Health

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Called “forever chemicals” because they fail to break down fully in the environment, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, have been used since the 1950s to make consumer products nonstick, oil- and water-repellent, and resistant to temperature change. This family of synthetic chemicals has been a topic of public

By John Bonifield, CNN The vast majority of cases in the growing monkeypox outbreak are among men who have sex with men, according to the World Health Organization. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus advised members of this community Wednesday to limit their exposure to the virus by reducing their number of sex partners and reconsidering

By Katia Hetter, CNN Monkeypox is spreading in the United States and around the world. There are at least 26,000 infections documented in over 80 countries. The World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting more than 6,600 infections, just

By Brenda Goodman, CNN The man came to an urgent care clinic in New York with red bumps on his skin in an area where he had a fair amount of hair. The doctor at the clinic diagnosed the bumps as folliculitis, an infection of the hair follicles. The clinician prescribed antibiotics and sent the

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Millions of school-age children in the United States are still unvaccinated against Covid-19 as many prepare for a return to school. A new CNN analysis finds that less than half of children and teens are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and only a tenth have been boosted. Many of the nation’s largest

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN A longer life may mean scheduling in even more than the recommended amount of weekly exercise, according to a new study. Adults should get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity a week, according to the World Health Organization. But people

By Rachel Fadem, CNN Accurate and comprehensive sex education can be difficult to find in the United States, and people may not always be aware that they aren’t receiving sufficient information. As of July, only 29 US states and the District of Columbia mandate sex ed, and of those states, only 11 require that the

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN Two months after the United States’ first monkeypox case was confirmed, the total has risen to about 2,900. But details about those cases and other epidemiological data aren’t spreading nearly as quickly as the virus itself, leaving holes in the response. “It’s a new and really fast-moving outbreak, and I think

By Ian Kerner, CNN It isn’t every day that Bruce Springsteen opens up about his experiences in couples therapy, in this case in the foreword of a book by renowned marriage and family therapist Terrence Real. What happens when you stop focusing solely on individual needs and start viewing your relationship as a shared ecosystem

By Carma Hassan and Carolyn Sung, CNN The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The decision was announced Saturday morning after WHO convened its second emergency committee on the issue on Thursday. “I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency

By Elissa Strauss, CNN I used to be a bit cynical about social and emotional learning programs, or SEL as they are known in educational circles. My 9-year-old’s previous school tried to teach him skills such as self-regulation and empathy, but in practice the whole thing felt like just another item on his busy teacher’s

By Brenda Goodman and Deidre McPhillips, CNN Two cases of monkeypox have been identified in children in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The two cases are unrelated and probably the result of household transmission, the CDC said. One case is a toddler who is a resident of

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN An ancient virus, polio has crippled and killed humans for centuries. Etchings on Egyptian vessels show people with withered legs on crutches. Striking children younger than 5 the hardest, the worst form of the virus causes nerve injury that can lead to paralysis, difficulty breathing and death. During 20th century epidemics,

By Katy Milkman, CNN Most of us make to-do lists to keep track of all the things we need to tackle around the house, to keep our families running and to stay on top of tasks at work. But those lists can get unwieldy. If you often find it hard to check everything off your

By Jen Christensen, CNN Not 24 hours after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, ending the right to an abortion in the United States, Myisha Malone-King got a call from her insurance company. It said that the medication she takes for a condition totally unrelated to abortion would no longer be

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN The nationwide baby formula shortage that federal leaders once said would be fixed within weeks has dragged on for months, despite tons of imports and key steps forward in domestic production. Formula stock rates have been dropping since the end of February, when the US Food and Drug Administration shut down

By Brenda Goodman, CNN It’s not your imagination: As the rapidly spreading BA.5 coronavirus subvariant causes a surge in infections across the United States, more people are catching Covid-19 for the second or third time. But on average, these reinfections do not seem to be happening more rapidly, according to a new analysis from the

By Deblina Chakraborty, CNN Covid-19 cases are increasing across the United States once again, driven by the most contagious strain of the coronavirus yet, BA.5. Federal health officials are urging Americans to stay up to date on their vaccines by getting additional boosters if they are due for them, but many people are confused. Who

By Elizabeth Cohen, Danielle Herman and John Bonifield, CNN When Marlena Stell had a miscarriage, she says she begged her doctor for help but instead was forced to walk around for at least two weeks with fetal remains inside her because of strict anti-abortion laws. Stell, who was 9½ weeks pregnant at the time, said

By Jacqueline Howard and Katherine Dillinger, CNN Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday that she has endorsed the recommendation of the agency’s vaccine advisers to use the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine as a two-dose primary series in adults. It’s the fourth coronavirus vaccine available in the United

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN In light of last month’s Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked the constitutional right to abortion, much of the Biden administration’s response has been focused on protecting access to medication abortion. Mifepristone — a pill used to medically induce abortion in combination with another drug, misoprostol —

By Naomi Thomas, CNN New York City’s monkeypox case numbers don’t show the full picture of how bad the outbreak is, and demand for vaccines in the city is outstripping supply, city Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said Tuesday. When asked on CNN whether he thought the current numbers reflect the full picture, Vasan replied,

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Heat-related sickness is top of mind today for many people around the world not used to coping with extreme heat. When the body’s temperature rises faster than it can cool itself, damage to the brain and other vital organs can occur — even death. Here are the key signs of heatstroke

By Katherine Dillinger, CNN Former US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb’s interview in which he criticized the federal response to the ongoing monkeypox outbreak was “misinformed and off base,” says Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gottlieb said Sunday that it may be too late

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Injected vaccines against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 have been hugely successful, saving nearly 20 million lives globally in their first year of use and slashing the pandemic’s death toll by an estimated 63%, according to a recent study. Yet good as these shots are, they have not stopped the virus

By Carma Hassan, Aya Elamroussi and Hannah Sarisohn, CNN As cases of monkeypox continue to rise in the US, a top health official is stressing that the outbreak needs to be handled in a more rigorous manner. “This is something we definitely need to take seriously. We don’t know the scope and the potential of

By Jacqueline Howard and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN To reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for mental health crises, it now takes only three digits: 988. On Saturday, Vibrant Emotional Health, the nonprofit that operates the lifeline on behalf of the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),