An advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday recommended that adults ages 60 and above, after consulting their doctors, receive a single dose of RSV vaccines from Pfizer and GSK.

The panel said seniors should use “shared clinical decision-making,” which involves working with their healthcare provider to decide how much they will benefit from a shot.

Outgoing CDC director Rochelle Walensky will decide whether to finalize the recommendation.

The panel’s decision moves the U.S. one step closer to making jabs against respiratory syncytial virus available to the public this fall, when the disease typically begins to spread at higher levels.

The recommendation also comes weeks after the Food and Drug Administration approved both vaccines, making them the world’s first authorized shots against RSV. 

The virus is a common respiratory infection that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but more severe cases in older adults and children. Each year, RSV kills 6,000 to 10,000 seniors and a few hundred children younger than 5, according to the CDC. 

Pfizer and GSK on Wednesday both presented new clinical trial data to the panel, which provided a first glimpse of their shots’ durability after one RSV season. The season typically lasts from October to March in the Northern Hemisphere. 

A single dose of Pfizer’s shot was 78.6% effective in preventing lower respiratory tract disease with three or more symptoms through the middle of a second RSV season, according to new clinical trial results presented Wednesday. That’s down from more than 85% at the end of the first season in older adults. 

Pfizer said that efficacy fell to 48.9% at “mid-season two” for less severe forms of the disease in that age group, down from about 66%.

One dose of GSK’s shot was 78.8% effective against severe RSV disease after two seasons, compared with 94% after one season, the company said Wednesday. Severe disease refers to cases that prevent normal, daily activities.

For less severe RSV disease, efficacy declined to 67.2% over two seasons from 82% after one season.

Dr. Michael Melgar, a CDC medical officer who evaluated data on both shots, noted during a public meeting that both Pfizer and GSK still lack efficacy data on subgroups of the elderly population at the highest risk of severe RSV. 

Melgar said adults ages 75 and older and those with an underlying medical condition are underrepresented in the phase three clinical trials from both companies. Seniors with a weak immune system were excluded from the trials altogether, he said. 

Both companies said studies on those populations are ongoing. 

It’s still unclear how much the shots will cost. GSK said it will price its vaccine between $200 and $295. Pfizer said it will price its shot between $180 to $270.

The companies declined to guarantee the pricing.

The shots would help the U.S. combat the upcoming RSV season in the fall after an unusually severe RSV season last year. 

Cases of the virus in children and older adults overwhelmed hospitals across the country, largely because the public stopped practicing Covid pandemic health measures that had helped keep the spread of RSV low. 

“There’s a lot of impressions that, because it was a mild winter, that we’re having an earlier sort of explosion in the ticks that are born,” said Dr. Alexandra Yonts, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Children’s National Hospital in D.C.

There are still simple ways you can protect yourself and your family.

“Top tips include insect repellent with 20% or higher DEET, wearing long-sleeved clothes,” Yonts said. “And then taking a shower or bath as soon as you come inside. That will rinse the mosquitoes or the ticks off and prevent hopefully infection.”

There are also key places on the body to check, where ticks are more likely to try to hide.

“The first place to check would be on the legs, around the cuffs of socks [and] pants,” Yonts said.

Ticks live in tall grass, wooded areas and small shrubs, according to the Lyme Disease Association, so the bugs are likely to end up low on your body after a hike or a trip to a farm.

“Checking behind the knee crevices sort of in the leg folds or the crotch where the legs meet, the body under the armpits, and in particular, girls with long hair checking under the scalp and in the hair” is important, Yonts said.

If you do find a tick in your search, carefully remove it with tweezers and then save it, if you can.

“We do recommend saving the tick and taking a picture of it,” Yonts said. “And an easy way to do that is to put the tick into a small plastic container and put it in the fridge or the freezer so it  doesn’t crawl around and you make sure it’s dead.”

“You can reach out to your doctor, send them that picture if you have it, and they will give you advice on what to do next,” Yonts said.

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Infected ticks can spread bacteria, viruses and parasites that make people sick. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in the U.S., with nearly a half-million Americans diagnosed with it each year.

Yonts says, depending on the type of tick you find, you may need to take an antibiotic. But most people recover quickly.

“We really have a beautiful area with lots of wonderful outdoor spaces — Rock Creek Park, surrounding national parks and regional parks,” Yonts said. “And we don’t want to tell people to not enjoy those. So we want you to do it safely.”

Your furry friends also need to be checked for ticks. Pets, especially long-haired dogs, can bring ticks into the home and should be checked every time they go out.

Tick season typically lasts through October.

In a new interview with Self, the singer revealed that she “almost died in January.”

The health scare occurred a few weeks after Kesha underwent an egg freezing procedure. At the time, she was in the Bahamas for a New Year’s Eve performance, when she suddenly felt very weak after the show.

A trip to the hospital revealed that Kesha was experiencing complications from her egg freezing procedure. While she didn’t share many details about the health scare, the star did reveal that she was transferred to a Miami hospital and spent nine days there.

“I finally feel recovered, but it took a couple months,” she said. “It was horrifying.”

Kesha revealed that the frightening yet rare complication she experienced was in part related to her weakened immune system, something she also spoke extensively about in the interview.

The singer said she was diagnosed in 2022 with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), which the Mayo Clinic describes as “an immune system disorder that causes you to have low levels of the proteins that help fight infections.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, CVID can cause “repeated infections in your ears, sinuses and respiratory system” and an “increased risk of digestive disorders, autoimmune disorders, blood disorders and cancer.” 

Per the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, CVID typically occurs in adults but can sometimes affect children. It’s tied to “a variety of different genetic abnormalities” that result in fewer antibodies, but the exact cause of most cases of CVID is unknown, the institute notes.

This is the first time the singer has spoken publicly about her condition, and she explained that she was hesitant to do so at first.

“I just never wanted to be the whiny, privileged girl,” she said. “Also, my image had been that of going out and having fun.”

The road to a diagnosis wasn’t easy for Kesha, who explained that she knew something was wrong when she was excessively tired every day. At first, she simply thought it was a result of her hectic schedule.

“When you’re lucky enough to have a song that catches on, you’re just trying to keep up. I had a really hard time saying no to interviews or photo shoots because I didn’t want to let my one chance fall away by not being able to fulfill every request. It led to severe exhaustion physically and mentally,” she said.

These days, Kesha is taking her health seriously and has learned to say no when she needs to. She’s also prioritizing rest.

