Foods rich in vitamin D may help protect younger adults against colon cancer, researchers report. While colon cancer is decreasing overall, cases among younger adults have been on the rise. The trends dovetail with a decline in vitamin D intake from foods such as fish, mushrooms, eggs and milk. There is growing evidence of a…  read on >  read on >

The anesthesia drug ketamine and a related medicine called esketamine appear to be safe for tough-to-treat depression, researchers report. A number of studies have suggested that low doses of ketamine, which is also abused as a club drug under monikers that include “K” and “Special K,” provide rapid antidepressant effects, typically improving mood within 24…  read on >  read on >

Five years after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention retooled a guideline for prescribing opioid painkillers, research suggests the change is paying off. With the United States in the grip of an opioid overdose epidemic, the CDC released an evidence-based guideline in 2016 to help doctors treat patients’ pain while balancing the risks…  read on >  read on >

The largest permanent increase in the history of the United States’ food stamp program and changes to its nutrition standards will be announced Monday. Supporters say the changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program that benefits 42 million Americans will better reflect how people eat and will help improve nutrition, reduce hunger and…  read on >  read on >

Young Americans from low-income homes are more likely than those whose families are better off to be unhappy with the way they look and to have an eating disorder, a new study finds. University of Minnesota researchers examined 2010-18 data from Project EAT, a long-running study tracking the general health and well-being of teens as…  read on >  read on >