Health

Minnesota has one of the lowest stroke death rates in the nation, but that death rate took a slight tick upward in 2010.

Many years ago, I had a lively discussion with a surgeon about whether the imminent removal of my swollen and inflamed appendix was going to be good or bad for my long-term health.

What do bird flu and a decision about the morning-after pill have in common? Both made our experts’ list. 

Amy Winehouse’s sad and tragic death this year at the age of 27 inevitably revised talk of the “27 Club” — the group of (mostly) rock-and-roll musicians who have died at that age.
Among the most famous members of this macabre club are Brian Jones,

An article in Monday’s New York Times examines the hypothesis that acetaminophen increases the risk of childhood asthma.
As reporter Christie Aschwanden points out, the percentage of U.S. children with asthma began to accelerate in the 1980s.

From Lorna Benson of Minnesota Public Radio:
The University of Minnesota Medical School has sent a cautionary letter to one of its surgeons for violating several conflict of interest disclosure requirements.
The review of Dr.

In a recent entry in his Not Exactly Rocket Science blog for Discover Magazine, science writer Ed Yong describes some ongoing research involving the brains of London’s black-cab (taxi) drivers.
It’s research that should be a bit reassuring to the r

Sarah Palin’s 2009 false “death panel” charges made any reasonable public discussion about end-of-life medical care almost impossible.
Maybe, just maybe, we’re ready to leave fear-mongering behind and return to a rational conversation about this to

“Action slips” happen to all of us from time to time.

Women with unwanted pregnancies who have an abortion are no more likely to develop mental health problems such as anxiety and depression than those who give birth, a comprehensive new British study has found.
The study, which was conducted by Brita

The scientific quest to figure out the placebo effect — and the role, if any, it should play in modern medicine — is the focus of an article in the current (Dec.

Maran Wolston, a 30-year-old graduate student, has published a powerful first-person account about how a patient’s trust in a physician can be seriously eroded by the physician’s financial relationships with drug companies.

I’ve never understood why parents serve their kids high-sugared cereals for breakfast.

When it comes to U.S. presidents, graying hair and deeper wrinkles shouldn’t be confused with accelerated aging.

Minnesota Wild fans should read New York Times’ reporter John Branch’s moving and disturbing series on the hockey enforcer’s professional rise and fall.David Brauer: How the New York Times got that story

An interview with Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, the Columbia University oncologist and author of the 2011 Pulitzer-Prize winning “biography” of cancer, “The Emperor of All Maladies,” appeared in the British newspaper The Guardian over the weekend.

‘Tis the season for multitasking. After all, there’s extra shopping, cooking, entertaining and holiday events to attend to over the next few weeks.
Working parents are particularly burdened with these tasks.

The integrity of psychological research (like medical research) has come increasingly under fire.
Earlier this year, a scandal erupted about the work of a prominent and extensively published psychologist, Diederik Stapel, most recently of Tilburg U

Snacking in the morning — as opposed to in the afternoon or evening — may make it more difficult to lose weight, according to a study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
This finding — which surprise