Get Healthy!

When waiting for medical test results, days can feel like an eternity.

In a new survey, patients overwhelmingly say they'd like their results immediately -- even if their provider has not yet reviewed them and even if the news is bad.

In April 2021, new rules went into effect requiring health care providers in the United States to make all results and clinical notes available immed...

Ordering special heart scans before a major surgery to gauge risks may be unnecessary, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that surgeons can instead estimate patients’ risk of heart attack or death by reviewing existing images of the chest captured months earlier during screening for lung issues, such as pneumonia or cancer.

This could avoid surgery delays and increased costs,...

Many Americans are not getting recommended cancer screenings, and a new study hints at one way to push the needle: paid sick leave from work.

Researchers found that in areas of the United States that passed mandates on paid sick leave, cancer screening rates inched up in the years afterward. Breast cancer screening rose by roughly 3%, while colon cancer screening increased by 6% to 8%.

Doctors could soon have a new tool to help diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

A questionnaire called CAPTURE successfully identified almost half of clinical trial participants who had moderate to severe forms of previously undiagnosed COPD, researchers report.

“The goal with trying to find COPD is to treat it earlier, which will help make patients feel bet...

Nearly half of women have dense breast tissue, which can be a double whammy on their odds for breast cancer.

Not only are dense breasts a risk factor for cancer, but this glandular and fibrous connective tissue make it harder to detect cancers on a mammogram, the usual method for breast cancer screening.

New r...

You might not think about your cholesterol very often, if ever, but it’s important to know your numbers.

It’s even helpful to get it checked at a young age, according to one heart expert.

“People in their 20s may never consider getting their cholesterol checked, but they should because it may uncover a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol that they didn’t know about,�...

Could asking teens a simple, but pointed, question about their mental health reveal whether they are at risk for suicide?

It might, new research suggests.

Since suicide is now the second leading cause of death among American teens, any strategy that could lower that risk may be worth trying.

�...

Autism cases are surging in the New York-New Jersey metro area, mainly fueled by the diagnosis of autistic children who don’t have intellectual disabilities, a new study reports.

The percentage of kids identified with autism spectrum disorder rose from about 1% in 2000 to 3% in 2016 in that region, said lead researcher

Many people undergo a stool test to screen for colon cancer but a new study finds too few follow up with a colonoscopy when that test warns of a possible cancer.

Not following up undermines the point of screening, said study-co-author Jeff Mohl, director of research and analytics for the Amer...

For people with a specific type of high blood pressure, British researchers led a new study on a particular CT scan that may enable a cure.

In about 5% to 10% of high blood pressure cases, the source is a gene mutation in the adrenal glands, according to earlier research. Tiny benign nodules in the glands lead to excessive production of the steroid hormone aldosterone, which causes salt t...

A new study shows that many women diagnosed with and dying from cervical cancer are older than 65 -- a group for whom routine screening is usually not recommended.

Cervical cancer screening has been credited with a sharp drop in deaths from the disease in the decades since it was introduced in the United States. But current guidelines state that once a woman reaches 65, if she has been re...

Doctors already test seniors’ hearing and vision. Sense of smell could be added to screenings one day, according to researchers who found links between its loss and risk of frailty in older adults.

“We use our sense of smell to identify the threat of a fire or to enjoy the fragrance of flowers on a spring day. But just like vision and hearing, this sense weakens as we age,” said stu...

Researchers are reporting progress on a blood test that can detect multiple cancers in a relatively simpler, and potentially less pricey, way than other tests under development.

The test picks up certain cancer signals in the blood using a fairly straightforward method: counting bits of DNA that appear to be "broken" in unexpected places.

In the new study, scientists found that the ...

Many conditions cause memory issues, and early detection is essential for effective treatment, according to a national Alzheimer’s disease organization.

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) encourages people to get a memory screening in the new year.

The foundation offers free, confidential virtual memory screenings. It doesn’t set a minimum age and there are no insura...

An experimental blood test could one day provide early warning for a life-threatening complication of pregnancy, a new study reports.

Placenta accreta occurs when the placenta — the food and oxygen source for a fetus — grows too deeply into the wall of a woman’s uterus.

The condition can cause a woman to bleed to death following delivery, especially if it hasn’t been detecte...

Just 14% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States are detected through routine screening, a new analysis finds -- pointing to many missed opportunities to catch cancer early.

"It's surprising, but true," said Caroline ...

Depression can be tricky to detect in some people, and Black women may exhibit different symptoms, leading to missed care, researchers say.

Black women report sleep disturbances, self-criticism and irritability more often than the stereotypical low mood, according to a new study.

As a result, standard screening tools may underdiagnose depression in Black women, the study authors sai...

A nationwide group of infection control experts recommends U.S. health care facilities stop testing patients for COVID-19 before hospital admission or scheduled surgeries if they have no virus symptoms.

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) statement says facilities should rely instead on enhanced layers of infection prevention.

“The small benefits that could c...

Many American women have to travel long distances to reach the nearest mammography center, a new study finds -- raising questions about whether that keeps some from receiving breast cancer screening.

Researchers found that 8.2 million women had limited access to mammography screening in 2022 -- defined as living more than a 20-minute drive to the nearest facility. That was up from 7.5 mil...

Annual lung cancer screening for heavy smokers can provide a big boost in lung cancer survival over the long term, a new study shows.

When low-dose CT screening identifies early-stage lung cancer, patients have an 80% chance of surviving 20 years, researchers found. And for some, the odds are as high as 100%.

But only 16% of lung cancers are caught early, and more than half of...

Too few people are getting screened for lung cancer.

This is the message from the American Lung Association's 2022 "State of Lung Cancer" report. Less than 6% of eligible Americans have been screened for lung cancer, and in some states, lung cancer screening rates are as...

Evaluating a person's psychological stress can be a good way to gauge their risk of heart and blood vessel disease, new research suggests.

And a brief questionnaire could help with the assessment, the study findings showed.

“Our study is part of the accumulating evidence that psychological distress is a really important factor in a cardiovascular diagnosis, such as the other healt...

Although blood pressure levels among Americans rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research suggests things could have been far worse.

"We expected blood pressure control to be worse due to decreased physical activity, stress, poor sleep and other cardiovascular disease risk factors that worsened during the pandemic," said study leader