With its latest redesign, Google Fit no longer makes a big deal about your steps for the day (although the number is still there, in fine print). Instead, you’re supposed to be tracking your Move…
Health
What to Know About the ECG Feature in the New Apple Watch
The new $399-and-up Apple Watch will be able to measure the electrical activity of your heart, its groundbreaking ECG or EKG feature. (Both acronyms stand for “electrocardiogram.”) But there are some important caveats. The 5…
FDA calls e-cigarettes ‘an epidemic’ among minors, cracks down on retailers
The use of e-cigarettes has become an “epidemic” among children, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which said it is taking the most aggressive steps in the history of the agency to slow…
Calling teen vaping ‘epidemic,’ officials weigh flavor ban
U.S. health officials are sounding the alarm about rising teenage use of e-cigarettes, calling the problem an “epidemic” and ordering manufacturers to reverse the trend or risk having their flavored vaping products pulled from the…
How to Protect Your Privacy When Seeking Mental Health Treatment at School
Colleges and universities often offer mental health counseling as a free service, but school counselors aren’t always required to keep your information private. Here are your options, and what to know, if you want to…
Many California marijuana products failing safety tests
Nearly 20 percent of marijuana products in California have failed tests for potency and purity since the state started requiring the checks on July 1, a failure rate some in the industry say has more…
Nevada high court says execution doctor’s name stays secret
The name of the physician picked to attend a state inmate’s execution can remain secret, even from drug makers suing to ban the use of their products in the twice-postponed lethal injection, the Nevada Supreme…
What to Know When You Become an Athlete as an Adult
I grew up a sedentary nerd, resenting gym class and failing miserably at the few sports I tried. But in my twenties I found some forms of exercise I didn’t hate, and in my thirties…
Insulin’s high cost leads to deadly rationing
This story is from Kaiser Health News Diabetic ketoacidosis is a terrible way to die. It’s what happens when you don’t have enough insulin. Your blood sugar gets so high that your blood becomes highly…
A Texas lawsuit being heard this week could mean life or death for Obamacare
This story is from Kaiser Health News. Wednesday is looking like yet another pivotal day in the life-or-death saga that has marked the history of the Affordable Care Act. In a Texas courtroom, a group…
Probiotics Can Potentially Hurt You, It Turns Out
Drugstores are full of things that won’t necessarily heal us—vitamin C, homeopathic drops, probiotics—but we shrug and buy them anyway because, hey, they can’t hurt. But now we have some concrete evidence that probiotics can…
Trump’s pollution rules rollback to hit coal country hard
It’s coal people like miner Steve Knotts, 62, who make West Virginia Trump Country. So it was no surprise that President Donald Trump picked the state to announce his plan to roll back Obama-era pollution…
If a Bat Was in Your Bedroom, You Probably Need a Rabies Shot
Bats are adorable and important members of our ecosystem, but they also caused 17 of the 19 rabies deaths in the US between 1997 and 2006. You can be bitten without knowing it, which is…
Rising carbon dioxides levels could cause global nutritional deficiencies: Study
Rising levels of carbon dioxide, which deplete the nutrients of different foods, could leave hundreds of millions around the world at risk for nutritional deficiencies, according to a new global study from Harvard T.H. Chan…
Aspirin disappoints for avoiding first heart attack, stroke
Taking a low-dose aspirin every day has long been known to cut the chances of another heart attack, stroke or other heart problem in people who already have had one, but the risks don’t outweigh…
Is Coconut Oil Good for You Or Bad for You?
Coconut oil has a great reputation as a healthy, natural, even miraculous substance—even though, as far as we can tell, it never really did anything to earn that reputation. Now a professor is making headlines…