Study Finds Little Proof Cannabis Helps Most Mental Health Conditions

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

Cannabis-based medications are often used to treat mental health problems, but a new review suggests they may not work as well as many people hope.

Researchers looked at decades of studies and found little evidence that cannabis helps with most mental health or substance...

Meningitis Outbreak Tied to Students Leaves 2 Dead and 11 Sick in England

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

Health officials in southern England are investigating a meningitis outbreak that has led to the deaths of two young people and sickened at least 11 others.

Many of the cases were linked to students in the city of Canterbury, about 60 miles southeast of London, the UK He...

Women More Likely To Survive Cancer Than Men — At A Cost

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

Women are more likely to survive cancer than men, but they’re also more likely to develop severe side effects to treatment, a new evidence review says.

Female cancer patients have a 21% lower risk of death than men across 12 different types of advanced cancers, res...

Belly Fat Linked To Heart Failure Risk

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

Want to figure out your heart health risk?

Look at your belly fat, not your body mass index, a new study says.

Excess fat stored around the waist is more strongly associated with heart failure risk than BMI, an estimate of body fat based on height and weight, resea...

Ultra-Processed Foods Linked To Heart Attack, Stroke, Cardiac Arrest

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

Munching down loads of ultra-processed foods can increase your risk of suffering or dying from a heart attack, stroke or heart disease, a new study says.

Each additional daily serving of ultra-processed foods increases a person’s risk of a major cardiac event by 5%...

The Sunshine Vitamin and COVID: New Study Finds Mixed Results for Recovery

• Deanna Neff HealthDay Reporter
• March 18, 2026
• Full Page

Since the pandemic’s early days, many people have looked to vitamin D as a possible shield against the worst effects of COVID-19. 

Studies have yielded mixed results, with no clear benefit to vitamin D supplementation when it comes to COVID.

But a new ma...

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles Diagnosed With Early Breast Cancer

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

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles says she will keep working as she undergoes treatment for early-stage breast cancer.

The diagnosis was shared publicly Monday, with President Donald Trump saying Wiles has an "excellent" prognosis and will remain "virtually full tim...

Too Much Smartphone Use Linked to Disordered Eating in Teens

• Deanna Neff HealthDay Reporter
• March 18, 2026
• Full Page

For many teenagers, a smartphone is essentially an extra limb. 

But new research suggests that spending too much time peering into that digital world might be altering how young people view their bodies and their relationship with food.

A comprehensive review ...

Shingles Vaccine Protects Heart Failure Patients From Heart Attack, Stroke

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

Getting the shingles vaccine can be an insurance policy for better health among people who develop heart disease, a new study says.

Heart disease patients who got a shingles jab have nearly half the rate of heart attacks, strokes and other serious heart emergencies than ...

E. Coli Outbreak Tied To Raw Cheddar Cheese Sickens 7 People

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

Federal health officials are investigating an ongoing E. coli outbreak linked to raw cheddar cheese, with several cases involving young kids.

As of March 14, seven infections have been confirmed across three states: Five in California, one in Florida and one in ...

Norovirus Sickens Close to 200 People on Caribbean Cruise

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

A Caribbean vacation took an unpleasant turn for dozens of cruise passengers after a stomach virus spread across their ship.

Nearly 200 people aboard a Princess cruise vessel became sick with norovirus during a recent trip, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Contr...

Federal Judge Pauses Kennedy’s Changes to Childhood Vaccine Schedule

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

A federal judge has stopped a major effort to change the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule.

The ruling, issued Monday in Massachusetts, blocks U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to revise vaccine recommendations for children. 

The...

Listening to Music for 24 Minutes May Ease Anxiety, Study Finds

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

A short music session may help ease anxiety and researchers say there’s a "sweet spot" for how long to listen.

A clinical trial found that listening to specially designed music for 24 minutes can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms. The music was paired with audi...

Cream Cheese Recall Upgraded Over Listeria Risk, FDA Says

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

Health officials are warning consumers about a cream cheese recall that has been raised to the most critical level due to possible bacterial contamination.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said certain cream cheese products made by Made Fresh Salads Inc. may c...

New Moms Need Weeks Of Monitoring To Catch Post-Pregnancy Complications, Study Argues

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

New mothers need to be monitored weeks after delivery for pregnancy complications, a new study suggests.

About 40% of pregnancy complications would have been missed had doctors not kept tabs on new moms for six weeks following delivery, researchers reported March 16 in t...

VR Effective In Educating Patients About Upcoming Procedures

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

Imagine a doctor offering you a virtual reality headset to help explain an upcoming procedure.

It turns out such an explanation might go farther to easing your worries than the usual handout leaflet, researchers reported Friday at a meeting in London of the European Asso...

Prebiotic Eases Arthritis Pain, Trial Finds

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

Making your gut happy might help angry arthritis-affected joints, a new study says.

A prebiotic fiber supplement helped ease pain in people with knee arthritis, researchers recently reported in the journal Nutrients.

The results suggest that improving gut ...

Drug Protects Against Chemo-Caused Bleeding, Trial Shows

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

An already approved drug can help protect cancer patients against excessive bleeding caused by chemotherapy, a new study says.

Chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia occurs when chemo destroys platelet-producing bone marrow cells, increasing a person’s risk of dange...

Cholesterol Needs Lifelong Management, New Heart Guidelines Say

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

Heart experts are calling for a full-court press against cholesterol, including lifelong screening and treatment, a set of new guidelines says.

Blood testing for cholesterol should start in childhood, and take place at least every five years to track each person’s ...

Insurance Red Tape Delays Crucial Heart Failure Drug Prescriptions, Study Finds

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

Insurance requirements could keep people from getting life-saving heart medications in a timely fashion, a new study says.

Prescriptions for heart failure medications take two to six times longer to fill if insurance companies require prior authorization — a proces...