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How Weight Training Helps Women Through Hormonal Changes
The hormonal changes women undergo throughout their lives can affect muscle and bone health. Menopause, for example, dramatically speeds bone loss, with
Glyphosate: A story of science, risk, and nuance
In the summer of 2014, a California groundskeeper named Dewayne Johnson started noticing patches of raw, weeping skin spreading across his body. He had spent years applying Roundup, Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicide, for a school district, sometimes drenched in it when equipment malfunctioned. By 2014, he had a diagnosis: non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2018, a jury awarded him $289 million in damages, later reduced on appeal. Tens of thousands of lawsuits followed. The story hasn’t quieted down. It’s all over the internet, swinging between “this will kill you, buy organic” and “relax, you’re fear-mongering.” Some of that recent chatter stems from an Executive Order protecting glyphosate and its production, which set off intense infighting within the MAHA movement. Some of it reflects a deeper truth: Americans genuinely care about harmful chemicals in their environment (see poll below). And the conversation isn’t going anywhere, with a Supreme Court case involving Monsanto set for this April. Glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. But does glyphosate cause cancer? And how much exposure is actually risky? With so much mistrust in institutions and corporations (and some genuine conflicts of interest), making sense of the actual scientific evidence is genuinely hard. Here is a translation of what the scientific evidence actually says. Does glyphosate cause harm? Glyphosate is an herbicide that kills most plants it contacts rather than targeting specific species. It works by blocking an enzyme pathway (EPSPS) that plants and many microorganisms need to produce essential amino acids. Without those amino acids, the plant can’t grow and dies. Glyphosate was first developed by Monsanto in the 1970s and became ubiquitous after the company introduced “Roundup Ready” crops in the 1990s. In 2024, Bayer removed glyphosate from residential Roundup-branded products due to litigation pressure. But today it is still the most widely used herbicide in the world. Farmers also discovered they could spray it directly on crops like oats, lentils, beans, and peas just before harvest to dry them out faster and make harvesting easier. Because of its widespread use, it’s obviously really important to understand if it’s harmful to humans. The key principle: The dose makes the poison The most important concept in toxicology is that “the dose makes the poison.” Sixteenth-century physician Paracelsus articulated what remains the foundational principle of toxicology: sola dosis facit venenum. Water will kill you if you drink enough of it. Aspirin saves lives at 81 milligrams and causes internal bleeding at higher chronic doses. So, at what dose is glyphosate poisonous? The LD50 in rats (the dose that kills half the test animals) is around 5,600 mg/kg body weight. Table salt is roughly 3,000 mg/kg. By that classic measure, glyphosate is less acutely toxic than salt. But some people are exposed to a lot of glyphosate through their work. And among the general public, there are many questions about low-dose, cumulative exposure from multiple sources over long periods. Does glyphosate cause health problems? Cancer Correlation maps are striking, with one analysis finding that 60% of counties that spray the most glyphosate have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma rates above the national average. But correlation alone doesn’t establish cause, which is why animal and human studies matter. In animals: Rat studies are typically what most fear is rooted in, but most people don’t know the study details on the dosage given to rats. A pooled analysis of the 13 most rigorous rat studies found evidence that very high doses, around 55,000 times greater than typical food residue exposure, can cause certain cancers. In humans: One of the strongest studies followed 55,000 herbicide users over 20 years and found no overall increased cancer risk. There was one signal: among those with the highest use, rates of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) appeared elevated. A broader meta-analysis of 18 human studies also found no overall cancer risk, though a separate meta-analysis focused specifically on non-Hodgkin lymphoma found that people with high cumulative glyphosate exposure faced a 41% higher relative risk compared to those with low or no exposure. These human studies are observational studies (randomized controlled trials would be unethical), and meta-analyses are only as reliable as the studies they pool. But the story seems consistent: at very high exposure levels, there may be some cancer risk. But that’s about as far as the science currently takes us. Emerging research: gut and reproductive health Gut: Because glyphosate targets a pathway that exists in some gut bacteria, scientists have questioned whether it could affect the microbiome. In mice, a 2023 University of Iowa study found that glyphosate altered gut bacterial composition and raised markers of