Health Care
Years Before COVID, Zombies Helped Prepare One Hospital System for the Real Pandemic
An educational experiment used escape rooms and the undead to set the stage for a terrible situation that would become all too real
Health Care102 articles archived since 1845
Medicine
Fauci on COVID Drugs, Vaccines and Getting Back to Normal
The U.S.’s top infectious disease specialist describes a new Biden administration program to develop and test antivirals—and what he’s most worried about as the nation reopens...
Health Care
‘Inflammation Clock’ Can Reveal Body’s Biological Age
Using machine learning, researchers created a tool that might help doctors improve people’s healthy lifespan
Health Care
America’s Long-Term Care System Is Broken
It’s time to invest more in home-based care and nursing homes, increase workers’ pay and improve oversight
Public Health
COVID Vaccines Will Not Reach Poorest Countries Until 2023
Amid a COVID surge in Africa, vaccine promises from richer nations are not enough to bring an early end to the pandemic, experts say
Policy
Transgender Patients Deserve Better Medical Care
We must train providers to understand their unique needs in order to deliver affirming, compassionate treatment
Fitness
Why Are People with Obesity More Vulnerable to COVID?
Chronic inflammation and immune breakdown appear to be key reasons
Policy
Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Care Act—Again
By a vote of 7-2, the court declined to overturn the landmark health care law for the third time
Public Health
Fixing Medical Devices That Are Biased against Race or Gender
Designers should show how well instruments perform across different populations
Medicine
Mix-and-Match COVID Vaccines Trigger Potent Immune Response
Preliminary results from a trial of more than 600 people are the first to show the benefits of combining different vaccines
Medicine
Delaying a COVID Vaccine’s Second Dose Boosts Immune Response in the Elderly
People older than 80 who waited 11 to 12 weeks for their second jab had higher peak antibody levels than did those who waited only three weeks
Medicine
Psilocybin Therapy May Work as Well as Common Antidepressant
For the first time, a randomized controlled trial shows the psychedelic offers potent, if short-term, relief in comparison with an SSRI
Policy
Doctors, Talk to Your Patients about Guns
Firearm injuries and deaths are a public health crisis, no less than smoking, unhealthy eating and the use of addictive substances
Public Health
The Biggest Barriers to COVID Vaccination for Black and Latinx People
Differences in life expectancy, car ownership and language may contribute to the racial and ethnic disparities
Public Health
COVID Cases Plummet among Nursing Home Staffers despite Vaccine Hesitancy
The decline suggests the vaccine is having an effect even though workers have been slower to take it than residents
Public Health
How the U.S. Pandemic Response Went Wrong—and What Went Right—during a Year of COVID
On the anniversary of this global disaster, we take a look back at some of the biggest mistakes, surprising successes and lingering questions
Public Health
Unraveling the Complex Link between COVID and Diabetes
Infection with the pandemic-causing virus seems to trigger diabetes in some patients. Here are five plausible explanations as to why
Public Health
Nursing Home Workers Had One of the Deadliest Jobs of 2020
An analysis of incomplete data shows they had a death rate higher than that of loggers and may have rivaled fishers for the most perilous profession
Public Health
Black Americans Are Getting COVID Vaccines at Lower Rates Than White Americans
In 16 states that have released data by race, white residents are being vaccinated at much higher rates—in many cases two to three times higher
Public Health
What if Doctors Stopped Prescribing Weight Loss?
Focusing on body size isn’t making people healthier. Some clinicians are trying a different approach
