States that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act saw a greater increase in low-income adults who quit smoking than did states that did not expand Medicaid, a new study found. Under the health care act, states that expanded Medicaid had to offer services to help people quit smoking. About 30 percent of low-income adults…  read on >

Despite the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Accord on climate change, the United States will benefit from international efforts to slow the global environmental threat, researchers say. Improvements in air quality and health are likely as a result of domestic and global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study led by…  read on >

Every year, about 5 million Americans are treated for skin cancer — an abnormal growth of skin cells that most often develops on areas exposed to the sun. You can spot early signs by regularly checking your skin for changes. Everyone is susceptible to skin cancer. However, people who have light skin that burns easily,…  read on >

Aggressively treating gum disease may help lower blood pressure in people at high risk for high blood pressure, according to new research. The study involved 107 Chinese women and men, aged 18 and older, who had pre-hypertension (blood pressure on the high end of normal) and moderate to severe gum disease. Half received intensive treatment…  read on >

Too much stress may make it difficult to fall asleep or stay that way. The National Sleep Foundation says your body may be offering clues that there’s too much stress in your life. Among them: Your mind continues to race after your head hits the pillow. You have muscle tension and pain. Your heart races.…  read on >

Consumption of sodas and other sweet drinks — a big source of sugar in Americans’ diets — has dropped in the past decade among both kids and adults, researchers find. Overall, the number of adults who said they drank a sugary beverage on a daily basis dropped by 12 percentage points between 2003 and 2014,…  read on >

A spike in the amount of time teenage girls in the United States spend online is a likely culprit behind the surge in rates of depression, suicide and contemplation of suicide, new research suggests. The finding stems from an analysis of fatal injury data collected between 1999 and 2015 by the U.S. Centers for Disease…  read on >

A life-threatening heart emergency can spell financial doom for people who don’t have health insurance, a pair of new studies shows. Around 4 out of 5 uninsured patients hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke or heart bypass surgery faced financial ruin before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010, the researchers reported. “Medical…  read on >

It’s a common Hollywood trope — an older guy is having enthusiastic sex with a gal half his age when he suddenly flops over dead. But in real life, sexual activity very rarely causes cardiac arrest, a new study reassuringly reports. Sex was linked to only 34 out of more than 4,500 cardiac arrests that…  read on >