“I learned after my diagnosis that sleep is the most important thing. I took that for granted for, God, about 29, 30 years. I feel like I’m just playing catch-up on my teens and 20s, still. But I try to get as much sleep as possible, and I have to protect that fiercely,” she said.

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Most got dropped for not filling out paperwork.

Though the eligibility review is required by the federal government, President’s Joe Biden’s administration isn’t too pleased at how efficiently some other states are accomplishing the task.

“Pushing through things and rushing it will lead to eligible people — kids and families — losing coverage for some period of time,” Daniel Tsai, a top federal Medicaid official recently told reporters.

Already, about 1.5 million people have been removed from Medicaid in more than two dozen states that started the process in April or May, according to publicly available reports and data obtained by The Associated Press.

Florida has dropped several hundred thousand people, by far the most among states. The drop rate also has been particularly high in other states. For people whose cases were decided in May, around half or more got dropped in Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and West Virginia.

By its own count, Arkansas has dropped more than 140,000 people from Medicaid.

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The eligibility redeterminations have created headaches for Jennifer Mojica, 28, who was told in April that she no longer qualified for Medicaid because Arkansas had incorrectly determined her income was above the limit.

She got that resolved, but was then told her 5-year-old son was being dropped from Medicaid because she had requested his cancellation — something that never happened, she said. Her son’s coverage has been restored, but now Mojica says she’s been told her husband no longer qualifies. The uncertainty has been frustrating, she said.

“It was like fixing one thing and then another problem came up, and they fixed it and then something else came up,” Mojica said.

Arkansas officials said they have tried to renew coverage automatically for as many people as possible and placed a special emphasis on reaching families with children. But a 2021 state law requires the post-pandemic eligibility redeterminations to be completed in six months, and the state will continue “to swiftly disenroll individuals who are no longer eligible,” the Department of Human Services said in statement.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has dismissed criticism of the state’s process.

“Those who do not qualify for Medicaid are taking resources from those who need them,” Sanders said on Twitter last month. “But the pandemic is over — and we are leading the way back to normalcy.”

More than 93 million people nationwide were enrolled in Medicaid as of the most recent available data in February — up nearly one-third from the pre-pandemic total in January 2020. The rolls swelled because federal law prohibited states from removing people from Medicaid during the health emergency in exchange for providing states with increased funding.

Now that eligibility reviews have resumed, states have begun plowing through a backlog of cases to determine whether people’s income or life circumstances have changed. States have a year to complete the process. But tracking down responses from everyone has proved difficult, because some people have moved, changed contact information or disregarded mailings about the renewal process.

Before dropping people from Medicaid, the Florida Department of Children and Families said it makes between five and 13 contact attempts, including texts, emails and phone calls. Yet the department said 152,600 people have been non-responsive.

Their coverage could be restored retroactively, if people submit information showing their eligibility up to 90 days after their deadline.

Unlike some states, Idaho continued to evaluate people’s Medicaid eligibility during the pandemic even though it didn’t remove anyone. When the enrollment freeze ended in April, Idaho started processing those cases — dropping nearly 67,000 of the 92,000 people whose cases have been decided so far.

“I think there’s still a lot of confusion among families on what’s happening,” said Hillarie Hagen, a health policy associate at the nonprofit Idaho Voices for Children.

She added, “We’re likely to see people showing up at a doctor’s office in the coming months not knowing they’ve lost Medicaid.”

Advocates fear that many households losing coverage may include children who are actually still eligible, because Medicaid covers children at higher income levels than their parents or guardians. A report last year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services forecast that children would be disproportionately impacted, with more than half of those disenrolled still actually eligible.

That’s difficult to confirm, however, because the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services doesn’t require states to report a demographic breakdown of those dropped. In fact, CMS has yet to release any state-by-state data. The AP obtained data directly from states and from other groups that have been collecting it.

Medicaid recipients in numerous states have described the eligibility redetermination process as frustrating.

Julie Talamo, of Port Richey, Florida, said she called state officials every day for weeks, spending hours on hold, when she was trying to ensure her 19-year-old special-needs son, Thomas, was going to stay on Medicaid.

She knew her own coverage would end but was shocked to hear Thomas’ coverage would be whittled down to a different program that could force her family to pay $2,000 per month. Eventually, an activist put Talamo in contact with a senior state healthcare official who confirmed her son would stay on Medicaid.

“This system was designed to fail people,” Talamo said of the haphazard process.

Some states haven’t been able to complete all the eligibility determinations that are due each month. Pennsylvania reported more than 100,000 incomplete cases in both April and May. Tens of thousands of cases also remained incomplete in April or May in Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico and Ohio.

“If states are already behind in processing renewals, that’s going to snowball over time,” said Tricia Brooks, a research professor at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. “Once they get piles of stuff that haven’t been processed, I don’t see how they catch up easily.”

Among those still hanging in the balance is Gary Rush, 67, who said he was notified in April that he would lose Medicaid coverage. The Pittsburgh resident said he was told that his retirement accounts make him ineligible, even though he said he doesn’t draw from them. Rush appealed with the help of an advocacy group and, at a hearing this past week, was told he has until July to get rid of about $60,000 in savings.

Still, Rush said he doesn’t know what he will do if he loses coverage for his diabetes medication, which costs about $700 a month. Rush said he gets $1,100 a month from Social Security.

In Indiana, Samantha Richards, 35, said she has been on Medicaid her whole life and currently works two part-time jobs as a custodian. Richards recalled receiving a letter earlier this year indicating that the pandemic-era Medicaid protection was ending. She said a local advocacy group helped her navigate the renewal process. But she remains uneasy.

“Medicaid can be a little unpredictable,” Richards said. “There is still that concern that just out of nowhere, I will either get a letter saying that we have to reapply because we missed some paperwork, or I missed a deadline, or I’m going to show up at the doctor’s office or the pharmacy and they’re going to say, ‘Your insurance didn’t go through.’”

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri, and DeMillo from Little Rock, Arkansas. Also contributing were AP reporters Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Arleigh Rodgers in Bloomington, Indiana. Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

But, according to mounting research, they are also changing our brains for the worst.

And how could they not? The average American checks their smartphone 144 times per day, according to a survey by Reviews.com.

The mere presence of a smartphone can actually reduce the quality of our in-person conversations with others, according to a 2012 study. And extensive social media use can lead to increased feelings of isolation, according to a 2017 study.

If you find yourself reaching for your phone more than you’d like, it might be time to set some boundaries.

In her book “How to Break Up With Your Phone,” Catherine Price goes into actionable practices that can help you curb your phone usage. 

