#public health

A new study finds that young adults spending six or more hours on recreational screens outside school or work show significantly worse blood pressure, cholesterol, and BMI compared to those with more limited screen time — adding to evidence linking sedentary digital behavior to early cardiovascular disease risk.

An AI-assisted study finds that roughly 155,000 COVID-19 deaths occurring outside hospitals went unrecognized in 2020 and 2021, suggesting the official toll understated the true death count by about 16 percent.

A major review in Nature Medicine argues that physical activity must be repositioned from a lifestyle recommendation to a foundational public health intervention, with implications for how health systems are designed and funded.

A landmark analysis finds that modifiable risk factors — smoking, obesity, alcohol, diet, and environmental exposures — account for a large and preventable share of the global cancer burden.

New analysis detects PFAS contamination on fruits and vegetables grown in California, raising concerns about pesticide pathways for persistent chemical exposure.

A new report warns that even a 1% annual decline in MMR vaccination rates could trigger 17,000 measles cases, 4,000 hospitalizations, and 36 preventable deaths each year in the U.S.

Dr. Casey Means, a prominent figure in the Make America Healthy Again movement, appeared before the Senate for her confirmation hearing as the nation's next Surgeon General. The Stanford-trained physician has championed metabolic health reform while drawing scrutiny for her unconventional medical views.

With nearly 1,000 confirmed measles cases in 2026 spread across close to half of U.S. states, public health officials are sounding the alarm about a broader crisis. Declining vaccination rates could open the door to resurgences of mumps, hepatitis B, and other diseases once thought conquered.

Traumatic brain injury affects an average of 110 people every day in New Zealand, yet persistent myths about its causes and victims continue to shape public perception. New research debunks five common misconceptions, revealing that falls — not sports or vehicle accidents — are the leading cause.

Maryland has reported 26 mumps cases in the first two months of 2026, compared to just four cases for all of 2025. Most infections are concentrated in the Baltimore metropolitan area, and the majority of affected individuals had been vaccinated.

Researchers have detected dangerous levels of cadmium, lead, and other heavy metals in bananas, cassava, and cocoa grown in soil contaminated by the 2015 Fundão dam collapse. The findings raise particular concerns for young children, who face elevated health risks from consuming contaminated produce.

MIT Technology Review's latest newsletter explores two converging tech stories: the alarming surge in high-tech luxury vehicle theft and a scientist's groundbreaking use of AI to discover new antibiotics from unexpected sources.

University of Minnesota researchers have documented the first case of a Legionnaires' disease outbreak being halted through disinfection of previously untreated groundwater, raising urgent questions about disease risk in the many U.S. communities that rely on undisinfected water supplies.

A comprehensive review of over 80 peer-reviewed studies finds that contracting out health care can improve access in remote areas, but only when governments maintain strong oversight and communities have a real say in how services are run.

The World Health Organization has called a CDC-funded $1.6 million trial in Guinea-Bissau unethical, saying it would withhold a proven life-saving vaccine from newborns in a country where 1 in 5 people carry hepatitis B.

Three major environmental rollbacks targeting emission standards, mercury rules, and the endangerment finding could expose millions of Texans to increased air pollution, higher energy costs, and worsening extreme weather.

After 25 years of rising overdose rates, the U.S. is seeing a significant decline in drug-related deaths, driven in part by fentanyl users increasingly switching from injection to smoking.

A nationally representative study reveals neurodivergent young people face double the odds of dating violence compared to neurotypical peers.