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Shots - Health News

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The most recent recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is that all women 40 to 74 get mammograms every other year. A previous recommendation said screening should start at 50. One doctor suggests that people "test smarter, not test more." Heather Charles/Tribune News Service via Getty Images hide caption

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Heather Charles/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Caitlyn Mai underwent cochlear implant surgery with her insurer's approval, expecting it would be covered in full. Then she started getting bills for $139,000. Nick Oxford/KFF Health News hide caption

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Nick Oxford/KFF Health News

Obstetrician-gynecologist Taylar Swartz uses an ultrasound scanner to check the health of Addie Comegys' baby on May 30. Comegys, who is due in late August, had traveled 45 minutes for her prenatal appointment at Mahaska Health in Oskaloosa, one of a few rural hospitals in Iowa still offering labor and delivery services. Tony Leys/KFF Health News hide caption

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Tony Leys/KFF Health News

The Tampa Period Pantry offers free menstrual hygiene products like tampons and pads, as well as other items to help during periods like heating patches for cramps or sanitary wipes.
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Stephanie Colombini/WUSF

Tweens and young teens are now major consumers of skin care products, but some ingredients are not good for young skin. Anton Novikov/Getty Images hide caption

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Anton Novikov/Getty Images

The skin care craze among teen and tweens has dermatologists wary

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Valerii Plotnikov (left) from the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha, Yakutsk, Russia, and Daniel Fisher of the University of Michigan examine a woolly mammoth unearthed during a 2018 expedition. Love Dalén hide caption

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Love Dalén

Scientists recreate woolly mammoth genome

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A T-shirt from fashion brand Namilia shown during Berlin Fashion on July 3, 2024 sparked an outcry on the brand's Instagram, with readers noting that Ozempic is in short supply for people with a medical need for it. Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images hide caption

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Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images

Diabetes drug shortages

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A middle-aged man smoking crack cocaine in Rhode Island. The state had the country’s fourth-highest rate of overdose deaths involving cocaine in 2022. Lynn Arditi/Lynn Arditi/The Public’s Radio hide caption

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Lynn Arditi/Lynn Arditi/The Public’s Radio

Stimulant users caught up in fatal 'fourth wave' of the overdose crisis

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There's a fast-growing market for nonalcoholic beers, wines and canned mixed drinks. Some researchers think there should be age limits for buying them. Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS/Getty Images hide caption

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Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS/Getty Images

Dr. Marty Sellers, wearing a red scrub cap, and his team from Tennessee Donor Services perform a normothermic regional perfusion organ recovery at a hospital in eastern Tennessee. Jessica Tezak for NPR hide caption

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Jessica Tezak for NPR

Organ Harvesting Part 1

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Zarinah Lomax stands beside portraits she commissioned, mostly of young people who died from gunfire. “The purpose is not to make people cry,” Lomax says. “It is for families and for people who have gone through this to know that they are not forgotten.” Christine Spolar for KFF Health News hide caption

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Christine Spolar for KFF Health News

Family members often provide caregiving for people with dementia and it can take a financial and emotional toll. Ocskaymark/iStockphoto/Getty Images hide caption

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Ocskaymark/iStockphoto/Getty Images

tradeoffs medicare caregivers

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Mary Ann Herbst, a patient at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Le Mars, Iowa, gets her first COVID-19 vaccine shot on Dec. 29, 2020. A recent study found only 4 out of 10 nursing home residents in the U.S. have gotten at least one dose of the most recent COVID vaccine, which was released last fall.
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Sanford Health

CDC report finds nursing homes lag behind in COVID vaccinations

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Hilary Fung/NPR

In just a few years, half of all states passed bans on trans health care for kids

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Lab experiments show that some ants will treat the injured legs of comrades, and when it's necessary will even perform medical amputations. Bart Zijlstra, UNIL hide caption

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Bart Zijlstra, UNIL

Ants treat certain leg injuries with lifesaving amputations

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Sophia Ferst (left) and her wife, Madison Bethke, outside of Helena, Montana. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Ferst decided to get sterilized. She is one of many people under 30 now seeking permanent contraception. Shaylee Ragar
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Shaylee Ragar


Sterilization Trends

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Jerrian Reedy, left, a student at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, assists Dorothy Gray, a student at Northside High School in the Mississippi Delta, as she practices intubation in a simulation lab. Gray, who is interested in pursuing a career in the mental health care field, attended the University of Mississippi School of Medicine’s annual African American Visit Day in April. Lauren Sausser for KFF Health News hide caption

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Lauren Sausser for KFF Health News
Shots - Health News

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