Rural areas across the United States are increasingly offering telehealth services to improve access to quality healthcare for residents who are unable to visit a hospital due to cost or accessibility. In St. Robert, a town of 5,000 in southern Missouri, the telehealth network has been connecting patients to healthcare providers since the 1990s. Improved technology and broadband has made...
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How Does Assisting with Suicide Affect Physicians
When my mother was in her final months, suffering from a heart failure and other problems, she called me to her bedside with a pained expression. She took my hand and asked plaintively, “How do I get out of this mess?” As a physician, I dreaded the question that might follow: Would I help her end her life by prescribing...
How Mass Incarceration Harms U.S. Health, in 5 Charts
The U.S. incarcerates a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world. There’s little doubt among researchers that mass incarceration is wreaking havoc on our society, in particular on people of color, LGBTQ and the poor. What’s often overlooked in this discussion is the damage that prisons and jails do to our health – from those...
As Marijuana Goes Mainstream, What’s Happening to the Way We Talk About Weed?
For decades, the marijuana industry operated underground, outside the confines of the law. But even though at the federal level, possession and the use and sale of marijuana remain illegal, 29 states and the District of Columbia now allow medicinal marijuana to be sold for the treatment of specific diseases. Moreover, nine states now permit its recreational use. As...
How the Lowly Mushroom Is Becoming a Nutritional Star
Mushrooms are often considered only for their culinary use because they are packed with flavor-enhancers and have gourmet appeal. That is probably why they are the second most popular pizza topping, next to pepperoni. In the past, food scientists like me often praised mushrooms as healthy because of what they don’t contribute to the diet; they contain no cholesterol...
Aging: the Natural Stress Reliever for Many Women
While some research suggests that midlife is a dissatisfying time for women, other studies show that women report feeling less stressed and enjoy a higher quality of life during this period. So, which is it? A recent University of Michigan study by Elizabeth Hedgeman, a doctoral graduate of the U-M School of Public Health, and colleagues found that perceived stress–a...
