Health

Parts of the U.S. are experiencing smoke from Canadian wildfires drifting down and rising summer temperatures, creating a potentially deadly situation, according to the American Heart Association, a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone everywhere.

Body Mass Index (BMI) has long been used in public health and clinical settings as a simple tool to classify an individual’s physical status based on their height and weight. Originally developed in the 1830s by Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet, BMI was designed to describe the characteristics of the average man rather than to assess an individual’s health, and it did not account for age, sex, ethnicity or body composition.

A new daily pill will give people with stubbornly high cholesterol a cheaper, needle-free way to lower their levels.

Do your hands hurt when you use your phone? All that texting and scrolling might be stressing out your fingers.

When a dog smells of cigarette smoke, veterinarians immediately understand that the animal is breathing in secondhand smoke. Known as a “smoker’s poodle,” the pet “presumably sits on somebody’s lap as they smoke, and we think, ‘Oh, this is bad for the animal,'” says Elizabeth Rozanski, D.V.M., DACVIM (SAIM), DACVECC, a professor of small animal clinical sciences at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

New research published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine and presented at this year’s International Congress on Obesity (ICO 2026), hosted by the World Obesity Federation (WOF) in Mexico City, Mexico (July 15–17), suggests that 23%-38% of all cardiovascular deaths and 23%-37% of all cases of cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease and stroke) are attributable to ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption.

Heat-related deaths in the U.S. have surged more than 50% since 2000 as the climate warms and temperatures rise to record-breaking levels. This July alone, more than half of Americans were exposed to extreme temperatures as a heat dome descended across the country and the United Nations warned that a Super El Niño, which raises water temperatures in the Pacific, will also intensify temperatures. Yet, most Americans underestimate the dangers of extreme heat.

The common rationale for drinking water at meals is that it physically stretches the stomach, triggering fullness so you don’t eat too much. But a new Cornell study found no support for that idea in practice. The paper is published in the journal Appetite.

New research from The Kids Research Institute Australia suggests a simple dietary intervention during pregnancy could help protect against the increased risk of food allergies associated with antibiotics taken before birth.

Women should ignore most of the exercise advice they see on social media, University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researchers say.

People flocking to tanning beds in search of the perfect tan could be exposing themselves to a hidden health threat far beyond skin cancer, according to a comprehensive research review. The findings are published in the journal Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences.