The marijuana business is booming in the U.S. medicinal marijuana is legal in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Eight states have legalized recreational marijuana. Sales figures are up wherever it is legally sold. In Colorado, for example, marijuana sales topped out at nearly $6B since 2014’s legalization.

Looking back at the news of 2018, a story broke every few days on foodborne illness. A recent outbreak, tied to E-coli-tainted romaine lettuce, sickened 59 people in 15 states. This followed several outbreaks tied to romaine and recalls of salmonella-tainted ground beef — the latestof five million pounds on Dec. 4, which totaled tens of millions of pounds of food.

In November, the American Medical Association, representing the nation’s physicians, called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action against the “urgent public he

Two Medi-Cal care programs designed to help seniors and disabled adults avoid being placed in nursing homes serve only a fraction of those presumed to be eligible, according to a study published today by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, led by Dr. Ninez Ponce, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s Fred W. and Pamela K.

In the year 2000, the United States essentially claimed victory against childhood diseases, eliminating measles and making the prevalence of other childhood diseases, such as mumps, extremely rare. Today, we are losing.

Why is measles making a comeback, especially in the U.S. almost 20 years after it was officially declared eradicated? Much media attention has focused on the erosion of herd immunity due to pockets of unimmunized children and deservedly so. But another important reason is the public perception that measles is a mild childhood disease — uncomfortable for a few days but not serious.

There’s a serious public health threat that most Americans are exposed to every day. According to the World Health Organization, the health effects of even short-term exposure include sleep disturbance, stress and anxiety, while long-term impacts include increased risk of ischemic heart disease, cognitive impairment among children, stress-related mental health risks and tinnitus (chronic ringing in the ears).

Is sunscreen safe?

Imagine you are on a bike descending a long, steep hill when your brakes fail. As you gather more speed, you face a life-extinguishing event at the bottom unless the brakes start working again. This is an apt analogy for the greatest challenge to human existence on our small planet. As the monumental and varied environmental effects of climate change become undeniably apparent, our brakes are beginning to fail.

Everyone understands how the flu, diabetes and heart disease drastically impact our health, but social determinants like income inequality, poor public transportation and housing instability can have an even greater effect on well-being. For example, life expectancy increases with income.