Nancy Shute

The bills under consideration in Congress would make big changes in health care coverage and costs for millions of people. Our searchable FAQ provides answers to key questions on where, how and why.

More than half of Americans suffer lower back pain each year, the latest NPR/Truven Health Analytics survey finds. And they're often not going for treatments recommended as safest and most effective.

Neither getting the flu nor getting a flu shot appears to increase the risk of autism in children, a study finds. The shots are recommended because the flu poses health risks to mother and fetus.

Erik Vance didn't see a doctor until he was 18 years old; he grew up in a Christian Science family. As a science journalist, he explores how the mind affects the body's response to pain and disease.

Colonoscopy has long been the gold standard for colon cancer screening. Now gastroenterologists say the quick, inexpensive, noninvasive FIT test is a good option for people not willing to go there.

Black women are more likely to die of breast cancer than are white women, and that's especially true for older women, the CDC reports. Lack of access to quality health care is a big factor.

The lack of effective remedies for morning sickness is frustrating, and can mean months of suffering. An obstetrician explains that few medications have been tested for use during early pregnancy.

It can be very hard to find medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, but most doctors who provide it do so for just a small number of patients, a study finds.

People with a rare genetic disorder that causes severe nosebleeds did better when they used saline nose spray. And that remedy should also help people with plain old nosebleeds.

Correspondents, editors and producers from our newsroom share the pieces that have kept them reading, using the #NPRreads hashtag. Each weekend, we highlight some of the best stories.

We're told that it's important to keep body mass index below 25. But a study finds that for the lowest risk of death, the magic number has inched up to 27 — in the "overweight" category.

Dust mite allergies are a common trigger for asthma. A new form of immunotherapy that relies on oral tablets rather than shots reduces the risk of a moderate or severe asthma attack, a study finds.

What you do in your 20s and 30s and 40s can make it more likely that you'll be mobile and healthy in old age, scientists say. That's true even if your ancestors didn't fare so well.

Cultures around the world decorate eggs to celebrate spring. Modern artists continue those traditions, reflecting the fragility and beauty of life.

Meditation can help relieve chronic back pain, and so can cognitive behavioral therapy, a study finds. But good luck getting insurance to pay for it.

People often expect a great many things out of a marriage. That can work if spouses are pragmatic about what they're really able to deliver on, a study finds.

Eric O'Grey was 51, obese and suffering from diabetes and high cholesterol when he took home an overweight shelter dog. Now the duo are headlining a campaign on how pets improve humans' lives.

We all know ancestors give us our hair color, but the roots of gray hair have been less clear. Is it genetics, or stress?

Marie Antoinette supposedly went completely white the night before they lopped off her head. And our presidents seem to go gray much faster than those of ...

The earlier a child with autism can be identified and get treatment the better, child development specialists say. So there's been a push to have pediatricians give all toddlers screening tests for autism during well child visits.

But the influential U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said Tuesday that there's not ...

The odds of getting Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia are declining for people who are more educated and avoiding heart disease, a study finds. The results suggest that people may have some control over their risk of dementia as they age.

This isn't the first study to find ...