Middle age is a tipping point for the brain and can offer clues about the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, emerging scientific evidence shows.
Why it matters: The decades between 40 and 60 years old could be a key time for early interventions and provide a knowledge base for new therapies to prevent disease.
The Texas Medical Board's proposed guidance on exceptions to the state's abortion ban does not offer doctors enough clarity, critics say.
Why it matters: The ban, which makes performing an abortion a felony, has led some hospitals to refuse to treat even patients with serious pregnancy complications — though the law makes an exception for medical emergencies.
A huge happiness gap is opening between American adults and teens.
The big picture: Depression has hit teens much harder than adults in the smartphone era (charted above), according to National Survey on Drug Use and Health data.
The latest government funding deal wasn't just stripped of big health policy changes — it also lacks significant raises for a host of federal health agencies.
Why it matters: A gridlocked Congress essentially settled on flat funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, avoiding an automatic sequester cut while leaving pandemic preparedness, mental health, biomedical research and public health efforts running at or near the status quo.
Five years afterthe creation of the first state board empowered to cap prescription drug costs, patients still haven't seen any savings from these efforts.
Why it matters: Even as more blue and purple states embrace public drug pricing boards amid angst over high medicine costs, it could still be months or even years before they start to bring down prices.
Don't give your kid a smartphone before high school, and don't let them use social media before age 16, New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues in a new book.
Why it matters: The shift from "play-based" to "phone-based" childhoods is making our kids sick and miserable, Haidt argues.
A shocking number of American kids are sad, suicidal and stuck on small screens sucking away their zest for life.
Why it matters: This is the indisputable and alarming trend among American children, based on the latest polling and deep research by an NYU professor in a book out next week.
