Women often use hormone therapy to relieve hot flashes and other menopause symptoms — and new research suggests whether they choose pills, patches or creams might matter for their blood pressure. Women are more prone to heart disease after menopause and high blood pressure is one key risk factor. Canadian researchers tracked records of 112,000 women who used estrogen-only hormone therapy. Those taking oral estrogen were more likely to develop high blood pressure than those taking versions absorbed vaginally or through the skin. The findings were published Monday in the journal Hypertension.

U.S. births were flat last year, as the nation continues to see fewer babies born than it did before the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released provisional birth data for last year. A little under 3.7 million babies were born in the U.S. last year, about 3,000 fewer than the year before. Births to moms 35 and older continued to rise, with the highest rates in that age group since the 1960s. But those gains were offset by record-low birth rates to moms in their teens and early 20s.

Federal health officials say people who worked with food while sick or contagious were linked to about 40% of food poisoning outbreaks from restaurants with a known cause between 2017 and 2019. Norovirus and salmonella were the most common causes of 800 outbreaks tied to 875 restaurants reported by about 25 state and local health departments. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say about 48 million people a year in the U.S. are sickened by foodborne illness.

Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. rose slightly in 2022. That makes it the first year without a substantial increase since 2018. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the numbers plateaued for most of last year. New estimates from the CDC show about nearly 110,000 U.S. overdose deaths last year. That's nearly 2% more than 2021. Eight states that have had some of the highest overdose death rates saw sizable decreases. But experts caution that overdose deaths could rise again due to things like scaling back telehealth services.

American lore is full of tales of the lone cowboy, the rugged individualist who will do what needs to be done and ride off into the sunset. In reality, loneliness in America can be deadly. This month, the U.S. surgeon general declared it an epidemic, saying that it takes as deadly a toll as smoking. He cited some potent forces: the gradual withering of longstanding institutions, decreased engagement with churches, the fraying bonds of families. So does the focus on American individualism encourage isolation and alienation? Perhaps that is, like other chunks of the American story, a premise built on myths.

Every cell of the body contains DNA. Because each person has a unique genetic code, DNA can be used to identify individual people. Typically, medical practitioners and researchers obtain human DNA through direct sampling, such as blood tests, swabs or biopsies. However, all living things, in…

New blood donations rules will allow sexually active gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships to give in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration guidelines ease decades-old restrictions on blood donations put in place to protect the blood supply from HIV. Regulators announced plans for the change in January. The new approach does away with a requirement that men who have sex with men abstain from sex for three months prior to giving blood. Instead, all potential donors will be screened with a new questionnaire that evaluates their individual risks for HIV based on sexual behavior, recent partners and other factors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Women should start getting every-other-year mammograms at age 40 instead of waiting until 50, according to a draft recommendation from a federal task force.

The idea of later school start times, pushed by many over the years as a way to help adolescents get more sleep, is getting a new look as a way to address the mental health crisis affecting teens across the U.S. Nationally, at least nine states are considering legislation related to school start times, up from four the previous year, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures. For some schools, the pandemic allowed experimentation to try new schedules. Large school systems including Denver, Philadelphia and Anchorage, Alaska, have been looking into later start times.

The U.S. surgeon general says loneliness poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually. Dr. Vivek Murthy's report issued Tuesday says about half of U.S. adults say they've experienced loneliness. The surgeon general is calling on workplaces, schools, technology companies, community organizations, parents and other people to make changes that will boost the country's connectedness. Murthy advises people to join community groups and put down their phones when they're catching up with friends. Murthy also advises employers to think carefully about their remote work policies and social media companies to roll out protections for children.

A first-of-its-kind federal investigation has found two hospitals put a pregnant woman's life in jeopardy and violated federal law by refusing to provide an emergency abortion when she experienced premature labor at 17 weeks. The findings are revealed in documents obtained by The Associated Press. The findings serve as a warning to hospitals around the country as they struggle to reconcile new state laws banning or severely restricting abortion with a federal mandate for doctors to provide abortions when a woman's health is at risk. The hospitals in question are in Missouri and Kansas. The hospitals haven't responded to requests for comment. The woman had to travel to an abortion clinic in Illinois.

