Blog

When it’s dark outside in Anchorage, Alaska, therapist Karen Cunningham pulls on long johns, one of her 16 pairs of snow pants, a hat, gloves, her warmest coat, and snow boots, and lies down in a pile of fresh snow. “It’s pitch black, and these white things are just floating down so gently,” she says. “It’s hope for me. From the darkness comes all these infinite possibilities and creations.”Snow lovers like Cunningham are prone to wax poetic about how they fall for sparkling flakes again and again—even this year, as a record-setting 100-plus inches have already hit Anchorage. A humming anticipation takes hold of the city on the eve of potential storms, and “everybody prays for a snow day,” she says. “Everybody’s like, ‘Let’s shut the city down for a little bit, and go outside and play in i...

A case of the bubonic plague has hit Oregon, and the likely cause was a cat.Health officials in Deschutes County announced last week that a resident, who has not been identified, had been diagnosed with the plague, in the state’s first human case in eight years. The individual was likely infected by their cat, the department says. “All close contacts of the resident and their pet have been contacted and provided medication to prevent illness,” said Dr. Richard Fawcett, the Deschutes County Health Services Officer.  The disease is often spread through a bite from an infected flea or contact with an infected animal. Human to human transmission can occur, but is rare. The Oregon case was identified early and the person was treated swiftly, according to officials. They added the case doesn’t p...

WASHINGTON — In Utah, more of Dr. Cara Heuser’s maternal-fetal medicine patients are requesting early ultrasounds, hoping to detect serious problems in time to choose whether to continue the pregnancy or have an abortion.In North Carolina, more obstetrics patients of Dr. Clayton Alfonso and his colleagues are relying on early genetic screenings that don’t provide a firm diagnosis.The reason? New state abortion restrictions mean the clock is ticking.Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many health care providers say an increasing number of patients are deciding the fate of their pregnancies based on whatever information they can gather before state bans kick in. But early ultrasounds show far less about the condition of a fetus than later ones. And genetic screenings may be inaccurate.When you...