Author: Elizabeth B

(KMAland) — A recent poll shows that these are the best of times and the worst of times to be a Missourian.The Missouri Health Foundation’s “Speak up MO” poll found that while residents value deep connections to their community, they also struggle with major challenges, including the cost of living, access to adequate health care and drug and alcohol use in Missouri.Sheldon Weisgrau, vice president of health policy and advocacy at MFH, said the poll confirms that health care costs are indeed the underlying issue.”And by addressing that issue, Missourians’ lives can improve in many other areas. If we can…

Cairo — Multiple Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 30 Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip, health officials said on Saturday, while officials including a Hamas delegation were meeting in neighboring Egypt for high-level ceasefire talks.Nasser Hospital said 11 family members, including two children, were among those killed in an airstrike that hit their home in Khan Younis. The hospital received a total of 33 bodies after three airstrikes in and around the city, including attacks on tuk-tuks and passers-by. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it had received three bodies in a separate airstrike.The Israeli army said it was investigating the…

CNN — Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is recuperating at home after being hospitalized with West Nile virus, a spokesman said. Fauci, a longtime public health official who rose to prominence as part of the White House coronavirus task force, is expected to make a full recovery, a spokesman said. Get the CNN Health weekly newsletter Each year, about 1,000 Americans are hospitalized with the most severe form of West Nile virus, which is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, and an average of another 1,500 are diagnosed after showing…

RINCON, Ga. (WTOC) – A free health clinic in Effingham County is looking for volunteers to help care for those in need. Two Rivers Health Clinic in Rincon serves uninsured people ages 18 to 64 who make up to 200% of the federal poverty level. The clinic is run primarily by volunteers. The organization was founded in 2015 and was initially run by volunteers, and Amber Fordham, the clinic’s executive director, said Two Rivers continues to be volunteer-led and they need more help. “Over the last year or so, we’ve expanded our services significantly, so with that expansion comes a…

From Putnam County Representative Cathy Hess Close In a state like West Virginia, where outdoor activity is so integral to life, the risks associated with tick-borne diseases are well known. But despite the greater awareness of Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a lesser known but increasingly prevalent threat has emerged: Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS). Having been diagnosed with AGS after being bitten by a Lone Star tick, I know this all too well. My experience with the disease highlights not only the personal challenges it poses, but also the urgent need for greater public health awareness and legal action.…

It’s been a tough year for the family of the late country music legend Loretta Lynn, and it got even tougher this week when her family announced that her eldest grandson had passed away.Lynn Massey’s eldest daughter, Betty Sue Lynn, died this week.Want more country music news? Click here.”Loretta’s first grandchild, Betty Sue’s daughter Lynn Massey, passed away this week after a long and difficult illness,” a post on Lynn’s official Instagram page read. “Our family is so grateful for all the prayers and love that has been showered upon us.”Taste of Country reported that Betty Sue died in 2013…

Debbie Waldman KFF Health News In the 18 months since Francine Milano was diagnosed with a recurrence of the ovarian cancer she thought she had beaten 20 years ago, she has traveled twice from her home in Pennsylvania to Vermont, not to ski, hike or see the leaves, but to prepare for death. “I wanted to have control over how I left this world,” said the 61-year-old Lancaster resident. “I decided this was the option for me.” Medically assisted dying was not an option for Milano when she learned in early 2023 that her illness was incurable. At that point,…

You may soon be able to get a newly updated COVID-19 vaccine shot: The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new version of a booster designed to provide better protection against currently circulating variants of the coronavirus. With children returning to school at the same time sewage levels and hospitalizations from COVID-19 are rising, the new vaccine could help provide extra protection at a critical time, experts told TODAY.com.Pharmacies are expected to start offering vaccinations in the coming days, NBC News reported. Is the summer COVID surge still happening?”We are currently seeing increased COVID-19 activity across the country,” CDC…

The death of the world’s oldest person, Maria Branyas-Morella, aged 117, may have many pondering the secret to extraordinary longevity, but scientists say it may be best to avoid taking longevity advice from centenarians themselves.According to the Guinness World Records website, Branyas believed the secret to his longevity was “order, peace, good relationships with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, the absence of worries and regrets, lots of positivity, and avoiding toxic people.”But Richard Faragher, professor of biogerontology at the University of Brighton, said the reality was that scientists were still trying to understand why some people live…

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Wilmington’s only surgical dental clinic that provides free services to low-income patients has received an eviction notice from St. Mary’s Cathedral. This is the latest move in a months-long dispute between Basilica and St. Mary’s Health Center over the center’s operating space.St. Mary’s Cathedral notified the health center in April, telling it to vacate the building by July 1, 2024. Laura Vinson, the center’s executive director, said the center must stay open because staff can’t find a place to move equipment and services and there are still patients to help, she said.”Our patients are really unique,”…