Health & Medicine

Psychology

Phone apps are helping scientists track suicidal thoughts in real time

Researchers are using smartphones to tap into the ups and downs of suicidal thinking that occur over hours and days, hoping to help prevent suicides.

Health & Medicine

The number of teens who report having sex is down

About 40 percent of high school students are having sex, the lowest amount in the last three decades.

Health & Medicine

Kids with food allergies are twice as likely to have autism

Children with food allergies are more likely to have autism than kids without, a study finds. But that doesn’t mean a child will develop the disorder.

Health & Medicine

If you thought the most recent flu season was bad, you were right

The recent U.S. flu season was classified as highly severe overall, the third time since 2003 that the seasonal outbreak has earned that designation.

Health & Medicine

Suicide rates have shot up in almost every U.S. state

Suicide rates increased sharply in nearly all 50 states from 1999 to 2016, according to a new government report.

Health & Medicine

At-home telomere testing is not a reliable marker of aging, researcher says

Telomere testing for consumers offers a poor measure of “biological age,” says Johns Hopkins oncologist Mary Armanios.

Health & Medicine

There are benefits to prenatal yoga, but lingering questions remain

Prenatal yoga offers benefits to pregnant women, but a bigger and more rigorous body of research is needed.

Life

Dogs carry a surprising variety of flu viruses

Dogs in China carry a wider variety of flu viruses than previously thought, and may be capable of passing the flu to humans.

Health & Medicine

What we know — and don’t know — about a new migraine drug

A migraine prevention drug was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But some questions about the therapy remain.

Earth

Here’s a look at the world’s deadliest volcanoes — and the ways they kill

Scientists gathered data on nearly 280,000 global volcano deaths from 1500 to 2017 and sorted fatalities by cause of death, such as lava flows or gas.

Health & Medicine

‘Outbreak’ puts the life cycle of an epidemic on display

At the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the exhibit “Outbreak” highlights how infectious diseases shape our world.

Health & Medicine

Blame opioids for a fifth of young adult deaths in the United States

Of young adults aged 25 to 34 who died in 2016, 20 percent of those deaths were opioid-related.