May 31st is World No Tobacco Day.  7 out of 10 smokers say they want to quit. Quitting tobacco, including chewing tobacco, is one of the best things you can do for your health. Smoking in particular harms nearly every organ in your body, and nearly one-third of deaths from heart disease are the result […]

Our lives have all changed due to coronavirus. It has fundamentally altered our work, school and off hours pursuits. You can’t watch TV without seeing a commercial for COVID-19. The news starts with the stats on the virus—either nationwide or locally, depending on the broadcast. For those who are working, there are emails, meetings, and […]

Scientists across universities have been given $130 million by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to create a universal flu shot, or a shot that attacks the recurring parts of the flu that go unchanged from year to year. This is great news, but it is expected that it will take at least […]

If you didn’t know the Amazon rainforest is on fire, you may be on a media diet or hiding under a rock. The Amazon rainforest, located in northwestern Brazil and extending into Colombia, Peru, and other South American countries, is the world’s largest tropical rainforest. It has been called the planet’s lungs because its vast […]

Science has given us so many tools to make our lives better and healthier.  Information about how we address health issues now and how we can address them better in the future is all over the news right now.  Here are three important news stories that are influencing the conversation about major health issues. New […]

August is National Immunization Awareness Month, an annual observance to highlight the importance of vaccination for people of all ages. Many Americans have embraced the myth that vaccines cause a number of conditions, including autism. This fear originated with a 1997 study published by Andrew Wakefield, a British surgeon. Published in The Lancet, a prestigious […]

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men. Until 2012, the screening for prostate cancer, called the Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test, was the standard for predicting prostate cancer for men 55 and older. Because PSA is a protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate, it was determined to be […]

On Monday evening, a massive fire broke out at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  With about 13 million visitors each year, the cathedral is the city’s most visited monument, and has been part of Paris for more than 800 years. Many across the globe are expressing shock and distress about the burning of such […]

Organ donation is the process of committing your organs to help another person live. After you die, your healthy organs and tissues are transplanted into another person. Experts say that the organs from one donor can save or help as many as 50 people. You can donate eyes, tissue, and organs including kidneys, heart, liver, […]

The spring equinox (also called the March equinox or vernal equinox) falls on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at 5:58 P.M. EST. This event marks the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.  Fun fact: the word equinox comes from the Latin meaning “equal night,” referring to the fact that the length of the […]