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PHILADELPHIA — The health care industry accounted for more than 70% of new jobs in the Philadelphia area over the past decade, nearly double the growth rate for health care nationally, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The region added approximately 184,000 jobs since 2015. More than 132,000 were in health care, with home ...Read more

Bracket-busting upsets, Cinderella stories, OT buzzer beaters – March Madness is here! Or, as some urologists think of it, vasectomy promotion season.

Since 2004, urologists have been promoting vasectomies every March, promising patients who elect the procedure an excellent excuse to relax on the couch and watch college basketball.<...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In the early 2000s, Michelle Warfield worked at a factory, hauling heavy seats for Ford trucks on and off an assembly line. To suppress daily aches in her back and hips, her doctor prescribed opioid painkillers.

They worked for a bit. But by 2011, Warfield struggled to walk.

And “by that time, I was addicted,” said ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Fiber has been getting a lot of attention in the news lately. What exactly is dietary fiber, and why is it important to my overall health?

ANSWER: Dietary fiber refers to the parts of plant-based foods that your body can’t digest or break down. Unlike proteins, fats or simple carbohydrates, fiber passes through the digestive...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas -- In his homeschool curriculum, 12-year-old Luke Lunday is learning about Section 504, a cornerstone of disability rights.

Championed by disability rights activist Judy Heumann, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is responsible for what’s known as the integration mandate, which requires that people with disabilities have...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Mia Angulo, who is pregnant and due in May, is living in a tent with her boyfriend in the predominantly Latino neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

Lingering pain from a car crash two months ago, on top of an already hardscrabble life, has Angulo worried about her pregnancy. So, she was relieved when a mobile street medicine van from ...Read more

When someone is sick in this country, they don’t ask for a politician. They ask for a doctor, a nurse, or a therapist — a front line health care worker. They look for someone they trust.

Right now, our country’s health care system is sick.

Families are anxious about their finances. Many are being forced to decide whether they can afford ...Read more

About 1 in every 10 children and teens in the U.S. has a food allergy, an abnormal immune response to a specific food. That's roughly two kids per classroom.

Food allergies have risen by 50% since the 1990s. With this in mind, the American Academy of Pediatrics advocates for the health of all children who must avoid certain foods to stay ...Read more

Health care and social assistance professions added 693,000 jobs in 2025. Without those gains, the U.S. economy would have lost roughly 570,000 jobs.

At first glance, these numbers suggest that health care is a growth engine in an otherwise slowing labor market. But a closer look reveals something more troubling for patients and health care ...Read more

For decades, Connecticut and federal lawmakers have tried in vain to rein in medical costs as expenses have continued to soar for patients and employers.

In response, a key legislative committee voted on mostly party lines last week to spend $200 million in order to make costs more affordable and also blunt the expiration of enhanced premium ...Read more

For the past three years,a novel form of bird flu has wiped out millions of animals in the United States, from snow geese to backyard chickens.

But conversations around the outbreak have grown more urgent in recent months, as Louisiana recorded the country's first human death from bird flu in January and the death toll for animals continues to ...Read more

Over the past year, hospitals have felt the pain of thousands of layoffs — some even pushed into dire financial straits — as they have been stripped of billions of dollars in federal and state funding for health care.

Hospital executives are hinting of a second wave of layoffs as some downsize their operations while the federal government ...Read more

Grieving mother Naomi White walked along Kennywood Boulevard in West Mifflin, Pa., on March 15 with dozens of friends and family members who had gathered to call attention to the December traffic death of her 13-year-old son, Terrel Byars Jr.

Then she was hit with pepper spray. Within moments she was coughing and struggling to breathe.

After ...Read more

In a cozy room at New Directions Mental Health in O’Hara, Pennsylvania, patients show up with warm blankets or soft pillows they bring from home. They dim the lights or use a provided Northern Lights-like projector to set the mood as they settle in for ketamine therapy, a rapidly growing treatment for stubborn depression.

“We’ve seen it ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why do I need to sleep for a long time at night? – Sly M., 6, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Just like eating, drinking or breathing, sleep is an essential part of life.

...Read more