DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I just turned 45 and am dreading my first colonoscopy. Why do I need to be screened if I'm not having issues? Can you walk me through the process?

ANSWER: Feeling anxious or afraid surrounding a procedure, particularly when you've never done it before, is completely normal. The purpose of screening is to act before someone ...Read more

CHICAGO — The practice of drawing blood has changed very little over the decades. It looks about the same now as it did 50 years ago.

That process, however, may be about to get a modern makeover. Several health systems across the U.S. — including Northwestern Medicine — are gearing up to try a new way of drawing blood: using a robot.

...Read more

Following through on intentions broadcast a year ago, a federal judge is putting control of California's troubled inmate mental health programs into the hands of an outsider: President Biden's former chief of prisons.

With inmate suicide rates at an all-time high, U.S. District Senior Judge Kimberly Mueller said her aim is to force changes in ...Read more

A sweeping bill that would expand reporting requirements related to sexual misconduct allegations against health care workers and impose fines for failure to report serious incidents gained initial approval from a House committee Wednesday.

The bill follows a Tribune investigation last year that exposed how Illinois health care systems failed ...Read more

AURORA, Colo. — Researchers at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus have lost two scientific grants since President Donald Trump returned to office, but worry they’ll lose both money and their future colleagues if federal grant funding upheaval continues.

The two grants total about $1.7 million. One is to study vaccine ...Read more

In the early 1990s when I was a young pediatrician, I was responsible for evaluating children with developmental and learning problems. Two unrelated boys, ages 7 and 9, were found to have IQs in the range of 60-70, which indicates a severe cognitive disability.

During my medical review, the mothers revealed that their children were ...Read more

The measles outbreak that started in Texas in late January continues to grow. As of March 18, 2025, confirmed cases in the outbreak, which now spans Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, reached 321, surpassing the number of confirmed cases recorded for all of the U.S. in 2024. The vast majority of cases are in people who are not vaccinated. ...Read more

A new strain of a highly pathogenic bird flu known as H7N9 has surfaced at a poultry farm in Mississippi where chickens are raised for breeding.

The finding of the new strain came as researchers separately reported a potentially positive development: Exposure to human seasonal flu may confer some immunity to H5N1 bird flu.

The new strain found...Read more

Measles may seem like a disease of the past. Indeed, the highly contagious virus was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000 after a full year had passed without any infections. But times have changed. Texas is now experiencing the largest measles outbreak in nearly three decades, and the virus is spreading across the country.

The good...Read more

Increasing vegetable intake during midlife is associated with lower likelihood of physical frailty in later life, according to a Chinese study. The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, November 2024, says data from nearly 12,000 participants, with a mean age of 52 at the start of the study and 72 at follow-up, showed that compared to those ...Read more

Most of us grew up hearing the same refrain: It’s important to eat your vegetables. But between cruciferous, allium, marrow, root, and so many more, it can be hard to identify the different types of vegetables and their nutritional benefits. Vegetables with a high water content are known for their refreshing taste, delicious flavor, and ...Read more

Recently, a friend asked me about tonsil stones. He has sore throats several times a year, which are instantly relieved by gargling to remove them. When I told him I thought tonsil stones were pretty rare, he asked: “Are you sure about that? My ear, nose, and throat doctor says they’re common as rocks.” (Get it? stones? rocks?)

It turns ...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My spouse suffers from chronic pain after a back injury five years ago. The pain affects his ability to work and enjoy day-to-day activities with our family. Seeing him in pain and not knowing how to help is difficult for me. How can I support him on the challenging days when the pain is more severe and encourage him on the ...Read more

When the FDA announced in January, before President Joe Biden’s term ended, that it would ban a dye called red dye No. 3 in food and ingested drugs, the federal agency cited just one 1987 study on rats to support its action.

The industry-funded study, based on data from two prior studies, was led by a Virginia toxicologist who said then — ...Read more

Americans are facing the highest death toll from influenza since 2018, just as more people become vulnerable because of growing vaccine skepticism taking hold in statehouses and the Trump administration.

Flu-related deaths hit a seven-year high in January and February, the two months that usually account for the height of flu season, according ...Read more

Spending cuts, immigration, and Medicaid are at the top of the Washington agenda. That climate provides fertile ground for misinformation and myths to multiply on social networks. Some of the most common are those surrounding immigrants, Latinos, and Medicaid.

These claims include assertions that Latinos who use Medicaid, the federal-state ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Thousands of Minnesotans remain exhausted and disabled after their COVID-19 illnesses, but why they got “long COVID” while millions of others who got sick did not remains a mystery.

Maybe COVID-19 reawakened dormant viruses in their bodies. Or enough COVID virus lingered to continue causing havoc. Or COVID caused lasting ...Read more

Sodium is a mineral that your body needs to function well. When you combine sodium with the mineral, chloride, the two make table salt. Sodium is added to many processed foods, including packaged and frozen meals. Many recipes call for salt in the ingredients, and many people add table salt to their food for flavor.

March is National Kidney ...Read more

Spending cuts, immigration and Medicaid are at the top of the Washington agenda. That climate provides fertile ground for misinformation and myths to multiply on social networks. Some of the most common are those surrounding immigrants, Hispanics and Medicaid.

These claims include assertions that Latinos who use Medicaid, the federal-state ...Read more