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Many brands of bandages may contain PFAS chemicals, according to a new report commissioned by Environmental Health News (EHN) and the consumer watchdog site Mamavation. Of the 40 bandages they analyzed in a lab, 65% contained signs of PFAS chemicals.Also known as “forever chemicals,” because that’s approximately how long they linger in the environment, there are at least 12,000 types of PFAS. The health consequences of PFAS exposure are unclear. But this class of chemicals has been linked by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increased risk of certain cancers, decreased fertility, high blood pressure in pregnant people, developmental delays and low birthweight in children, hormonal disruption, high cholesterol, reduced effectiveness of the immune system, and more. According to th...

The U.S. is expected to hit a bleak milestone this year: For the first time, more than 2 million people will be diagnosed with cancer. More than 600,000 will die, according to projections from the American Cancer Society.Yet when you consider how many people are affected by a single diagnosis, those numbers balloon. As people with cancer grapple with fears about their health, they often describe being equally anxious about how their news will affect their family. When Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed on March 22 that she was being treated for cancer, she emphasized that she and her husband had "taken time to explain everything” to their three young children “in a way that is appropriate for them.”Whatever your treatment might entail, it’s helpful to know how to discuss your prognosis...

Researchers believe they have discovered a new biological mechanism for obesity, pointing to rare variants on two genes that dramatically increase the risk of carrying excess weight. Research published in the journal Nature Genetics on Thursday points to variants that raise the chance of being obese by as much as six times. Unlike other known variants that affect weight gain in children, these only appear to play a role in adults. Unraveling obesity’s mechanisms could help scientists develop new drugs, or tailor existing ones, for a condition that now affects one in eight people. For the first time, patients can now take highly effective medicines to shed unwanted weight. The revolution, led by drugmakers Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co., carved open a market that could surpass $10...