60-Second Health

The common food additives altered mice microbiomes to encourage gut inflammation and overeating. Dina Fine Maron reports

Although clinical guidelines assume just two years for hot flashes and night sweats, a large study finds a median symptom duration of more than three times that length. Dina Fine Maron reports

High-tech pedometers do a decent job of counting steps accurately. Dina Fine Maron reports.

Some 42 percent of U.S. adults who drink have been prescribed a drug that may interact negatively with alcohol. Dina Fine Maron reports

Strains of the lab workhorse roundworm C. elegans that lived longer added more time being frail and had the same portion of their lives being healthy as normal worms. The work has implications for life-extension ideas such as caloric restriction. Dina Fine Maron reports

Researchers tracked 70,000 for decades to find lifestyle clues for better cardiovascular condition. Dina Fine Maron reports

Volunteers who read from an iPad before bed took longer to fall asleep and had less restful nights than when they read from a printed book. Dina Fine Maron reports.

Nonpasteurized milk is fueling more outbreaks and hospitalizations. Dina Fine Maron reports

Careful tracking of more than 50,000 women during the six weeks after the procedure finds that serious adverse effects are rare. Dina Fine Maron reports

People with type 2 diabetes in middle age had greater cognitive impairment in the following decades than did their nondiabetic counterparts. Dina Fine Maron reports

The World Health Organization issues a new report on the neglected public health issue of drowning

A 10-second makeout session can also transfer some 80 million oral bacteria. Dina Fine Maron reports

A first-of-its-kind study finds it’s possible to analyze snake DNA left in a bite victim’s wound to identify the species—and thus the correct antivenom. Dina Fine Maron reports

Diagnostics, vaccines and new drugs could vastly improve the way future Ebola outbreaks manifest in Africa, according to emerging infectious disease expert Jeremy Farrar. Steve Mirsky reports

Should Ebola continue to crop up in the U.S., having fewer people coming to emergency rooms with the similar symptoms of flu will help the public health system respond. Steve Mirsky reports

Physically active children are healthier and score better on intellectual tests than their sedentary peers. Dina Fine Maron reports

In a bid to boost fitness, new park benches in Moscow will let sitters see their weight and receive health tips. Dina Fine Maron reports

A study in mice suggests that chemical changes that occur during dry roasting may increase the odds of an allergic reaction. Dina Fine Maron reports

A new study reveals that bacteria associated with staph infections can hitch a ride in workers’ noses. Dina Fine Maron reports

Sisters spend double the time caring for parents as their brothers. Dina Fine Maron reports

In Chicago monitoring Twitter for reports of food poisoning led to 133 restaurant inspections for health violations, with 21 establishments shut down. Dina Fine Maron reports

Patients in low-income zip codes were up to 10 times more likely to lose a leg or foot than diabetic patients in more affluent zip codes. Dina Fine Maron reports

An analysis of 130,000 runners in events during a seven-year span revealed that competitors were 10 times more likely to experience heat stroke than serious cardiac problems. Dina Fine Maron reports

When refilled prescriptions for post–heart attack care resulted in the same medication looking different in shape or color, patients were significantly more likely to stop taking their meds. Dina Fine Maron reports

Headbanging can cause pain or even whiplash. But a 50-year-old Motörhead fan developed a more serious condition, bleeding in the brain that required surgical repair, after headbanging at a concert. Dina Fine Maron reports

The ReWalk exoskeleton allows some people paralyzed from the waist down to walk again, with the aid of crutches. Dina Fine Maron reports

Mice regularly exposed to UV light produced feel-good endorphins and behaved like addicts. If humans do, too, it could explain why we seek sun, despite damage. Dina Fine Maron reports

A helmet placed on the head of a stroke victim sends low-intensity microwaves through the brain to quickly determine whether a blockage or hemorrhage is taking place, making faster treatment possible. Wayt Gibbs reports

Researchers who compared peer-reviewed articles to the Wikipedia pages for the 10 most costly medical conditions in the U.S. discovered incorrect information on nine out of 10 pages. Dina Fine Maron reports

Compared with 50 years ago, today's heroin user is whiter, more suburban and had prescription opioids for a gateway. Dina Fine Maron reports

Low-power laser light shined on damaged rat teeth activates growth factors that cue stem cells to generate the tooth constituent dentin, leading to regeneration.  Dina Fine Maron reports

Children of smokers who popped vitamin C during pregnancy had better lung function than kids of other women who also smoked during pregnancy. Dina Fine Maron reports

Just a few nail drying sessions under the highest output UV bulbs used in some salons could age the skin and bump up the risk of skin cancer. Dina Fine Maron reports

Sneeze and cough particles form a cloud whose turbulence pulls in surrounding air, which allows the goop to maintain buoyancy and move farther than expected. Cynthia Graber reports

Exposure to bright light in the morning appears linked to reduced appetite and lower body weight, regardless of sleep patterns. Sophie Bushwick reports

Residues of the antimicrobial agent triclosan can paradoxically boost bacterial growth in our bodies, by giving microbes a comfortable biofilm in which to rest. Christopher Intagliata reports

The number of Americans aged 60 or more who issued advance directives governing their end-of-life care went from 47 percent in 2000 to 72 percent in 2010. Dina Fine Maron reports

Bones are filled with a viscous fluid that’s key to their function as support structures, and which could inform osteoporosis research. Dina Fine Maron reports

Stan Conte, vice president of medical services for the L.A. Dodgers, advised parents and coaches of young athletes to not consider Tommy John surgery on healthy arms for the sake of improving performance. He spoke at the SABR conference in Phoenix on March 13. Steve Mirsky reports

After flu shot regulations upped Connecticut kids' vaccination rate, their hospitalization risk went down. Dina Fine Maron reports

The mere presence of a TV in a child's bedroom is linked with weight gain—regardless of how many hours per week a youngster watches it. Dina Fine Maron reports

Volunteers who handled receipts containing the hormone-altering compound bisphenol A for two hours showed elevated BPA levels in their urine. Dina Fine Maron reports

A meta-analysis finds that concussions accounted for between 6 and 9 percent of all injuries sustained on soccer fields. Dina Fine Maron reports

The CDC reports that locally acquired Dengue killed a Texas woman in 2012 who had been misdiagnosed with West Nile virus. Dina Fine Maron reports

A study of more than 600 asthmatic children at one Ohio hospital found that if the kids’ saliva tested positive for markers of nicotine exposure, the children were about twice as likely to be readmitted over the next year for breathing issues. Dina Fine Maron reports

People who drank vodka with a diet mixer had breath alcohol levels 18 percent higher than when they drank alcohol with full-calorie soda. Sophie Bushwick reports

Between 1999 and 2010 changes in seafood consumption meant that blood levels of mercury in women of childbearing age dropped by a third, and the percentage of such women who have worrisome blood levels of mercury dropped by two thirds. Dina Fine Maron reports

In annual physicals teens and docs failed to talk sex a third of the time and usually too briefly when the subject was addressed. Dina Fine Maron reports

Middle-aged to elderly adults with no history of exercising still saw significant health benefits from even small additions of regular physical activity to their schedules. Dina Fine Maron reports

A population model suggests that a small dietary change, such as eating a daily piece of fruit instead of the equivalent calories in less healthful fare, may stave off as many heart-related deaths as would statins. Christopher Intagliata reports