One of those will take you under 60 seconds and doesn’t require you to download any apps or set any limits. All you have to do is change your lock screen. 

‘Simply notice the urge and stay present’

Cutting down on iPhone usage has a lot to do with mindfulness, Price writes in her book. 

Say you catch yourself reaching for your phone mid-dinner. Pay attention to how you’re feeling without judging the feeling. 

“Practicing mindfulness means that instead of trying to fight your urge or criticizing yourself for having it, you simply notice the urge and stay present with it as it unfolds,” she writes. 

You can assess how you’re feeling by asking yourself a few questions, she says: 

• What does the craving feel like in your brain and in your body? 
• Why are you having this particular urge right now? 
• What reward are you hoping to receive, or what discomfort are you trying to avoid? 
• What would happen if you reacted to the impulse? 
• What would happen if you did nothing at all? 

Because being on our phones is so natural, slowing down every time you reach for it might be a challenge. 

That’s where the lock screen comes in. 

“Our lives are what we pay attention to,” Price writes in her book. 

The next time you pick up your smartphone, ask yourself, “What do you want to pay attention to?” 

To help you remember to ask this question, Price suggests writing it down on a piece of paper, taking a picture of it, and setting it as your lock screen. 

“That way, whenever you reach for your phone, you’ll be reminded to check in with yourself first,” she writes.

This takes you less than a minute and can lead to healthier phone habits that will allow you to keep the convenience a smartphone brings and hopefully shave off some of the more negative effects.

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From trying different cleansers to adding products like creams and serums to our regimens, we’re all pretty invested in our skin care. Depending on one’s routine, the price tag for a trip to a store like Sephora or Ulta Beauty can range from $50 to $200. 

CNBC Make It interviewed beauty influencers and everyday people on the streets of New York City to see just how much money they’re willing to spend on their routines — and why.

Dr. Adeline Kikam

Dr. Adeline Kikam is a dermatologist and skin care influencer who shares advice with her 115,000 Instagram followers under the handle @brownskinderm. Growing up with “bad acne and hyperpigmentation” often left Kikam feeling like people judged her for her skin before getting to know her.

Sticking to a beauty regimen has helped Kikam feel more comfortable in her own skin: “I personally use it to really boost my self-confidence,” she says. “Learning how to put on makeup and kind of mask those blemishes, actually was a relief to me.”

Skin care routine (AM):

• Cleanser or exfoliant
• Eye cream
• Vitamin C serum
• Sunscreen

Monthly Cost: No more than $200

The best item to splurge on: Serum. “Some of the serums tend to be on the expensive side,” says Kikam. “I don’t mind spending the money on a good vitamin C serum.” Her current go-to serum is the 20% Vitamin C Brightening Serum from OAM by Ciara, which costs $62.

Ashleigh Mitchell

Ashleigh Mitchell was walking out of a Sephora store in Times Square NYC when we stopped her to inquire about her daily skin care routine. When asked about which products she splurges on, Ashleigh told CNBC Make It, “all of them” because she doesn’t limit herself when it comes to spending money on skin care and beauty products.

Skin care routine (AM):

• Cleanser
• Sunscreen

Quarterly Cost: $120

The best item to splurge on: Moisturizer. During her night-time routine for skin care, she loves using Tatcha moisturizers which can range from $70 to $92.

Hyram Yarbro

Hyram Yarbro is a well-known skin care influencer who’s amassed 4.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. In 2021, Hyram launched a skin care brand called “Selfless by Hyram.”

Investing in his skin care allowed Hyram to pour into himself and learn that men can take care of their skin too: “I lived in an environment that heavily discouraged men to get into any type of cosmetic or self-care routine,” he says. Over time, he realized, “This isn’t just an aesthetic experience, but it’s actually, not only correcting damage within the skin, but a really important self-care ritual that I think is good for me, and I want other people to have.”

Skin care routine (AM):

• Cleanser
• Salicylic acid serum
• Moisturizer
• Sunscreen

Weekly Cost: No more than $250 (At most $50 per product, for three to five products)

The best item to splurge on: Sunscreen. “Sunscreens are very tricky to develop as far as a good-quality sunscreen goes. It’s also a lot more expensive to develop,” Hyram says. “If you want a really good-quality sunscreen, it just naturally costs a little bit more.” Hyram’s favorite sunscreen, Hero Cosmetics’ Superlight Sunscreen SPF 30, is just $20, he says.

Georgia Louise

Georgia Louise is a facialist with over 25 years of experience in the skin care industry. As an influencer and founder of her own skin care line, beauty products are one thing Louise doesn’t mind spending a lot on.

Devoting time to a skin care routine allows Louise to have moments of solitude and connect deeply with herself: “Taking care of your skin is a sacred ritual that makes you feel good about yourself,” she says. “It empowers you to just take care of yourself and feel good about your skin inside and out.”

Skin care routine (AM):

• Cleansing balm
• Cream cleanser with cryo freeze tool to depuff her face
• Remove cleanser with a microfiber wash cloth
• Toner or tonic (depending on if her skin is oily or dry)
• Serum
• Ionic magic wand
• Eye cream
• Moisturizer
• Finishing serum
• Sunscreen

Monthly Cost: $300 to $500

The best item to splurge on: Serum. “I probably have more serums than shoes,” says Louise. “I probably have like 30 serums, and it seems like a lot but that’s because of the industry that I’m in.” She enjoys using an $85 serum by Charlotte Tilbury called Charlotte’s Magic Serum Crystal Elixir.

Fallon Fonrose

Fallon Fonrose is a beauty enthusiast and brand representative for Crown Affair, a haircare brand. Fonrose tells CNBC Make It that investing in skin care helps her makeup apply more smoothly and allows her to be more confident when she wakes up every morning.

Skin care routine (PM):

• Oil-based makeup remover
• Foam cleanser
• Skin essence
• Retinol cream
• Moisturizer

Bi-Weekly Cost: No more than $200

The best item to splurge on: Sunscreen. “The main thing that I try to tell people every day is to wear sunscreen. 365 days a year. It doesn’t matter if there’s no sun,” Fonrose says. “It doesn’t matter if you are a person of color. You still need sunscreen.” She names Korean skincare brand, Sulwhasoo, as one of her favorites — their daily sunscreen retails for $75.

Natasha Caddy

Natasha Caddy is a minimalist when it comes to her skin care routine. The Australia native doesn’t spend much on skin care products, and completing her routine doesn’t take much time.

