Health & Disease

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Collage showing children, some of them obese, plus fast food and other diabetes risk factors.

Understanding the sudden rise of type 2 diabetes in children

The metabolic disorder was long known as a disease of adulthood. Now, it’s spiking in kids and teens, with worrisome consequences.

Drawing of tiny people holding, carrying and trying to push the metal balls of an outsized Newton’s cradle.

Society

Are you a workaholic? Here’s how to spot the signs

In a major shift, psychologists now view an out-of-control compulsion to work as an addiction with its own set of risk factors and consequences

Conceptual illustration shows a person vaulting over a book and calendar away from bad habits and poor willpower, as depicted by unhealthy food and money and scrunched-up paper.

The Mind

Time for half-year resolutions?

If your good intentions from a few months ago haven’t led to much, take note. A psychologist tells us what we can learn from studies on willpower.

Large platters hold monkey meat that has been cooked. Several women stand behind the platters.

Food & Environment

In defense of wild meat’s place at the table

Sustainable and safe consumption of wildlife is possible, and important for those who depend on it, says a conservation researcher

A paper diagram of a body that’s missing the mouth, a gloved hand holds a cutout with the mouth

Health & Disease

Why isn’t dental health considered primary medical care?

Ailments of the mouth can put the body at risk for a slew of other ills. Some practitioners think dentistry should no longer be siloed.

Conceptual illustration includes a state capitol building, tall mushrooms, a statue of Justice holding a scale, a pack of pills, and a bright pink, yellow and orange sky with molecules and other wavy patterns visible in it.

Society

Psychedelic drugs and the law: What’s next?

The push to legalize magic mushrooms, MDMA, LSD and other hallucinogens is likely to heighten tensions between state and federal law, drug law expert Robert Mikos says

Conceptual art shows a disposable cup, straw and a bunch of sugar lumps on a blue background.

Health & Disease

Soda taxes can’t reverse the obesity epidemic

OPINION: They might be able to help, but only if well-designed and in combination with other policies

Photograph shows many dark brown bed bugs clustered together.

Health & Disease

Getting rid of bed bugs: Trickier than ever

The blood-sucking insects now show up in two varieties and are resistant to many pesticides. New eradication strategies include fungal spores and nasty human odors.

Artist’s rendering of uterus and stem cells in menstrual blood

Health & Disease

The untapped potential of stem cells in menstrual blood

Long overlooked, menstrual stem cells could have important medical applications, including diagnosing endometriosis

Conceptual illustration shows a teeter totter with people on both ends. One side, on the ground, has a much larger number of people on it than the other, which just has a few people and is raised up in the air.

Health & Disease

We urgently need data for equitable personalized medicine

OPINION: A massive bias in medical studies toward men of European origin means that genetic variants in understudied populations don’t get the focus they deserve

A DNA double helix delineates a line graph with a bell curve shape. A few of the base pairs are highlighted in pink. Human silhouettes appear atop the curve, with most of them in the middle and just a few at the extremes. Some of the people are holding chromosome shapes.

Health & Disease

Genes and heart disease: Finally making the link

Polygenic risk scores — a patient’s chance, based on tiny DNA variants, of developing cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and more — are coming to clinics. But there are kinks to iron out and accuracy remains an issue.

An array of yellow balls that have happy faces on them.

The Mind

Scientists scrutinize happiness research

From meditation to smiling, researchers take a second look at studies claiming to reveal what makes us happy

Conceptual illustration in bright colors includes syringe, the moon, meat, ocean waves, a virus, flames, a battery and more.

Society

How optimizing indoor humidity can help stop the spread of Covid and flu

OPINION: Recent CDC guidelines for indoor air quality disregard the benefits of humidity. But research shows it can kill viruses and help thwart infections.

An illustration depicts a pregnant person consulting with a doctor. Insets show her fetus and an RNA molecule.

Health & Disease

New noninvasive RNA tests could help identify at-risk pregnancies

The next wave of prenatal screening looks for fragments of RNA within the blood to flag risk of preeclampsia and preterm labor

An illustration shows a crowd of people with different colors, representing a contagious illness, passing from left to right.

Health & Disease

Preparing for future pandemics: Learning from Covid-19

VIDEO: Knowable Magazine’s interviews with experts during the pandemic revealed many missed opportunities and blunders in the US response to Covid-19, which was marked by excess American deaths and disability. The experience does offer lessons on how to better prepare for what scientists call the inevitable emergence of the next global health emergency.