Health & Safety

New sickle cell therapies come with side effects and a big price tag

5:11am January 30, 2024

by Elaine Tassy

People with sickle cell disease are thrilled there are now approved gene therapies for the inherited blood disorder, but the cost has them wondering if they'll ever get treatment.

Patients report that ketamine infusions can be lifesaving, with immediate improvement for severe depression. But dosage and safety measures vary widely at the hundreds of clinics that have opened.

The ketamine economy: New mental health clinics are a 'Wild West' with few rules

5:00am January 30, 2024

by Dawn Megli

Ketamine, approved as an anesthetic in 1970, is emerging as a major alternative mental health treatment. But more than 500 clinics have popped up with little regulation, and treatment varies widely.

How to live better, longer. Can science help slow down aging.

Scientists can tell how fast you're aging. Now, the trick is to slow it down

7:37pm January 29, 2024

by Allison Aubrey

Longevity research is booming. Scientists are looking for ways to target the basic biology of aging. And here's the exciting part: Our biological age appears to be malleable.

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New mothers in Gaza struggle to access basic medical services

5:44pm January 29, 2024

NPR's Sarah McCammon speaks with UNICEF's Tess Ingram about the dire maternal health crisis in Gaza.

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Women's rights advocates demonstrate against abortion bans in May 2019, in Philadelphia.

Health & Safety

Pennsylvania high court revives a case challenging Medicaid limits for abortions

4:51pm January 29, 2024

by The Associated Press

The court's 3-2 decision overturns a decision to dismiss the case and puts aside a 1985 state Supreme Court decision that upheld a law banning the use of state Medicaid dollars for abortion.

Health & Safety

Guilford County launches new doula program to improve birth experiences

3:44pm January 29, 2024

by DJ Simmons

The Every Baby Guilford program has a goal of reducing infant mortality disparities by 50% by 2026.

Crownsville patients work in the hospital's fields in the 1910s.

What a Jim Crow-era asylum can teach us about mental health today

1:58pm January 29, 2024

by Tonya Mosley

NBC journalist Antonia Hylton spent more than a decade piecing together the history of Maryland's first segregated asylum, where Black patients were forced into manual labor. Her new book is Madness.

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Coronavirus FAQ: How long does my post-COVID protection last? When is it booster time?

7:27pm January 28, 2024

by Max Barnhart

How long does immunity last after an infection? Are rapid tests always accurate? How often is a booster in order? In this installment of our FAQ series, we look into questions about "COVID time."

Hearing loss is greater among people living in rural areas, study finds

8:21am January 28, 2024

by Ayesha Rascoe

A new study looking at hearing loss finds that it's greater among people living in rural areas. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with audiologist Nicholas Reed, who co-authored the study.

Britain's King Charles III attends a ceremony in Paris on Sept. 20, 2023. The monarch was admitted to a private London hospital on Friday to undergo a "corrective procedure" for an enlarged prostate, Buckingham Palace said.

King Charles III 'doing well' after scheduled prostate treatment, Queen Camilla says

3:01pm January 26, 2024

by The Associated Press

The 75-year-old British monarch is doing well after undergoing a "corrective procedure" for an enlarged prostate, Queen Camilla said Friday as she left the private hospital where he was being treated.