Skin care routine (AM):

• Wash face with water
• Moisturizer
• Sunscreen

Monthly Cost: $30

The best item to splurge on: Moisturizer. “I just feel like maintaining nice, healthy skin is better than letting it dry out and get all wrinkly,” says Caddy. One of her favorite moisturizers, Skinstitut Normal Skin Moisture Defence, costs $56.

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The study, which will be presented Friday in Chicago at ENDO 2023, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, adds to a growing body of evidence that highlights the flaws of using BMI to measure obesity. Obesity, in the simplest terms, refers to when a person has an excess of fat in the body.

BMI — which is calculated using a person’s height and weight — is the standard way to determine whether someone has obesity or is overweight. A BMI of 30 and above falls into the obese category for most people; 25 to under 30 is considered overweight. It’s ubiquitously used by medical professionals to determine who is at risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease and who qualifies for anti-obesity medications and weight loss surgery.

According to the new study, BMI misses a lot of cases of obesity. Researchers looked at data from almost 10,000 U.S. adults collected from 2011 to 2018 and found that almost 36% had obesity based on their BMI. Use of a different measure of obesity — a person’s body fat percentage — put that figure at 74%. The study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

“I was told it was nothing to worry about,” Devaney Hogan, 38, of Boston, tells TODAY.com. “They said, ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re scheduled for your physical at the end of October, just come in then.’”

Still, she scheduled an appointment with her OB-GYN and underwent tests, which revealed why she had a bump: It was stage 3 HER2 positive invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer.

“My bikini saved my life,” she says.

Lump leads to diagnosis

After finding the “pea-sized” lump and being told by her doctor’s office it was nothing to worry about, Devaney Hogan says she talked to her friends about it. One spoke up.

“My really good friend who’s a nurse said, ‘Absolutely not. Don’t settle for not being seen,’” Devaney Hogan recalls. “She’s like, ‘I don’t care what the doctor said. I don’t care if they’re not worried. Just get this checked. You have three babies — you need to be OK.’”

She called her OB-GYN in the hope she could be examined soon.  

“Through a fair amount of pushing and persistence, I was able to get an appointment the following week,” she says. “I probably could have pushed it off and been like, ‘I’m busy, I’ve got stuff going on,’ and I’m very grateful that I did it.”

Her doctor referred her to a breast cancer facility, and she was again reassured that there was “nothing to worry about.” She was told she could get a mammogram and biopsy, but she felt “there was zero urgency” in their recommendations. Still, she scheduled the tests.

“That bump was something. That bump was stage 3 HER2 positive and invasive breast cancer that had spread to my lymph nodes,” Devaney Hogan says. “I very well could have brushed it off and waited. And I was told had I waited, we’d be in a very different scenario.”

She underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, lymph node removal and radiation to treat her cancer. Recent scans found some residual cancer, so she started chemotherapy again, which will last until next year, and she will undergo reconstructive surgery in November.

When she was 35, Devaney Hogan actually had a mammogram because of recurrent mastitis in one breast. That made the diagnosis even more surprising.

“There were no other symptoms,” she says. “I did not present in any way or have a family history or other symptoms that would put me at high alert.”

Navigating motherhood, her career as a vice president at a tech company and cancer has felt tough at times.

“Cancer can somewhat be glamorized and dramatized on TV, so you have this expectation of what it’s going to be, and suddenly I’m going to transition from a busy mother with a career to a very sick person,” Devaney Hogan says. “The reality is you get the diagnosis and then you come home, and your kids are still yelling at you for not opening their string cheese the right way.”

She took a leave of absence from work to focus on treatment and recovery.

“I really started to think of this as the new job in my life,” she says. “I was going to be dedicating hours a week to … ensuring I got though this.”

As she went through treatment, though, she pondered her diagnosis.  

“You never expect it to be you. Maybe that’s an awful thing to say,” she says. “I feel great, and I exercise and eat well, and it’s shocking.”

She also felt like she knew her body well and wondered how she missed the lump.

“How was I so blindsided by the fact that this disease could get me,” Devaney Hogan says. “That’s where I started brewing this idea of squeezing and thinking about ways I could help ensure other women didn’t have to think about breast cancer awareness only as a performative act … in October.” 

Season for Squeezin’

Prior to her diagnosis, Devaney Hogan thought about breast cancer awareness in October as an event that meant she needed to find pink clothes for her children to wear to school or raising awareness of an illness that impacted older women. She wondered if there was something she could do that could make breast cancer prevention more relevant to women under the recommended age for a mammogram. Season for Squeezin’ was born.

“Unfortunately, breast cancer is impacting a growing number of younger women,” she says. “Why not meet them and the place they are in the summer and focus on the things they can do really tangibly?”

Devaney Hogan reached out to swimsuit makers, asking to include tags with information about breast cancer detection and the Season for Squeezin’ campaign. Heidi Fish — known for designing one of the bikinis Padma Lakshmi wore in Sports Illustrated — agreed to include the tags. Devaney Hogan recently learned that Imsy Swimwear and Kortni Jeane Swimwear will also use the tags.

Most medical groups no longer recommend routine self-breast exams as a way to screen for breast cancer because research hasn’t found that they improve breast cancer detection or survival rates, according to Mayo Clinic. However, it is recommended to be familiar with your breasts so you can recognize changes and what’s normal versus what’s not — and take this information to a health care provider as soon as possible.

“We were founded to drive the message of giving yourself a squeeze each time you suit up in your swimwear,” she says.

She’s launching a campaign the week of June 18 to encourage people to take pictures of themselves in their swimsuits holding fruit and tag five of their friends to do the same — she hopes it reminds people to familiarize themselves with their breasts.

Since her diagnosis and starting Season for Squeezin’, Devaney Hogan has learned a lot about herself. Throughout her career in the tech industry, others have told her to “tone it down” or be “demure” if she wanted to succeed. But she found that staying true to herself has made a huge difference.

“Being myself has saved my life. I was comfortable pushing for what I needed, speaking up and (leaning) into my ability to build relationships,” she says. “It’s terrible it takes a diagnosis like breast cancer to accept and celebrate who you are.”

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Many Americans feel wealthy — but don’t necessarily measure it in dollars and cents. Well-being, not money, has become the leading measure of wealth for most adults today, according to the new Charles Schwab “Modern Wealth” survey.

It takes an average net worth of $2.2 million to be considered “wealthy,” the survey found — but that’s the estimate respondents gave for other people.

What about you? Are you rich? How much money does it take for you to consider yourself wealthy? 

