How To Protect Yourself During Wildfire Season

• Dr. Jillian Foglesong Stabile HealthDay Reporter
• August 18, 2026
• Full Page

Wildfires are on the rise in many parts of the world, bringing with them major health threats.

As bad air days become more and more common, it’s a good idea to learn new ways to keep your lungs and body systems healthy.

Here's some advice to protect yourself ...

Kindergarten Vaccine Exemptions Hit Record High, New CDC Data Shows

• Ellyn Vohnoutka HealthDay Reporter
• August 18, 2026
• Full Page

A record share of U.S. kindergartners started school last year without at least one required vaccine, new federal data show.

Exemptions rose to 4.2% during the 2025-2026 school year, up from 3.6% a year earlier, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preve...

Loneliness Is A Health Crisis, But Doctors Alone Can't Cure It, Analysis Argues

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 18, 2026
• Full Page

Loneliness is contributing to illness, but it’s a fool’s errand to expect doctors alone to cure this particular ailment, a new study says.

Social isolation — whether it be from loss, health problems or other factors that keep people apart — has be...

Constipation In Space: A New Study Provides Answers

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 18, 2026
• Full Page

Constipation is a well-known problem for astronauts in space, and researchers now think they know why it occurs. 

Weightlessness appears to affect the gut microbiome, the billions of healthy bacteria that reside in a person’s digestive tract, researchers repor...

Social Media Beauty Trends May Up Teens' Exposure To Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals

• HealthDay Staff HealthDay Reporter
• August 18, 2026
• Full Page

That beauty tutorial on social media might influence more than what your teen buys.

It may also increase their exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals, a new study warns.

"We often hear that social media may hurt kids' mental health and socio-emotional development...

Waist Size Is Accurate Way To Gauge Unhealthy Excess Weight, Study Says

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 18, 2026
• Full Page

Are you worried that extra pounds might be harming your health?

Check the notches on your belt, a new study suggests.

Waist size might be one of the simplest and most effective measures to detect health risks associated with obesity, researchers reported recently i...

Panel Offers First Guidelines For Using E-Cigarettes To Help Smokers Quit

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 18, 2026
• Full Page

A panel of experts has issued the first clinical guidelines for using e-cigarettes to help adults quit smoking.

E-cigarettes should be offered alongside other smoking cessation strategies like nicotine replacement therapies or medications like varenicline and bupropion, ...

Jalapeño Recalls Keep Growing As Salmonella Outbreak Investigation Continues

• Ellyn Vohnoutka HealthDay Reporter
• August 17, 2026
• Full Page

The list of foods pulled from store shelves because they contain Salmonella-linked jalapeño peppers keeps getting longer.

Two more companies announced recalls in the past week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an advisory updated Aug. 1...

Music Streaming Linked To Rise In Traffic Deaths

• HealthDay Staff HealthDay Reporter
• August 17, 2026
• Full Page

When a blockbuster album drops, streaming numbers may not be the only thing that spikes.

A new study, published today in JAMA Network Open, finds traffic deaths also rise significantly.

Dr. Vishal Patel of Harvard Medical School and colleagues compared U.S...

Quartz Countertop Workers Are Falling Prey To Lung Disease

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 17, 2026
• Full Page

There’s a rapidly growing epidemic of lung disease among craftspeople working with quartz countertops, a new study says.

More and more quartz workers are developing silicosis, an incurable and progressive lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust, researchers rep...

Many Smokers Unaware Of Heart, Brain Risks Of Smoking

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 17, 2026
• Full Page

Many smokers still haven’t absorbed the fact that smoking and secondhand smoke cause heart attacks and strokes, despite decades of messaging around tobacco’s health risks, a new study says.

More than 90% know that smoking causes lung cancer, but fewer know ab...

Tylenol, Other Medications Fuel Spike In Liver Damage Cases, Poison Center Data Says

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 17, 2026
• Full Page

MONDAY, Aug. 17, 2026 (HealthDay News) — There’s been a nearly 400% increase in calls to U.S. poison centers related to liver injuries, mostly related to Tylenol and other medications, a new study says.

Liver injuries caused by foreign substances skyrock...

ED Drug Might Increase Glaucoma Risk, Study Says

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 17, 2026
• Full Page

The erectile dysfunction drug Cialis might increase the risk of glaucoma among men taking it to treat urinary incontinence, a new study says.

Men taking tadalafil (Cialis) to treat side effects from an enlarged prostate wound up with higher odds of glaucoma and high flui...

States Enact Emergency Orders On Kratom While Awaiting Federal Rules

• Ellyn Vohnoutka HealthDay Reporter
• August 14, 2026
• Full Page

States are moving faster and further than federal regulators to get kratom off store shelves, with some banning the herb outright while a pending federal rule targets only one of its chemicals.

Massachusetts acted Thursday. Its public health commissioner, Dr. Robbie Gold...

Processed Foods Linked To Prostate Cancer Risk

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• August 14, 2026
• Full Page

Ultra-processed foods might be linked to a higher risk of prostate cancer, a new study says.

Men who ate the most ultra-processed foods had as much as a 34% higher risk of prostate cancer, compared to those who ate less, researchers reported recently in the American ...