CNN – Health

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN As abortion rights become more restricted in the United States, a new study shows that it’s become harder for women to access reproductive health care services more broadly — such as routine screenings and birth control — in recent years. Women seeking reproductive health care were more likely to report challenges

By Amanda Musa and John Bonifield, CNN In picturesque Bonner County, Idaho, Leandra Wright, 40, is pregnant with her seventh child. Wright is due in August, but three weeks ago, the hospital where she had planned to deliver, Bonner General Health, announced that it would be suspending its labor and delivery services in May. Now,

By Jen Christensen, CNN The World Health Organization still does not have key data from China about the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak, putting the world in jeopardy, says Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the group’s Covid-19 technical lead and head of its program on emerging diseases. “The lack of data disclosure is simply inexcusable,” Van

By Jen Christensen and Katherine Dillinger, CNN On Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration announced its final decision to withdraw its approval of Makena, a drug approved more than a decade ago to reduce the risk of preterm birth that had been the only medication approved for the condition. The FDA says that the

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN The World Health Organization is monitoring the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, which has been identified in about two dozen countries. The subvariant has not been found in the United States, but it is similar to the XBB.1.5 subvariant that has been dominant in the country since January. XBB.1.16 has one additional mutation

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN The manufacturer of eye drops that have been linked to an outbreak of serious bacterial infections in the US, including at least three deaths, did not follow proper protocol to prevent contamination of its products, according to an inspection report published Friday by the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA

By Brenda Goodman, CNN The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending personnel to Africa to help stop outbreaks of Marburg virus disease and is urging travelers to certain countries to take precautions. The CDC is also taking steps to keep infections from spreading to the United States. Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania are

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Seven US government investigators briefly fell ill in early March while studying the possible health impacts of a toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed to CNN on Thursday. The investigators’ symptoms included sore throats, headaches, coughing and nausea — consistent with

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN Contrary to what internalized stigma may tell you, a migraine isn’t just a headache. In people younger than age 50, chronic migraines are the leading cause of disability, according to a 2018 study. But many people who live with the condition can have a hard time recognizing its seriousness and getting

By Janelle Chavez, CNN US lawmakers are moving to classify xylazine, the animal tranquilizer that’s increasingly infiltrating illicit drugs, as a controlled substance. Bipartisan legislation introduced Tuesday in the House and Senate reflects growing concern over the highly dangerous sedative, commonly known as “tranq” or “tranq dope.” “Drug traffickers are going to great lengths to

By Carma Hassan and Helen Regan, CNN The World Health Organization’s vaccine experts have revised their global Covid-19 vaccination recommendations, and healthy kids and teenagers considered low priority may not need to get a shot. The updated roadmap is designed to prioritize Covid-19 vaccines for those at greatest risk of death and severe disease, according

By Nadia Kounang The biotech company BTNX says it is shipping out new test strips this week that detect the presence of xylazine, an animal sedative that officials say is increasingly being mixed with fentanyl. As with fentanyl test strips, these pieces of paper have a reagent that can help users detect whether a drug

By Kristen Rogers, CNN Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages worldwide, but the pendulum has swung back and forth about its benefits and drawbacks. New findings from a small study published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, suggest both upsides and downsides: Drinking at least a cup of coffee per day

By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN Four sea otters in California have died from a rare strain of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite that scientists said could pose a risk to human health. Researchers called the finding a “complete surprise” because this strain of T. gondii had never been reported in any aquatic animal or in coastal California.

By Jen Christensen, CNN Everyone benefits when there is less air pollution, but it pays off more for older communities with high poverty rates and those where larger populations of Black people live, regardless of income, a new study finds. The study, published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at the connection

By Sana Noor Haq, CNN As the Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins, Habiba says she is “terrified” by the thought of fasting this year. After her disordered eating patterns spiraled into bulimia and binge eating disorder during her mid-teens, she says the ritual of abstaining from food and drink from sunrise to sunset can

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Many of the first responders who helped fight the fire that erupted after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last month were ill-equipped and untrained to fight the massive chemical blaze that some now call “the hell fire.” In testimony Wednesday before the US Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee,

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN The rate of children diagnosed with autism in the United States has been growing steadily since 2000, but two new reports from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight disparities in the types of children identified to have autism spectrum disorder and setbacks in early detection. In 2020, about

By Janelle Chavez, CNN People who are vaccinated or who take Paxlovid during a Covid-19 infection have a lower risk of developing long Covid, new research shows. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines long Covid as new, returning or ongoing health issues more than four weeks after an initial infection. According to

By Kyla Russell, CNN Black and Hispanic adults in the US are less likely than White adults to get statins, medications that prevent or treat common forms of heart disease, according to a new study. For the study, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Cardiology, the researchers analyzed data on more than 3,000 people ages

By Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News Consider three hypothetical women in their mid-70s, all living alone in identical economic circumstances with the same array of ailments: diabetes, arthritis and high blood pressure. Ms. Green stays home most of the time and sometimes goes a week without seeing people. But she’s in frequent touch by phone

By Janelle Chavez, CNN Clinical cases of Candida auris, an emerging fungus considered an urgent threat, nearly doubled in 2021, according to new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There was also a tripling of the number of cases resistant to echinocandins, the first-line treatment for Candida auris infections. The research,

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN Are your birth control pills ruining your sex life? Maybe, experts say — but it’s complicated. When comedian Whitney Cummings joined Rachel Bilson during the March 13 episode of the actor’s “Broad Ideas” podcast, both women shared that they had never had an orgasm from sex until they stopped taking hormonal