U.S. adults are smoking less. Cigarette smoking dropped to another new all-time low last year, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers. Meanwhile, e-cigarette use rose, to about 1 in 17 adults. That's according to government survey data released Thursday. The findings are based on survey responses from more than 27,000 U.S. adults. In the mid-1960s, 42% of U.S. adults were smokers. The rate has been gradually dropping for decades. That's thanks to cigarette taxes, tobacco product price hikes and smoking bans.

A federal judge in Texas who previously ruled to dismantle the Affordable Care Act struck down a narrower but key part of the nation's health law. The ruling Thursday by U.S. District Judge Reed O' Connor blocks the requirement that most insurers cover preventive care such as vaccines and cancer screenings. Opponents and medical groups had warned that the decision could jeopardize preventive screenings for millions of Americans. The Biden administration had told the court the outcome of the case "could create extraordinary upheaval in the United States' public health system." It is likely to appeal.

Fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso has used a White House visit to encourage people to make it a point to check in often with friends, family and co-workers to ask how they're doing and listen. Comedian Jason Sudeikis, who plays the title character, and some cast members of the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ show were at the White House to discuss mental health care with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Biden has previously called on lawmakers in both parties to expand resources to fight the "mental health crisis" in the nation as part of a bipartisan "unity agenda."

President Joe Biden says his administration is focused "intensely" on lowering health care costs. He is also taking aim at "MAGA" Republicans who he says are intent on dialing back Medicare coverage for millions of Americans. Biden used a speech Wednesday in Las Vegas, where he was wrapping a three-day Western swing, to make the case there are stark differences in how Democrats are tackling skyrocketing drug prices compared with their Republican counterparts. The remarks could serve as an early preview of the expected reelection campaign ahead as Biden aims to make his efforts at lowering drug costs central to his policy and political agenda.

President Joe Biden has started to unveil parts of his budget proposal being released later this week. The Democratic president is beginning with his plan for Medicare, including higher taxes on wealthy people to increase funding for the program's trust fund. Biden also wants to expand Medicare's ability to negotiate prescription drug prices. Biden wants to increase the Medicare tax rate from 3.8% to 5% on income exceeding $400,000 per year, including salaries and capital gains. That would likely increase tax revenues by more than $117 billion over 10 years, according to prior estimates by the Tax Policy Center. Biden writes Tuesday in The New York Times that Medicare is "the rock-solid guarantee that Americans have counted on to be there for them when they retire."

It's widely known from test scores that the pandemic set back students across the country. But many parents don't realize that includes their own child. Opportunities to catch up are plentiful in some places, thanks to federal COVID aid, but won't last forever. It will take better communication with parents to help students get the tutoring and other support they need, experts say. Cindi Williams is a co-founder of Learning Heroes, a nonprofit dedicated to improving communication between public schools and parents about student progress. She says: "Parents can't solve a problem that they don't know they have."

Residents in southwestern Virginia have battled for months over whether abortion clinics limited by strict laws in other states should be allowed to hop over the border and operate there. The conflict is not unique to this area. Similar disputes have broken out across the country following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. Moving clinics into communities just over state lines is intended to help women avoid traveling long distances. But that effort doesn't always go smoothly. Though they may live in more liberal states, residents of border cities can be more socially conservative.

Eli Lilly will cut prices for some older insulin later this year and immediately give more patients access to a cap on the costs they pay to fill prescriptions. The moves promise critical relief to some people with diabetes who can face annual costs of more than $1,000 for insulin. Lilly's changes also come as lawmakers pressure drugmakers to do something about soaring prices. Lilly said it will cut the list price for its most commonly prescribed insulin, Humalog, and for another insulin, Humulin, by 70% or more in the fourth quarter.

