A four-day work week improves employees’ health in numerous ways, from reducing anxiety and stress to enabling better sleep and more time for exercise, according to a large new report. “It genuinely has, even with our academic skepticism, been a really positive outcome,” says report co-author Brendan Burchell, a social sciences professor at the U.K.’s…

While COVID-19’s effects on the lungs and respiratory system are well known, there is growing research suggesting that the virus is also affecting the heart, with potentially lasting effects. In a presentation at the annual meeting of the Biophysical Society, an international biophysics scientific group, Dr. Andrew Marks, chair of the department of physiology at…

President Biden, who turned 80 in November, was examined by doctors at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Maryland on Thursday. It was his first check up in over a year. Biden, the oldest President in US history, is widely expected to announce in the coming months that he is running for re-election. What were…

WASHINGTON — The overdose-reversing drug naloxone should be made available over the counter to aid the national response to the opioid crisis, U.S. health advisers said Wednesday. The panel of Food and Drug Administration experts voted unanimously in favor of the switch after a full day of presentations and discussions centered on whether untrained users…

If you had COVID-19 symptoms in 2020, you probably would have masked up and braved a visit to a laboratory, doctor’s office, or clinic to get a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. A health care worker would have shoved a swab up your nose, and then you would have waited a day or two, if…

Each person has a powerful combination of characteristics that influence their chances of living a long life. A 2019 study by the City Health Dashboard analyzed the data from the 500 largest cities in the U.S. provides a case in point: a baby born in the Streeterville community of Chicago, in 2015, could live to…

The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has risen significantly in recent decades, and some racial and ethnic minority groups have borne the brunt of that increase. Between 1970 and 2010, the incidence of IBD rose by 39% among white Americans. However, during that same period, the incidence of IBD among non-white Americans jumped by…

People infected with COVID-19 during the Omicron era face an increased risk of diabetes and related diseases, according to a study showing that long-term dangers of the virus have persisted since the strain began spreading. Rates of newly diagnosed diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol were higher in the 90 days after COVID infection…

The future of medication abortions across the U.S.—even in states with few abortion restrictions—is on the line. Experts call a recent, soon-to-be-decided lawsuit the most consequential court case for nationwide abortion access since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. A ruling is expected as soon as Feb. 24. Here’s what to know about the case….

Teen girls are in crisis. In a just-released report, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that nearly one in three high school girls considered suicide in 2021, a 60% increase since 2011. More girls also now report feeling so sad and hopeless they couldn’t engage in their normal activities for at least two weeks…