NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • May 18, 2023

Teens and stress: When it’s more than worry

Stress—and sometimes feeling anxious—is a natural and normal experience for everyone, including children and teenagers. But when those feelings last a long time or occur frequently, that’s cause for concern.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • May 16, 2023

Teens are talking about mental health

The prevalence of mental health issues is hard to measure, but federal data show how widespread the challenges are. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said we need to address threats to mental health in young people—especially adolescents.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • May 11, 2023

Prosthetics through the ages

Millions of people in the United States are currently living with limb loss. This number is expected to grow as the population ages and rates of diseases such as diabetes that can cause dysvascularity (poor blood circulation in the legs) increase. For people with limb loss, prosthetic devices improve quality of life by providing movement and independence.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • March 9, 2023

Deafness is not a burden

Being deaf is not the same for everyone with the condition. Deafness means partial or complete loss of hearing in one or both ears and can range from mild to severe to profound. It can happen at any age and can be hereditary, genetic, or caused by environmental factors such as occupational noise. The ways in which people who are Deaf communicate also vary, and this affects how they move through the world or connect with other people.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • February 23, 2023

Loud and clear: What to know about hearing loss

Hearing loss affects approximately 37.5 million people in the United States ages 18 years or older. It affects one in three people ages 65 to 74 and nearly half of people ages 75 and older. But only about a quarter of those who could benefit from a hearing aid use one.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • February 16, 2023

'Healthy Moments' shares reliable information in quick bites

Getting the word out about science-based, healthy lifestyle tips is a challenge. People are short on time and bombarded with information from unreliable sources. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) wants to cut through the noise.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • February 16, 2023

Meet the Director: Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), has made monumental contributions to sickle cell disease research. NIH MedlinePlus Magazine asked Dr. Rodgers about entering medicine and addressing health disparities, and what advice he would give younger researchers.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • January 26, 2023

The future of water

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are synthetic chemicals that have been used in consumer products around the world since about the 1950s. Experts around the world have linked PFAS to serious health risks, including increased cholesterol levels, changes in liver enzymes, decreased vaccine response in children.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • January 26, 2023

Precision Environmental Health’s role in preventing disease

Precision Environmental Health is a research area that helps scientists learn how interactions between the environment and genetics can affect a person’s health. The goals are to prevent disease and help individuals reduce their unique health risks from environmental exposures.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • January 13, 2023

Getting an accurate read on pulse oximeters

Pulse oximeters have been used in hospitals and doctors’ offices for decades. The small, painless devices measure blood oxygen saturation, which helps doctors decide how to treat patients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, which is in part a respiratory illness, over-the-counter oximeters became more popular for home-based use and were in increasing demand.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • January 11, 2023

Sunscreen in the winter?

Sunscreen is usually associated with beaches, the pool, and sweltering summer days. Ultraviolet (UV) levels (the amount of damaging rays from the sun) are lower in the winter because the earth tilts away from the sun. However, temperature and UV levels are less connected than you might think.

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine • December 14, 2022

Calling out colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women in the United States, with 151,030 new cases estimated to occur this year. "Colorectal cancer" can refer to any cancer that forms in the tissue that lines the inside of the colon or rectum. While some people are at higher risk than others, anyone can get colorectal cancer.

FederalNewsNetwork.com • August 25, 2022

LISTEN: Can government go green without overhauling procurement rules?

Procurement power is a major pillar of the Biden administration’s Federal Sustainability Plan. As the country’s single biggest landlord and one of its largest energy consumers, the federal government’s purchasing power can either drive markets toward energy efficient innovation, or maintain the status quo.

FederalNewsNetwork.com • August 25, 2022

Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s first CDO shares limitations, possibilities of AI

Artificial intelligence has many uses at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, from recognizing fraud patterns to interpreting unstructured data. CFTC’s mission is to watch out for manipulation of financial markets, and supervised machine learning can help. Cases of spoofing, cornering the market or position limits, for example, are messy in real life and difficult to spot.

FederalNewsNetwork.com • August 4, 2022

Water water everywhere: EPA using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to make it safer to drink

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes the single largest investment of water infrastructure ever in federal government, with more than $50 billion going to Environmental Protection Agency programs. More than $20 billion is intended for safe drinking water programs.

FederalNewsNetwork.com • July 22, 2022

Agencies already have the tools, interest for collecting LGBTQ data in decision making

Bit by bit, federal government is taking steps to account for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexual and gender minorities.

FederalNewsNetwork.com • July 15, 2022

Congress investigating whether companies are profiting off veterans disability claims backlog

Members of Congress are investigating whether third-party records companies are profiting from a pandemic-induced backlog of veterans disability claims. The National Archives and Records Administration has been trying to speed up records requests to process the claims but to no avail, impeding veterans’ access to essential services like health care and housing.

FederalNewsNetwork.com • July 15, 2022

US Marshals Service ongoing IT modernization was sorely needed, program lead says

Now seven years on, the U.S. Marshals Service is modernizing its legacy systems to a cloud environment. Working with limited funding and a tag-team approach, the agency found a way to satisfy stakeholders and increase data access for mission areas.

FederalNewsNetwork.com • July 14, 2022

White House wants agencies to increase, improve collection of LGBTQ data

The federal government collects myriad forms of demographic data, but it could do more around sexual orientation and gender identities. In line with his administration’s broader diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility goals President Joe Biden is directing agencies to see where they can expand collection of LGBTQ data.

It's All Journalism • June 30, 2022

LISTEN: Kassondra Cloos: Adventures in freelance travel reporting

I interviewed freelance travel writer and my former co-worker Kassondra Cloos about how she built her career, and how she thinks about her work in alignment with her personal values. Listen to the episode here!