 pounds to a skeletal five pounds, it was natural for Arlene Blum to investigate whether a toxic chemical in her home might be to blame. The veterinarian’s diagnosis raised that possibility, and Blum had expertise in the harm that chemicals can cause.