intestinal inflammation. A 2024 systematic review found similar patterns: disrupted gut bacteria and problems with the mucus layer that protects the intestinal wall in mice. Whether this translates to humans is an open question. The human gut is highly variable and resistant, and we don't yet have strong studies confirming the same effects in people. Reproductive health: Animal studies have found that glyphosate-based herbicides can interfere with reproductive hormones, including disrupting egg cell development in mice and reducing the number of eggs available in sheep’s ovaries. However, the doses used in these experiments were high, so it’s not yet clear whether the same effects would occur in humans. On the human side, a 2021 pilot study led by Mount Sinai researchers tested urine samples from pregnant women across the U.S. and found glyphosate in 95% of them. The study also found a possible connection between higher glyphosate exposure during pregnancy and a subtle physical difference measured in female newborns. That said, some connections weren’t statistically reliable and this was a small study. The researchers themselves said more and larger studies are needed before drawing firm conclusions. What do regulators say about glyphosate safety? In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A). The classification is worth taking seriously. But, there’s an important distinction: IARC classifies hazard, meaning the potential to cause harm under some conditions. It does not assess risk, which accounts for actual exposure levels and the real-world probability of harm. The U.S. EPA, the European Food Safety Authority, Health Canada, and regulatory agencies in Australia and Japan have all concluded that glyphosate is “unlikely to be carcinogenic to humans” at realistic exposure levels. They’re asking a different question: given how much of this people actually encounter, what is the probability of harm? Your actual exposure is what determines your actual risk. What does glyphosate mean for your daily life? At the grocery store: Food residues are small. The EPA’s acceptable daily intake is 1.75 mg/kg of body weight per day. To hit that threshold from oatmeal alone, a 150-pound adult would need to eat roughly 50 pounds of oats every day. But this calculation addresses only one pathway (food), and we don’t yet have robust tools to measure people’s actual total exposure. If reducing exposure matters to you, organic certification prohibits synthetic herbicides, and organic oat products generally test at lower or undetectable levels. Either way, a diet rich in whole grains, conventional or organic, is far better for your health than one that omits them out of fear of residues. On the farm: Occupational exposure is orders of magnitude higher than consumer exposure. Farmers and farm workers who mix, load, and apply glyphosate-based herbicides, especially without protective equipment, face meaningfully different risk profiles. Proper PPE isn’t optional. Integrated weed management strategies that rotate chemical modes of action are also worth taking seriously, both for health and for long-term effectiveness. If you live near a farm: Spray drift is real. Concentrations near field edges can spike during and after application, particularly on windy days. This is an area where I think public health could really step up and empower rural communities with buffer zones, rather than placing the onus on individuals. But for now, knowing your local agricultural calendar and keeping windows closed during application are the first steps. Bottom line Dewayne Johnson was exposed to glyphosate at levels most people will never encounter, and a jury decided he deserved compensation. That outcome is not evidence that the oatmeal in your pantry is dangerous. But it is a reminder that the dose, the context, and the person doing the exposing all matter enormously. Glyphosate is a chemical tool with benefits, trade-offs, and genuine open scientific questions. Learning to hold that complexity without collapsing into panic or dismissal is, honestly, one of the most useful and hardest things to do in navigating modern health science. Love, YLE Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. Hannah Totte, MPH, is an epidemiologist and YLE Community Manager. YLE reaches more than 425,000 people in over 132 countries with one goal: “Translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Subscribe
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Mills halts kennel ordinance at second reading amid showing for business owner
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Paul George ready to be 'the focal guy' for shorthanded 76ers upon return from suspension
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Accelerating Innovative and Effective Pediatric Health Care Delivery Systems: Interventions and Value-Based Care Models for Children with Chronic Health Conditions and Complex Social Needs
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TSA lines are so bad that United, Delta waive change fees
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Pound loses footing, business activity growth slows on Iran war hit
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Can pesticide exposure before pregnancy affect babies’ health?
