Healthy Communities Online

As we mark Earth Day, we have just experienced the hottest March on record. But climate change’s impact isn’t stopping with the weather; it’s also affecting our mental health, says Dr. Gary Belkin, director of the Billion Minds Project at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Climate anxiety, which refers to having distressing feelings related to climate change impacts, is increasingly prevalent in communities where the impact is the most severe.   And the problem is only getting worse. …

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What happens when music therapists and neuroscientists team up? Patients win, says Dr. Francis Collins. From adults with Parkinson’s disease to children with autism, music has the power to help people walk, talk, ease pain and so much more. Dr. Collins recently stepped down from his role as the longest-serving director of National Institutes of Health. As he faces a personal battle against prostate cancer, he’s exploring the promising impact that music and art therapy could hold for patients with…

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Originally published April 9, 2024 She’s received worldwide praise for singing at the Super Bowl, during a presidential inauguration and regularly for The Metropolitan Opera, but Renée Fleming is stretching her voice in new ways. She’s the editor of “Music and Mind,” a curated collection of essays from leading scientists, artists, creative arts therapists, educators and health care providers about the powerful impacts of music and the arts on health and the human experience. Renée shares how she discovered her…

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Originally published April 4, 2024 It’s about seven months to election day and our regular panel of health care journalists sees a lot of divisions in the electorate. Joyce Frieden, who’s in charge of MedPage Today’s coverage of Washington and health policy, says the debate over abortion is driving voter interest. Yet Ben Leonard, a health care reporter at POLITICO, notes that Republican voters place issues such as immigration ahead of health care. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Weixel, a health policy reporter…

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Originally published March 28, 2024 Medicare just announced that it will pay for weight loss drugs if patients using them also have heart disease and need to reduce the risk of future heart attacks and strokes. Medicare has already been covering the costs of the GLP-1 class of drugs to treat diabetes problems. However, Medicare Part D plans are still restricted by law from covering obesity medications used for chronic weight management alone. It’s a decision the American Diabetes Association…

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The recent death of former college football player Craig Roh from colon cancer at age 33 has brought attention to the “alarming” increase of colorectal cancer in young people. The American Cancer Society reports colon cancer is now the most common cause of cancer deaths in men under 50 and second for women under 50. Dr. Alan Venook at the University of California-San Francisco is one of the nation’s leading colorectal cancer researchers. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and…

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