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Of the 1,000 adults surveyed, about 48% say they already feel wealthy. Yet their average net worth is $560,000 — about a quarter of what they think others need to be rich.

Millennials are overwhelmingly more likely to say they feel wealthy — with 57% of those ages 26 to 41 saying they feel this way, compared to only about 40% of Gen Z, Gen X and baby boomers. For millennials who say they feel wealthy, their average net worth is about $530,000. 

Wealth is a ‘very personal’ definition

“The definition of wealth is very personal, and it should be unique to one’s experience,” said certified financial planner Preston D. Cherry, founder and president of Concurrent Financial Planning in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He stresses the importance of having a financial plan based on your own wants and needs.

“If you do nothing, then nothing will happen,” said Cherry, who is a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.

Americans’ views about what it takes to be wealthy have changed since pre-pandemic times. 

When Schwab did its Modern Wealth Survey before the pandemic in 2020, people said the average net worth it takes to be considered wealthy was $2.6 million. In 2021, that figure dropped to $1.9 million, then went up to $2.2 million in 2022 — where it’s stayed this year.  

How wealth and well-being intersect

When asked to characterize what being wealthy means to them, respondents overall mentioned their well-being (40%) more often than money (32%) and assets (26%). In 2017, the top response to what wealth means was money (27%). 

“Whether they know it or not, well-being is much more important,” said CFP and financial psychologist Brad Klontz, a managing principal of Your Mental Wealth Advisors in Boulder, Colorado.

“One of the risks we run is thinking a certain amount of money is going to bring us happiness, bring us peace, improve our lives, improve our relationships,” said Klontz, who is also a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.

“Unfortunately some people will sacrifice what matters most to them ultimately, in their goal to achieve an arbitrary wealth number.”

Yet, nearly two-thirds, 62%, of adults in the Schwab survey say enjoying healthy relationships with their loved ones better describes what wealth means than having a lot of money (38%). And, 7 in 10 adults say wealth is about not having to stress over money, not having more of it. 

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The unidentified 54-year-old man died after he was infected with the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, which can be carried in oysters and other shellfish, according to St. Louis County Department of Public Health.

County health department investigators found the man ate the oysters sometime in the week before his death. He was treated at an area hospital and died on June 8, officials said.

The man purchased the oysters from The Fruit Stand & Seafood in Manchester, Missouri, about 20 miles west of St. Louis. County health officials are urging anyone who recently purchased oysters from the market to dispose of them as investigators work to determine the source of the oysters.

“There is no evidence that the business did anything to contaminate the oysters, which likely were already contaminated when the establishment received them,” health department investigators said in a press release.

Officials added all of the remaining oysters in the market were embargoed by the health department.

Symptoms of vibriosis include abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills, according to the St. Louis County Department of Public Health.

The department noted severe illness and death from vibriosis is rare and typically occurs in people with a weakened immune system.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people can reduce their risk of vibriosis by following these tips:

• Always cook oysters or other shellfish before eating: Don’t eat them raw or undercooked.
• Always wash your hands with soap and water after handling raw shellfish.
• Avoid cross-contaminating cooked shellfish with raw shellfish and its juices.
• Stay out of salt water or brackish water if you have a wound (including from a recent surgery, piercing or tattoo) if there’s a possibility it could come into contact with salt water or brackish water, raw seafood or raw seafood juices, or cover the wound with a waterproof bandage.
• Wash cuts thoroughly with soap and water if they have been exposed to seawater or raw seafood or its juices.
• Contact your medical provider if you develop a skin infection or if your skin has come into contact with salt water or brackish water, raw seafood or raw seafood juices.

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So, when Jenna’s oldest daughter, Mila, 10, saw a scale recently at a friend’s home, she didn’t know what it was. 

“There was a scale in the bathroom, and Mila was like, ‘What is that?’ Because I don’t own a scale,” Jenna said on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Monday, June 12. “I don’t want to be beholden to some number on a machine that makes me feel bad.”

When Mila learned what it was, she started “weighing everything” with it, Jenna said, including the family cat, Hollywood. Co-host Hoda Kotb called Jenna’s choice to not have a scale “a lesson” and pointed out that focusing too much weight can lead people to be “constantly adjusting.”

Added Jenna: “Why would we waste our one precious life thinking about our body not being good enough?”

The former first daughter has been open about her own body image issues when she was around Mila’s age, sharing in March on TODAY that when she was in the fourth grade, she wrote in her diary that her new year’s resolution was to lose weight.

Now that she’s a mom, Jenna says she wants to demonstrate positive self-talk to Mila and her two other children, Poppy, 7, and son Hal, 3. She’s said she’s been inspired by the way her mom, Laura Bush, modeled body confidence to her and her twin sister, Barbara, growing up, explaining her mother “never talked about diet” or “the way she looked.”

“She definitely would never self-hate in front of us. I want to make sure I’m modeling that type of love to my kids,” Jenna said on TODAY in March. “Mila and I will go for walks, they see me work out, they play sports, I encourage them to stay active, but we’re not sitting around talking bad about ourselves.”

Jenna has spoken in the past about how damaging it can be to focus on scale readings.

In 2019, she and Hoda Kotb revealed their weights on live TV during a segment about intermittent fasting. 

The goal of their intermittent fasting was “to be healthy” and not to lose weight. Still, Jenna shared at the time that whenever she steps on a scale, she tends to fixate on that single number.

“I was reminded why I don’t weigh myself yesterday because I was playing with my kids, and I kept having that one number in my head,” she told Hoda.

These days, Jenna says she measures health by how she feels inside, not by her weight or appearance.

“It’s not just about looking skinny or looking a certain way or fitting into your jeans,” she said. “It’s about feeling healthy all the way around.”

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I never had a headache or a seizure, which are typical symptoms of a brain tumor.

My first symptom was having phantom smells. I was smelling things that weren’t there — like restaurant exhaust or fried steak — typically early in the morning when I was waking up. I don’t live near a restaurant, so I knew that something was wrong.

I’m a former ICU nurse and after doing a little bit of research, I found olfactory hallucinations are a classic neurological symptom that can be caused by a sinus condition, Alzheimer’s disease or a brain tumor.

I went to my primary care physician and over the course of 2017, I made regular trips to her because the olfactory hallucinations were continuing in frequency, duration and intensity. Her prescription was: Use nasal spray. I thought, “That’s reasonable, I’ll start there.” When the spray didn’t work over months, she said, “Just use it more.”