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How Will Gravity on Mars Affect Humans? A New Study Reveals a Clue.
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Khloé Kardashian Recalls How Her Divorce from Lamar Odom Made Her ‘Obsessed’ with Leading a Healthy Lifestyle
Khloé Kardashian opened up about her relationship with diet and exercise on the March 18 episode of her podcast, ‘Khloé in Wonder Land.’ She said she became ‘obsessed’ with exercise after examining how her food choices were affecting her quality of life.
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
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Security researchers broke into a MediaTek-powered Nothing phone in just 45 seconds
Security researchers cracked a MediaTek-powered Nothing CMF Phone 1 in 45 seconds, exposing a vulnerability that potentially affects millions of Android phones.
NH cyber security expert calls Stryker hack a 'critical infrastructure attack'
The cyberattack affected people across the country, including a woman in New Hampshire who went in for surgery Wednesday morning.
The toll the war in Iran has on the U.S. economy
The United States’ war in Iran is roiling global oil markets. We discuss how that affects the American economy — not just at the gas pump — and how those economic challenges are playing in this year’s elections.This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
National Write Your Congressman Q1 2026 Index: Small Business Owners Call for Congressional Action on Spending, Regulatory Relief and Tariffs
National Write Your Congressman (NWYC), an organization that gives small businesses a voice in government, released its Q1 2026 Index, highlighting small business sentiment toward Congress, the U.S. economy, and federal policies affecting business.
Trump Hotel restaurant flunked December health inspection because it was ‘affected by pests’
A city health inspector cited the restaurant at Trump's Chicago tower for a handful of violations in December.
Rising gas prices affect San Joaquin County small businesses, gig workers
Gas prices are soaring in California. This is directly impacting small business food trucks and delivery drivers in San Joaquin County.
Is gambling hurting the integrity of sports? Here’s what Missouri and Kansas experts say
Since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized sports betting in 2018, nearly 40 states have legalized the practice, including Kansas and Missouri. As professional sports teams partner with sportsbooks and gambling scandals continue to affect leagues, how much is the integrity of sports at risk?
Microsoft SQL Server Zero-Day Vulnerability Allows Attackers to Escalate Privileges
Microsoft has disclosed a critical zero-day vulnerability in SQL Server that allows authenticated attackers to escalate their privileges to the highest administrative level on affected database systems.
Malcolm X College to hold its first ever Health Equity Summit on March 18 & 19
“Malcolm X College is proud to convene leaders, students, educators, and community members for our inaugural Health Equity Summit as we work together to confront the health disparities affecting communities across Chicago. By centering collaboration and the voices of those most impacted we are creating space for meaningful dialogue and actionable solutions that can transform health outcomes,” said Dr. David Sanders, president of Malcolm X College. “We envision this summit becoming an annual catalyst for partnership, learning, and sustained progress toward a stronger and healthier Chicago for all.”
4 Common Medications That Can Mess With Your Gut Health
Some medications may disrupt the “good” bacteria in your gut microbiome, potentially affecting your digestive and overall health.
Poll: Most Americans oppose war in Iran, but most Republicans support it
A majority of Americans oppose the United States' military action in Iran, according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. However, that opposition breaks down along party lines, with a majority of Republicans saying they support the war. We discuss whether the lack of public support could alter President Trump's next steps and how the war could affect this year's midterm elections.This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Cannabis compounds could reverse disease affecting one-third of adults
Compounds found in cannabis could provide a new roadmap for treating the world’s most common chronic liver disorder, according to a study released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Valve Confirms Steam Frame is Still Coming This Year, Now Marked as "coming soon"
Valve’s upcoming standalone VR headset Steam Frame is still shipping sometime this year, the company says, as it is now marked as “coming soon” on the Steam backend. In a hardware news update last month, Valve announced that Steam Frame, Steam Machine, and Steam Controller are all being affected by the wider RAM and storage component shortage. […]
INTEGRIS Health issues statement after ending childcare and 'Fun & Fit' programs
INTEGRIS Health announces closure of childcare programs at Baptist and Southwest Medical Center locations, affecting parents and staff. Learn about the August 14 deadline and the reasons behind this decision.
