The Columbian

Health Wire

This image taken Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, and released by the National Transportation Safety Board, shows a section of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 that is missing panel on a Boeing 737-9 MAX in Portland, Ore. Federal officials are investigating Boeing’s oversight of production of a panel that blew off a jetliner in midflight last week.

Scared to fly? An air travel anxiety expert shares this advice

January 14, 2024, 6:02am Health

Around 5 a.m. on a recent Saturday, I found myself at the whims of a drug-sniffing dog at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. Uncaffeinated and foggy from a sleepless night, my mind suddenly ticker-taped through a list of newly acquired air travel anxieties. Read story

FILE - Jaqueline Benitez, who depends on California's SNAP benefits to help pay for food, shops for groceries at a supermarket in Bellflower, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2023.

Children’s nutrition program, revved up in the pandemic, faces severe cuts

January 14, 2024, 6:00am Health

A federal program built to improve nutrition for new mothers and kids is growing for the first time in over a decade, thanks to changes made during the pandemic. Read story

“I have very little control over my actual medical care.”, Richard Timmins, Retired veterinarian

Older Americans feel trapped with Medicare Advantage plans

January 13, 2024, 6:04am Health

In 2016, Richard Timmins went to a free informational seminar to learn more about Medicare coverage. Read story

A home gym is one of the most common fitness plans.

Get fit in new year with home gym

January 13, 2024, 6:04am Health

With the holidays in the rearview mirror, you may be turning your mind to New Year’s resolutions. And one of the most common resolutions is to get fit, lose weight and maybe work off those winter turkey feasts. Read story

Every time you walk past a box of doughnut without taking one, you should lose incrementally more weight.

Weight for it – a simple way to lose pounds

January 13, 2024, 6:02am Food

The way I see it, avoiding temptation should count for something. Read story

Psychotherapist: You can conquer your inner ageist

January 13, 2024, 5:15am Health

Connie Zweig first encountered her inner ageist on a cloudless spring day in Santa Monica about seven years ago. Read story

Rising malpractice premiums price small clinics out of gender-affirming care for minors

January 13, 2024, 5:08am Business

After Iowa lawmakers passed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in March, managers of an LGBTQ+ health clinic located just across the state line in Moline, Illinois, decided to start offering that care. Read story

WHO: COVID killed nearly 10,000 last month

January 11, 2024, 5:16pm Health

The head of the U.N. health agency said Wednesday that holiday gatherings and the spread of the most prominent variant globally led to increased transmission of COVID-19 last month. Read story

FILE - Protesters gather inside the State Capitol building on Friday, May 19, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb., before lawmakers were scheduled to begin debating a bill that will ban abortions at 12 weeks of pregnancy and also ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

Efforts to restrict transgender health care endure in 2024, with more adults targeted

January 11, 2024, 8:08am Health

Republican-led state legislatures are considering a new round of bills restricting medical care for transgender youths — and in some cases, adults — returning to the issue the year after a wave of high-profile bills became law and sparked lawsuits. Read story

Washington is failing to meet Medicaid lead testing requirements for kids, even for children most at risk for exposure to the dangerous neurotoxin.

WA not meeting Medicaid lead testing requirements for kids, audit finds

January 11, 2024, 6:00am Health Free

Washington is failing to meet Medicaid lead testing requirements for kids, even for children most at risk for exposure to the dangerous neurotoxin. Read story