As the symptoms were progressing, I requested that she order an MRI. I said, “There’s something wrong with my head. When I lie down, it feels like there’s a brick pressing on my forehead.” In response, she dismissively said, “You don’t have a brain tumor” and refused to write the order for the MRI.

‘I was afraid I would go blind’

During this time, my mother died. I asked myself: “Was I having these symptoms because I was grieving her loss?” But that question was answered in pretty short order when a new symptom appeared: It felt as though my right eye was on fire and going to blow out of my head. The pain was so intense I was afraid I would go blind.

I never went back to my primary care physician. She had summarily dismissed all the classic neuro symptoms for more than a year. I was just so done with all this gaslighting.

I went to an ophthalmologist and I told him, “It feels like my eye is going to explode and there’s something in my head.” And he said, “You have dry eye, so use drops four times a day.” I was dismissed again.

I sought out an ear, nose and throat doctor to get an evaluation of my sinuses, but everything was clear so he suggested I see a neurologist. When I saw the first neurologist who was available to demand an MRI of my head, his response was the same as the PCP’s. He said, “You don’t have a brain tumor.”

But finally, he wrote the order. Two days after the MRI, I was sitting at the salon getting my hair cut when my cell phone rings and it’s the neurologist. He blurts out, “You were right, you do have a brain tumor.”

The MRI showed it was the size of an egg and located in the frontal lobe, where executive functioning lives. The tumor grew so large that it started impinging on my eye.

70 medical visits

Almost a year-and-a-half after my first PCP visit, I finally had a definitive diagnosis. My first thought was, “Am I going to die? Will I ever be able to work again?”

I underwent brain surgery on April 10, 2018. The tumor turned out to be a benign meningioma.

I now celebrate two birthdays every year: April 10 and my actual birthday.

But there were eye and recovery complications. The tumor had been pressing on the back of my eye for so long that when that pressure was removed, the retina in the back of my right eye peeled off like wall paper.

I have since had five eye surgeries and procedures. In all, I’ve had about 70 medical visits from the time I had the first symptoms.

After the brain surgery, I slept 22 hours a day for two weeks. When I was able to get up and move around, I walked into the kitchen and I couldn’t remember how to make toast and coffee. That terrified me, but I refused to give in to that.

I did jigsaw puzzles and crossword puzzles — anything I could to challenge my brain. I also enrolled in a brain rehab program.

It took four years to get all of my executive functioning back. The vision in my right eye will never be the same again, but my brain is completely back and I am so grateful.

I wouldn’t take no for an answer when I was being dismissed. I had to be my own medical advocate, and it’s exhausting.

A lot of people get intimidated by their physicians. They don’t want to challenge them or they think they don’t know enough to challenge them, particularly women. I’m hoping this story might help other women not give up when you’re too tired to continue to fight for yourself. But you must continue to persist. It is your health.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.

Sun protection is key, which may mean changing or adding extra steps to your skin care routine during the summer months.

Dr. Sandra Lee, board-certified dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon also known as Dr. Pimple Popper, joined TODAY to separate some summer skin care facts and myths.

Myth: The sun is always stronger on hotter days

While the sun is generally stronger in the summer when the days are warmer, the intensity of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun varies based on a number of factors.

The most important thing to look at is UV index, Lee said on TODAY.

The UV index measures the intensity of UV radiation from the sun on a scale from 0 to 11, with 0 indicating no sunlight (at night, for example), and 11+ indicating extreme UV radiation (you can burn in less than 10 minutes), according to The Skin Cancer Foundation.

“If it’s high, that’s when you have the most risk of damage (to your skin) from the sun. … Anything above 5 is concerning,” says Lee.

While it’s important to wear sunscreen every day regardless of the UV index, you may need extra protection (for example, higher SPF or more frequent reapplications) on days when it’s higher, TODAY.com previously reported.

The UV index is not a measure of heat, and a higher UV index does not necessarily mean it’s hotter outside. For example, the UV index can be higher on a 70-degree sunny day than it is on a 100-degree sunny day, depending on the time of year, time of day, location, altitude and other factors that influence UV levels.

Likewise, the UV index can be still be high on overcast or cloudy days. “Sometimes when its super cloudy, you can get less UV radiation penetrating, but even if (the clouds) are patchy, a lot of sun can reflect off of that,” says Lee.

Simply put, you can’t rely on the temperature outside or looking at the sky to determine how strong the sun will be that day. Always check the UV index before going outside, says Lee. It’s available on most weather apps and the Environmental Protection Agency‘s website.

Myth: Sun exposure can clear up your pimples

You might’ve heard that spending time in the sunshine can help clear up your skin. However, Lee says this is a myth that can actually result in long-term skin damage.

“The sun can temporarily improve your acne but not in the long run because you’ll get browns spots, and the sun will darken these,” says Lee.

Sun exposure and heat can also cause the skin to produce more oil, says Lee, which may make blemishes or acne worse. You also run the risk getting a face sunburn, especially if you’re using acne products that make the skin more sensitive to sun.

It is true that moderate sunlight can help the body produce vitamin D, which can support your immune system and improve your mood, TODAY.com previously reported.

But any unprotected UV exposure can damage the skin, causing signs of premature aging, like discoloration and wrinkles, and increase the risk of skin cancer — which is why sunscreen is a must. Everyone can benefit from wearing facial sunscreen daily, and always opt for products with at least SPF 30 or higher.

Fact: You should avoid applying perfume before going in the sun

If you’re thinking of spritzing your neck and chest with perfume or cologne before spending time in the sun, think again, says Lee.

“If you go out in the sun, it can cause a rash and blistering in some people,” says Lee, referencing a condition called photodermatitis. This occurs when certain allergens or chemicals on the skin are activated by UV rays (also called a phototoxic reaction), triggering a severe sunburn, eczema-like reaction (dermatitis), or hives, according to Mount Sinai.

Many perfumes and colognes are made with bergamot oil, which contains chemicals called furocoumarins, which can trigger a skin reaction in the sun — this is called “Berloque photodermatitis,” says Lee. These are also found in citrus fruits — if you’ve heard of a “margarita sunburn,” this is a similar skin reaction from furocoumarins in limes activated by the sun, per the Cleveland Clinic.

So if you plan to spend time outside in the sun, don’t liberally spray your neck and chest with perfume beforehand, says Lee. Instead, try to apply perfume in areas that won’t get as much sun and always use sunscreen on any exposed skin, no matter what.

Fact: The higher the SPF, the longer the sunscreen will protect you

“Technically the higher the SPF is supposed to mean how much longer you can be out in the sun,” says Lee. So SPF 100 would protect you for more minutes than SPF 50. However, higher SPFs also give people a “false sense of security,” says Lee.

“People think if it’s SPF 100 that they can stay out for (many more) hours, but it will rub off or you’ll sweat it off,” says Lee. So lathering on a high SPF sunscreen once in the morning or before leaving the house won’t insure you for a full day out in the sun — you’ll want to bring that bottle with you.

Regardless of the SPF, it’s very important to reapply your sunscreen at least every two hours (and after swimming), says Lee, especially if you’re spending prolonged time in the sun. If you know you’ll sweat a lot or go in the water, consider using a water- or sweat-resistant SPF product.

Myth: SPF refers to all UVA and UVB protection

“Technically, SPF only really refers to UVB protection, but both UVB and UVA rays are dangerous,” says Lee. Ultraviolet B rays have a shorter wavelength and are associated with sunburns, whereas ultraviolet A rays have a longer wavelength and are associated with skin aging, per the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Both types of rays can damage the skin and increase the risk of skin cancer, which is why it’s important to protect against them.

“You really want to look at broad-spectrum protection, (which) means it is blocking UVB and UVA rays,” says Lee.

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The drug, Leqembi, received conditional approval from the Food and Drug Administration in January based on early results suggesting it could slow Alzheimer’s progression by several months. The FDA now is reviewing more definitive results to decide whether the drug should receive the agency’s full endorsement.

The decision carries extra significance because insurers have held off on paying for the infused treatment until it has full FDA approval.

The FDA panel of outside advisers voted 6-0 that a large company study confirmed the drug’s benefits for patients with mild or early Alzheimer’s. The nonbinding vote amounts to a recommendation for full approval, and the FDA is scheduled to issue a final decision on the matter by July 6.

The FDA’s initial OK for Leqembi came via the agency’s accelerated approval program, which allows early access to drugs based on laboratory and biological measures suggesting that they might help patients. The drug, marketed by Eisai and Biogen, helped clear a brain plaque that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

The FDA panel reviewed more recent data from an 1,800-patient study in which people taking the drug showed a modestly slower rate of decline on measures of memory, judgment and other cognitive tests.

Health & Wellness Jun 9

FDA advisors endorse Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi, paving way for full approval this summer

news May 12

Alzheimer's Treatment Leqembi Could Cost Medicare Up to $5 Billion Per Year, Study Estimates

“For an illness like this where we don’t have very much, these are meaningful changes for patients with Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Merit Cudkowicz of Harvard Medical School. “A couple more months in the highly functional state is really meaningful.”

Drugs approved via the accelerated pathway can technically be withdrawn by the FDA if their benefits aren’t confirmed, though regulators rarely take that step. Gaining full approval allows medications to stay on the market indefinitely.

Normally the process of converting an accelerated approval attracts little attention, and FDA rarely convenes its advisers to weigh in on such decisions.

But concerns about the cost and effectiveness of new plaque-targeting drugs like Leqembi have attracted new scrutiny to the process from academics, members of Congress and health insurers.

Medicare, the federal health plan that covers 60 million seniors, has essentially blocked coverage of Leqembi and a similar drug, Aduhelm, pending full FDA approval. That policy, which has little precedent, was announced last year amid concerns that Aduhelm, priced at $28,000-a-year, would drive up costs for Medicare recipients.

The federal program provides health insurance for the vast majority of people with Alzheimer’s, and private insurers tend to follow its lead.

Leqembi is priced similarly at $26,500 per year and the handful of patients who have received it to date have mainly had to pay out of pocket.

Facing pressure from Alzheimer’s advocates and patients, Medicare’s administrator, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, has made clear the program will immediately begin covering the drug if it gets FDA’s full OK.

But last week she announced extra requirements even after Medicare coverage begins: All patients receiving the drug will need to be enrolled in a federal registry to track Leqembi’s safety and effectiveness. That approach is occasionally used for complex new medical devices, but rarely for drugs.

The move was criticized by advocacy groups, including the Alzheimer’s Association, which has lobbied the federal government for months to begin paying a drug that they say could potentially help many thousands of Americans.

Leqembi is the first drug that’s been convincingly shown to slow Alzheimer’s by targeting the underlying biology of the disease. The delay in progression amounts to about five months, and some experts disagree on whether the difference is enough to meaningfully improve people’s lives.

But most FDA panelists were impressed by Eisai’s results, which they said showed significant differences in patients’ cognitive abilities and function, as well as reduced burden for caregivers.

The study, funded by Japanese drugmaker Eisai, tracked patients for 18 months using a scale measuring key indicators of cognitive function. At the end of the trial, patients receiving Leqembi declined more slowly — a difference of less than half a point on the scale — than patients who received a dummy infusion.

The drug was also associated with potentially serious side effects, including swelling of the brain and small bleeds in brain vessels.

Three patients taking Leqembi died during the study, two after experiencing a stroke linked to brain bleeding. But FDA reviewers said it was unclear whether the drug played a role in the deaths due to other underlying factors affecting the patients, including the use of blood-thinning medications that can increase the risk of bleeding.

“There are adverse effects,” said Dr. Robert Alexander of the University of Arizona, who chaired the panel. “But they’re monitorable and I think the benefit is clear.”

But when Bolle arrived at a chemotherapy session in May, he learned some worrisome news: The drug he receives, cisplatin, wasn’t available. This meant his chemotherapy had to end after four rounds. Cisplatin is one of several chemotherapy drugs doctors are struggling to find because of a nationwide shortage.

“I made it to the last two or three treatments of it when they said, ‘We don’t have it,’” Bolle, 60, a guidance counselor and football coach in Milwaukee, tells TODAY.com.

Bolle and his wife, Connie, are sharing their story to raise awareness of the shortage.

“I’m not sure what (other treatments) they might not be able to get before my situation gets worse,” he says. “Hopefully they find the drugs they need for all the other cancer patients that are sitting in the infusion centers waiting for their treatments. I’m quietly optimistic.”

Back pain leads to cancer diagnosis

In October 2022, Bolle began experiencing back pain. At first, he thought he pulled a muscle while exercising.

“He started to have some back pain, and he was like, ‘Oh gosh, I must have lifted too much weight,’” Connie Bolle tells TODAY.com. “He tried hot and cold treatments on it, and he took it easy. He stopped lifting the same amount of weight and (the pain) continued.”

Jeff Bolle took over-the-counter medication, hoping for relief.

“I was taking my Tylenol at night just to be comfortable enough to sleep,” Jeff Bolle says. “I realized that I just need to get this checked to know what it was.” 