How springing forward to daylight saving time could affect your health
Most of the U.S. springs forward Sunday losing one hour of sleep that can disrupt circadian rhythm and raise short term risks of crashes and heart attacks.
How springing forward to daylight saving time could affect your health
Losing an hour of sleep as daylight saving time kicks in can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day - it also could harm your health.
How springing forward to daylight saving time could affect your health
Most of America “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time.
How springing forward to daylight saving time could affect your health
Most of America “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time.
‘It can affect everyone’: Capitals therapist details mental health struggles athletes face
As the U.S. faces a mental health crisis, one therapist is telling WTOP that practicing mindfulness strategies could vastly improve struggles.
NetEase to Stop Funding Nagoshi Studio as It Cuts Back on Gaming
NetEase Inc. will cut off funding to the studio led by Yakuza franchise creator Toshihiro Nagoshi, the latest to be affected by the Chinese company’s broader strategy to shrink game development activities.
NBA MVP power rankings: Will Jaylen Brown be impacted by teammate's return?
Injuries are impacting the race for NBA Most Valuable Player. And now, Jayson Tatum's return from injury could also affect the race.
Rice Business event explores how AI can innovate hiring, finance, health care and more
At the second annual Innovation and AI Summit, Rice Business faculty led conversational panels on how artificial intelligence will affect digital transformation, finance and human capital.
Pittsburgh 'Stand Up for Science' rally to bring attention to impacts of immigration crackdowns
The National “Stand Up for Science” day of action returns to Pittsburgh tomorrow for the second year in a row to protest government actions and policies affecting scientific institutions, research and researchers. This year’s rally will be at Allegheny Landing Park on the North Shore.
ComfortDelGro’s Diversified Business Can Withstand Middle East Conflict, CEO Says
The conflict in the Middle East may affect transport operators through fuel costs and consumer demand, but it will likely be short-lived, the chief executive of ComfortDelGro said.
Massive warehouse fire affects local business owners, employees in the area
Building climate-ready healthcare facilities across Indonesia
The World Health Organization (WHO), working with the Ministry of Health and partners, developed the Climate-Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Care Facilities assessment tools. These were adapted from WHO's global framework and integrated into the SIKELIM platform, a digital system that maps disaster-affected facilities in real time. The tools help facilities assess vulnerabilities across systems including workforce capacity, water and sanitation WASH and waste, energy, infrastructure and technology.
Ranking the 15 worst contracts in the NBA: Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Paul George and more
These contracts aren't just bad this season, but threaten to take up payroll and affect rosters for years to come
RFK Jr. Just Called Out Sugary Coffee Drinks—How Much Do They Really Affect Your Health?
RFK Jr. is calling the sugar content of drinks at Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks into question.
West Town residents, businesses push back on Grand Avenue reconstruction plan
Some Chicago residents and business owners in West Town are calling out Mayor Brandon Johnson over a major reconstruction plan for Grand Avenue, saying they’ve been left out of a process that directly affects them.
Morgan Stanley to cut 3% of worldwide workforce in key business lines
The cut, which was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal, is expected to hit about 2,500 jobs. Business Insider has details on who's affected.
Small business owners: tell us how Trump’s tariff war has affected you
Trump’s sweeping tariffs have left many businesses facing higher costs and uncertainty. We want to hear how smaller companies are navigating the fallout
Latest MacBook Pro battery life unaffected despite a big change
We noted that the brand new M5 Pro and M5 Max versions of the MacBook Pro have a significantly different...
