Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    What to know about the first bird flu–related death in the U.S.

    H5N1 has infected 66 people in the United States since early 2024, mostly causing mild illness. A Louisiana man was the first to get severely sick.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  2. Health & Medicine

    AI helps doctors detect more breast cancer in the largest real-world study

    AI is as good as clinicians at interpreting mammograms, a cancer study with nearly 500,000 participants in Germany suggests.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  3. Health & Medicine

    The spread of breast cancer may be inherited

    A variant of PCSK9, a gene involved in raising cholesterol, may spur metastasis. An approved antibody might stop it.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  4. Health & Medicine

    Short bursts of physical activity cut women’s risk of heart attack

    Even just a few minutes of vigorous movement per day lowers the risk of serious cardiovascular problems, like heart attack and heart failure, in women.

    By Meghan Rosen
  5. Health & Medicine

    Dogs team up with AI to sniff out cancer

    Scientists paired Labrador retrievers with an AI model in a new screening test for breast, lung, colorectal or prostate cancer.

    By Meghan Rosen
  6. Health & Medicine

    Telehealth helps people get health care, but access may soon be in limbo

    COVID-era telehealth laws made health care more accessible for rural patients, but telehealth might not be as easy to access next year.

    By Sophie Hartley and Andrea Tamayo
  7. Health & Medicine

    Stage 0 breast cancer patients may not need to rush to surgery

    Women with Stage 0 breast cancer who got biannual mammograms and delayed surgery for two years fared as well as those who got immediate surgery.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  8. Health & Medicine

    Deaths related to the cold have grown since 1999 in the U.S.

    From 1999 to 2022, the rate of cold-related deaths rose from about 4 per 1 million people to 9 per 1 million in the United States.

    By Aimee Cunningham
  9. Health & Medicine

    Here’s how public health fared in 2024

    Viral outbreaks, extreme heat and access to clean water are among the year’s big public health headlines.

    By Aimee Cunningham
  10. Space

    These discoveries in 2024 could be groundbreaking — if they’re true

    Did microbes ever live on Mars? Did an "elevator" help build Egypt’s first pyramid? Some signs pointed to yes this year, but confirmation is still needed.

    By Maria Temming
  11. Health & Medicine

    Cancer screening and quitting smoking have saved nearly 6 million lives

    Prevention, screening and treatment advances combined stopped 5.94 million deaths from cancer in the United States from 1975 through 2020.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  12. Health & Medicine

    These are the viruses that defined 2024

    Here’s the latest on mpox, bird flu, dengue and other viral outbreaks that flared up this year.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús