Category: NPR

Kentucky has one black lung doctor left after the state legislature restricted who can review workers’ compensation claims for the disease. This came amid a surge in black lung cases in Appalachia.

The number of newborns born with syphilis – a serious sexually transmitted infection – has skyrocketed 755% in the decade from 2012 to 2022. These babies have congenital syphilis, which is when the infection is passed from mother to baby during pregnan…

A troubling new report from Louisiana shows how the state’s abortion ban from 2022 is forcing doctors to delay or withhold medical care in ways that make pregnancy more dangerous.

We hear from Lost Patients, a podcast that tries to make sense of the U.S. mental health care system.

This week marks four years since the outbreak of Covid-19 was officially declared a pandemic. One of the most vexing legacies — one that science still hasn’t solved — is long Covid. That’s the debilitating condition that can develop in the aftermath of an infection.

Millions of Americans are living with the often debilitating symptoms that can include brain fog, shortness of breath, and low energy. Some struggle with simple daily living tasks like laundry and cooking.

Four years since the pandemic hit, patients with long Covid are still fighting for answers.

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A bipartisan Senate bill, dropping Thursday, promises better health care for some of the poorest, sickest Americans, who are known as “duals” because they qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid.

At a time when colorectal cancer is rising, researchers say a blood test can detect 83% of people with the disease. If the FDA approves it the test would be another screening tool for early detection.

Kate Manne tried to shrink her body for years before embracing her size as part of a “natural, normal human variation.” She says the fight against fat phobia must start in the doctor’s office.

“Long COVID has affected every part of my life,” said Virginia resident Rachel Beale said at a recent Senate hearing. “I wake up every day feeling tired, nauseous and dizzy. I immediately start planning when I can lay down again.”

Beale is far from alone. Many of her experiences have been echoed by others dealing with long COVID. It’s a constellation of debilitating symptoms that range from brain fog and intense physical fatigue to depression and anxiety.

But there’s new, promising research that sheds light onto some symptoms. NPR health correspondent Will Stone talks with Short Wave host Regina G. Barber about the state of long COVID research — what we know, what we don’t and when we can expect treatments or even cures for it.

Have more COVID questions you want us to cover? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we’d love to hear from you.

We’ve probably said it a hundred times on Code Switch — biological race is not a real thing. So why is race still used to help diagnose certain conditions, like keloids or cystic fibrosis? On this episode, Dr. Andrea Deyrup breaks it down for us, and u…