Millions with joint pain and osteoarthritis are missing the most powerful treatment
Stiff knees and aching hips may seem like an inevitable part of aging, but experts say we’re getting osteoarthritis all wrong. Despite affecting nearly 600 million people worldwide — and potentially a billion by 2050 — the most powerful treatment isn’t surgery or medication. It’s exercise. Movement nourishes cartilage, strengthens muscles, reduces inflammation, and even reshapes the biological processes driving joint damage.
Talarico wins Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas
Talarico, a state lawmaker, positioned himself as an effective messenger to moderates and disaffected Republicans in his win over Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
Top US health organizations sue EPA over decision affecting Americans' health and wallets: 'Reckless and legally untenable'
"Creates immediate uncertainty."
War with Iran means higher gas prices. How is that affecting your small business?
Rising oil prices tied to the conflict in the Middle East could add another strain for US small businesses already struggling under the weight of stubborn inflation and President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs.
Empowering Communities to Tackle Structural Racism Through New Health Equity Training Series
At a time when too many families are still forced to choose between buying groceries or paying rent, seeking care or staying silent, HCN Global is launching the ninth edition of the Culture of Health / la Cultura de Salud, a multicultural, bilingual multimedia programming series that addresses social determinants of health affecting Latino and Black communities in the US. This year the multimedia series will feature a new webinar series to help community leaders identify and address one of the r
Has Your Business Been Affected by Immigration Policies? We Want to Hear From You.
The New York Times is looking to talk to business owners whose work forces are changing because of immigration policies.
How Adderall affects the heart when you don’t have ADHD: a cardiologist’s warning
Students sometimes take unprescribed Adderall to stay up late and study. According to new research out of Mayo Clinic, however, that may do more to the heart than those students realize.
How financial and practical stressors can affect emotional health during cancer care
A cancer diagnosis changes almost everything—but it doesn't stop life's other responsibilities. Bills still arrive. Work still needs attention. Family routines keep going. Trying to keep up with it ...
U-M study finds noise pollution affects birds' reproduction and health
Of nine different behavioral or fitness-related responses in 160 bird species examined, noise pollution had negative impacts on eight of them.
How the left punishes small business
Raising the top tax rate would affect a lot of unsuspecting middle-class workers.
Lengthy lockdown at The Mall at Stonecrest affects ‘everyone in the community,’ business owner says
"There are no cars in the mall parking lot, and that’s so sad.”
How OB3 Medicaid Changes Affect Tribal Health Organizations
See how Tribal health organizations can plan for the financial impact of Medicaid cuts and eligibility requirements in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OB3).
Dad’s health matters too: Texas A&M research reveals paternal choices shape a child’s lifelong health
Research from Texas A&M shows that a father's health before conception significantly affects his child's lifelong health outcomes, challenging decades of focus solely on maternal health.
ICE is bad for business, heat is bad for coffee, and sci-fi is bad for markets
It’s … Indicators of the Week (now on YouTube!), our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. On today’s episode: How Minnesota workers were affected by Operation Metro Surge, why coffee’s getting more expensive, and what happens when a sci-fi AI scenario meets the stock market. Related episodes:How ICE crackdowns are affecting the workforceWhy this rural town wants an ICE facility For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey and Vito Emanuel. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
WATCH: Rocky Point businesses prepare for spring break and other vacations
After what was a chaotic weekend in Jalisco and parts of Mexico, businesses in Rocky Point say they remain relatively unaffected even as customers call to make sure they are still safe to travel.
How Yankees plan to handle Giancarlo Stanton's 2026 playing time, even though he 'can't open a bag of chips'
Stanton's elbow injuries will affect the rest of his MLB career
How A.I.-Generated Videos Are Distorting Your Child’s YouTube Feed
Experts caution that low-quality, A.I.-generated videos on YouTube geared toward children often feature conflicting information, lack plot structure and can be cognitively overwhelming — all of which could affect young children’s development.