CNN – Health

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Thursday marks the second Thanksgiving during the coronavirus pandemic. Many grandparents are excitedly planning to see their grandchildren. Friends are dressing their dining tables for turkey and loved ones. Some people have flights booked or road trips scheduled. But in the background, Covid-19 case numbers are inching upward across the United

By Jaclyn Greenberg, CNN My family of five, which includes my three children — ages 11, 9 and 7 — were at a local state park. They wanted to check out the gift shop at the end of our visit. “Mom, this isn’t the accessible entrance,” my 7-year-old son said. “You need to ask someone

By Hadas Gold, CNN When it comes to Covid-19, it seems where Israel leads, the rest of the world follows. For almost a year, the country has offered other nations a glimpse into the pandemic’s future. Israel has been at the forefront of vaccination rollouts for adults and teenagers, pioneered a vaccine passport and, in

By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent In the fall of 2015, Dr. Mark Denison was preparing for a long drive home from Alabama after making a presentation at a scientific meeting when a colleague asked him to stick around for lunch and check out some data on a potential new drug. Denison said yes,

By Dana Santas, CNN One-time efforts to celebrate gratitude, like Thanksgiving, undeniably make us feel good. Practicing gratitude can increase feelings of happiness and life satisfaction while decreasing depressive symptoms, many studies have shown. To keep experiencing gratitude’s mood-boosting benefits, you should make practicing thankfulness a consistent part of your daily life. That said, you

By Megan Marples, CNN Talking about mental health is good for you, according to pop star, actor and producer Selena Gomez, and she’s determined to be the catalyst for positive change. The “Ice Cream” singer announced the launch of her latest venture, Wondermind, a mental health platform focused on connecting people with educational resources and

By Katia Hetter, CNN As Americans head into the Thanksgiving holiday, I know everyone talks about being grateful, and that can feel rote or even cruel during a pandemic when so many and much have been lost. But I am truly grateful. I am grateful for the scientists who worked so hard for decades, hoping

By Jacqueline Howard and Dakin Andone, CNN If you and your family members are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, it’s OK for you to ditch the masks this holiday season when you’re around each other, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Sunday. “That’s what I’m going to do with my family,” Fauci, the director of the National

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN The holidays are upon us. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, with Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa following in quick succession. It’s a stressful time of year when times are normal — and the second year of the pandemic is anything but normal, especially when combined with inflation, gas prices, food and

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN You know that special bond your mother seems to have with your kids? The one she doesn’t seem to have with anyone else — even you? You’re not just imagining it, according to a new study. Unlike other primates, humans rely on one another to help raise their children, and often

By Maggie Fox, CNN Flu season may be getting under way, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. While influenza activity is very low in the United States, it’s getting started and there’s enough to indicate that there will be at least some kind of flu season this year, unlike last year, when

By Maggie Fox, CNN Vials found at a vaccine research facility in Pennsylvania that were marked “smallpox” contained virus used to make the vaccine and not the virus that causes the disease, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. The CDC confirmed Tuesday that a few vials marked smallpox had been found

By Maggie Fox, CNN A fresh look at the possible origins of the Covid-19 pandemic points straight back to the Huanan seafood market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a scientist who has been studying the pandemic from the beginning asserted Thursday. The researcher, Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, has put together a

By Katia Hetter, CNN Winter is almost here. After weeks of steady decline, Covid-19 cases appear to be on the rise again. Is a surge inevitable? How should families think about the winter ahead? What can they do to prepare and get through this period safely? I discussed all of these questions with our expert,

By Melanie Radzicki McManus, CNN Walking is the most popular aerobic physical activity in the United States, with 111 million people hitting the pavement in 2018 as part of their fitness goals. In addition, walking’s sister activity, hiking, enticed 57.8 million Americans to get out on the trails in 2020, a figure that has increased

By Katie Hunt, CNN The 5:2 diet, a type of intermittent fasting, is no more effective than traditional approaches to weight loss, according to what researchers said was the first study of the regimen in a “real-life setting.” However, the researchers found that the approach, which involves two days of heavily restricting calories (500 calories

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN America’s drug epidemic is the deadliest it has ever been, new federal data suggests. More than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States during the 12-month period ending April 2021, according to provisional data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a new

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN Hanging on to social media connections that don’t make you feel good? Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel said today is the day to unfriend them. The initiative started in 2010 on Kimmel’s show, where he advised his audience, “post a status update that says, ‘I’m moving this weekend and I need