The Food and Drug Administration is pledging a reset in the agency's tobacco program. The head of the FDA's tobacco center on Friday promised to deliver a five-year strategic plan by year's end outlining FDA's priorities. The agency is responding to criticisms that its mission has been hampered by a lack of direction. The announcement comes as the tobacco center is besieged by criticism for its handling of both traditional tobacco products and newer vaping devices. Among other steps, the FDA said it will work more closely with other government agencies in efforts to crack down on unauthorized e-cigarettes

The U.S. abortion debate is shifting to funding as states take control of policymaking. Liberal cities and states are funding efforts to provide access to abortion, while Republican-led states are seeking new ways to financially support anti-abortion centers. Just months after Kansas voters affirmed abortion rights in August, the state's Republican-controlled Legislature is considering millions of dollars in state funds for such centers and millions more in income tax credits to their donors. Supporters say the effort to financially support the centers shows the anti-abortion movement is addressing the social and financial needs of women and families. Critics say the efforts fall short of what's necessary.

U.S. Agriculture officials have proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars. The proposed change would focus on sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries. The plan would also dramatically cut sodium in meals served to the nation's schoolkids by 2029, while boosting flexibility for foods made with whole grains. The proposal released Friday drew mixed reactions. Some school nutrition experts praised it as a way to improve children's health, but others said new regulations would be a burden.

Ayahuasca is a psychedelic tea whose roots go back hundreds of years to ceremonial use by Indigenous groups in the Amazon rainforest. Ayahuasca supporters found a foothold in the United States in the 1980s and interest has intensified more recently as celebrities like NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Hollywood star Will Smith talked about attending ceremonies. Many people who take the tea claim that ayahuasca brings them closer to God and thus have formed churches to celebrate it. Many believe it helps treat a range of mental health problems but others caution there haven't been large-scale studies to support those claims.

U.S. health officials are advising people to stop using over-the-counter eye drops that have been linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday night sent a health alert to physicians. It says the outbreak includes at least 55 people in 12 states. One died in Washington state. Disease investigators have linked the infections, including some found in blood, urine and lungs, to EzriCare Artificial Tears. Many of the patients said they had used the product, which is a lubricant used to treat irritation and dryness.

The U.S. plans to make it easier for gay and bisexual men to give blood by easing restrictions on groups that typically face higher risks of HIV. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed dropping the three-month abstinence requirement for donations from men who have sex with men. Donors would instead be screened using a questionnaire that evaluates individual risks for HIV, including sexual behavior. As a result, gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships could soon be able to donate blood for the first time in decades. The U.S. and other countries began restricting blood donations from gay and bisexual men during the AIDS crisis of the early 1980s.

Supporters of abortion rights have filed separate lawsuits challenging abortion pill restrictions in North Carolina and West Virginia. The lawsuits were filed Wednesday. They are the opening salvo in what's expected to a be a protracted legal battle over access to the medications. The lawsuits argue that state limits on the drugs run afoul of the federal authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency has approved the abortion pill as a safe and effective method for ending pregnancy. The cases were brought by a North Carolina physician and GenBioPro, which makes a generic version of the drug.

Drugstore chains are still trying to find enough employees to put a stop to temporary pharmacy closures. More than a year ago, a rush of vaccines, virus tests and a busy flu season overwhelmed many drugstores. The stores have made improvements. Major chains now routinely close pharmacy counters for lunch. They're dangling signing bonuses and raising pay. They also are spreading out workloads. Experts say more customer patience and bigger changes may be needed. One says there isn't a pharmacist shortage. He says there's a shortage of pharmacists who want to work in high-stress environments.

The South Carolina ban on abortions after cardiac activity is no more after the latest legal challenge to the state's 2021 law proved successful. The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the restrictions violate the state constitution's right to privacy. The measure banned abortions after cardiac activity is detected, typically around six weeks into a pregnancy, with exceptions for those caused by rape and incest or endangering the patient's life. Currently, South Carolina bars most abortion at 20 weeks. The decision comes about two years after Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed the measure into law. The ban drew a lawsuit almost immediately. Since then, legal challenges have made their way through both state and federal courts.

The number of young kids, especially toddlers, who accidentally ate marijuana-laced treats rose sharply over five years as pot became legal in more places in the U.S., according to a study published Tuesday.