By Maggie Fox, CNN Several vials labeled “smallpox” have been found at a vaccine research facility in Pennsylvania, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. “There is no indication that anyone has been exposed to the small number of frozen vials,” the CDC said in a statement emailed to CNN. “The frozen

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Some states are not waiting. At least five so far — Arkansas, California, Colorado, New Mexico and West Virginia — have expanded eligibility for Covid-19 booster shots to everyone 18 and older, six months after their second dose, even though the US Food and Drug Administration hasn’t done so yet and

By Jacqueline Howard, Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNN Key decisions on whether all adults will be eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine booster could come soon. The US Food and Drug Administration is currently considering Pfizer and BioNTech’s request to amend the emergency use authorization for their Covid-19 vaccine so that all adults would be

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at the origins, treatments and global response to HIV and AIDS. Facts HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. HIV/AIDS is spread through sexual contact with an infected person, sharing needles with an infected person, through transfusions of infected blood or through an infected

By Jen Christensen, CNN Katelyn Van Dyke was on winter break in January, visiting her boyfriend’s family, when she got sick with Covid-19. For the 20-year-old computer science major at the University of Missouri, Covid-19 has been anything but a brief or easy illness. Some 10 months later, she says she’s still out of breath

By Katie Hunt, CNN More and more women are using weed in pregnancy but they may want to think twice. Researchers have found a link between marijuana use by expectant mothers and autism and childhood psychosis. Now, a small study has shown how cannabis use can affect the placenta and may be linked to higher

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Researchers say they have found a second patient whose body seemingly had rid itself of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS — supporting hope that it may be possible someday to find a way to cure more people of the virus. The patient has received no regular treatment for

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Want to fight off infectious diseases this winter? Consider boosting your immune system with nutritious food. “What we eat is very important in terms of how our immune system responds to pathogens and how well it can defend itself against a pathogen,” said Dr. Simin Meydani, senior scientist and leader of

By Maggie Fox, CNN The forecast for the coming winter isn’t looking hopeful: Covid likely is not going away for the holidays. Cases have at best plateaued for the country as a whole and diagnoses have increased in about half the states. Deaths are up in 17 states. With people headed indoors for the winter

By Theresa Waldrop, CNN The Oregon Lox Company is recalling several of its smoked salmon lox products because of potential listeria contamination, the company said. The lot number is 22821, and the products are Aqua Nova Sliced Nova Lox, 3-ounce package; Aqua Nova Sliced Nova Lox, 1-pound pack; Aqua Nova Premium Oregon Nova Lox, sliced;

By John Blake, CNN On a rainy spring morning in Muncie, Indiana, a White, middle-aged, conservative woman met a transgender woman for a date. It did not start well. The transgender woman was waiting at a table when the other woman showed up. She stood up and extended her hand. The other woman refused to

By Casey Barber, CNN Thinking about ditching the turkey this Thanksgiving? You’re not the only one. Whether you’re hosting a smaller group, concerned about the rising cost of groceries, or just looking for an excuse not to roast a bird this year, there are a number or reasons to skip putting a big turkey on

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN The year 2021 marks 100 years since the discovery of insulin, a game-changing drug in the fight against diabetes. Despite a century of advancements in treatment, education and prevention, World Diabetes Day 2021 occurs in the wake of grim statistics. One in 10 adults around the world — some 537 million

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN As it is, holiday gatherings with loved ones can be a careful dance of dodging landmines on the way to wonderful memories — and this year, we are adding potentially explosive conversations around vaccination status. About 58.5% of the United States is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the US Centers

By Katia Hetter, CNN It’s time to be kind. It’s World Kindness Day today, Saturday, November 13. After more than a year of pandemic living, maybe it seems like there is no time to be kind. The world, however, needs your kindness more than ever. People are still dying from Covid-19 and others are hungry

By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent The US Food and Drug Administration is unlikely to ask its outside vaccine advisers to weigh in on whether the agency should authorize Pfizer Covid-19 boosters for all adults, a source familiar with the situation told CNN. Pfizer applied to the FDA for emergency use authorization on November

By Maggie Fox, CNN He has conquered Covid for the time being, and now the CEO of BioNTech says he wants to turn his attention back to his first interest: cancer. Dr. Ugur Sahin is trying out the same mRNA technology that underlies the Covid-19 vaccine that BioNTech brought to much of the world —