He visited his primary care physician for a physical and underwent some blood tests. His bloodwork indicated his liver enzymes were elevated, and doctors performed an MRI, where they found a tumor the size of a grapefruit resting between his liver and kidney.

“(It) was pressing on his back and causing pain,” Connie Bolle recalls. “They actually did a bunch of exams where they withdrew fluid and did further CT scans. … They ended up diagnosing it as bile duct cancer.”

Doctors performed surgery to remove the tumor and two-thirds of his liver. After some recovery time, he started chemotherapy and immunotherapy. While he and Connie felt hopeful treatment would give him more time, they knew it wasn’t guaranteed.

“My doctor said it was the type of cancerous growth you’ll never really get into remission,” he says. “Their thoughts were that they could get most of the tumor out and they could use chemo … to hold it off.”

Bile duct cancer and chemotherapy shortage

Bile ducts are tubes that carry bile through the liver or from the liver and the gallbladder to the small intestine. Bile duct cancers are somewhat rare, accounting for about 50,000 annually in the United States, according to Dr. Antony Ruggeri, medical oncologist at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, who is the Bolles’ doctor.

“It’s not that common,” Ruggeri tells TODAY.com.

Symptoms of bile duct cancer include jaundice and abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant.

“If you look at yourself every day in the mirror, sometimes jaundice goes unnoticed because it creeps up on you,” Ruggeri says. “People sometimes think, ‘Oh it’s just a little bit of change.’ … They don’t think much of it.”

Because there are few symptoms, people with bile duct cancer often don’t realize they’re sick and might receive a delayed diagnosis.

“Sadly, we do often find these in stages where they’re not surgically manageable,” Ruggeri says. “They’re either too big … or they’ve metastasized outside of the liver, and so they often are found late.” 

Late-stage diagnoses for bile duct cancer can be devastating, as there aren’t many good therapies that extend lives. Chemotherapy is the first line treatment, though sometimes cancers with a genetic component, such as Lynch syndrome, do have targeted treatments that work well, Ruggeri says. For many stage 4 patients like Jeff Bolle, chemotherapy is considered palliative and not curative.

“We can prolong their life with chemotherapy, but sadly chemotherapy is not that effective. It can have a modest improvement in how long your life is,” Ruggeri says. “We have to rely just on chemotherapy and immunotherapy.”

But now doctors like Ruggeri across the country are finding that the drugs they once used to cure or extend patients’ lives are not readily available. Without chemotherapy, doctors can still give immune therapy, but by itself, the benefits for patients like Jeff Bolle are also “modest,” Ruggeri says.

NBC News reported that 14 drugs used in cancer treatments are in short supply throughout the nation. These range from those used in leukemia and colorectal cancer to those that help with medical imaging. But the most “notable” shortages are the drugs carboplatin and cisplatin (which Jeff Bolle was taking) because they’re often used for patients who can’t be cured, Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, tells TODAY.com.

On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it’s allowing imports of cisplatin from China to ease the shortage, and health care providers could begin ordering it Tuesday. The agency is looking into importing carboplatin, a spokesperson told NBC News.

The primary reason for the shortage is that there’s little profit in making these drugs, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf told NBC News in May.

“A number of firms are going either out of business, or they’re having quality problems because of difficulty investing in their technology. That’s the core underlying reason for the shortage that we’re seeing,” Califf said.

One of the biggest makers of cisplatin and carboplatin, Intas Pharmaceuticals, has temporarily shut down production and it’s not clear when it will resume, CNBC reported.

Intas Pharmaceuticals did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment, but a spokesperson previously told NBC News in a statement that it’s collaborating with the FDA to release more of its existing inventory of these products and is making a plan to resume manufacturing, but a final date hasn’t been determined.

The limited production also comes at a time when the number of people who need the treatments is rising.

“(With) the aging population, which increases the number of folks with cancer over time, we see … a slow but increasing demand for these drugs,” Dahut says, adding that if a manufacturing plant has a problem, there usually isn’t anywhere else that can make up for this lack of production.

Dahut says that some patients will be able to use other treatments. But some of the hard-to-find medications are “really mainstays of upfront therapies.”

“If we think about ovarian cancer, head, neck cancer, triple negative breast cancer, bladder cancer, testicular cancer, there are not necessarily good drugs you can swap out for (carboplatin and cisplatin),” he says.

While he can’t be sure of how long the shortages might last, Dahut says it could take anywhere from four to six months before there’s a steady supply of these medications. That can make a huge difference to some patients.

“Not having these drugs available for individual patients can have an impact on their overall survival,” he says.

Speaking with NBC News, Califf said that the FDA is working with manufacturers to try to make these drugs more available. But he added that a long-term solution will need “intervention by Congress and the White House” to get the industry where it should be.

Dahut agrees that there ultimately needs to be “a different system.” He doesn’t have the answers, he says, but he believes there needs to be more of a manufacturing “safety net” than there is currently.

“The current way things are done are definitely going to leave this problem continuing in the future,” he adds.

One more football season

When Jeff Bolle coaches football, he often runs onto the field to show the students a play. Summer training began already, and he realizes he won’t be doing as much jogging.  

“I’m really active when I coach, and I show the drills, and I move around,” he says. “I’ll be standing around and giving a lot more verbal instructions instead of demonstrations, not running from one end of the field to the next. So that’ll be the tough part, but hopefully it’ll be good to be out there again.”

The Bolles felt hesitant to share their story, but they know that there are other people who really need this chemotherapy.

“I hope I get it for myself, but we also need to try and get it for other people,” Jeff Bolle says.

Connie Bolle agrees. The couple’s been married for 28 years, and it’s hard for her wondering if the shortage will impact their time together. She offers a plea to leaders to find a solution to the drug shortages.

“Give us more time and give him more time to coach football this fall. All those kids he impacts as a guidance counselor,” she says. “So many people need him, not just me.”

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The hard-to-miss sign issues a “‘Gonorrhea Alert!” in large letters and features a picture of the Titanic crashing into the tip of an iceberg. It’s one of several appearing across 16 states as part of a nationwide campaign by the advocacy group AIDS Healthcare Foundation and aims to raise awareness about a new strain of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea that was detected in the U.S. earlier this year.

“It’s a call to action for the individual to think about gonorrhea, to have conversations about gonorrhea with their partners,” said Mike McVicker-Weaver, an AHF regional director for Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

Gonorrhea is a bacterial sexually transmitted infection. It may present without symptoms, and if left untreated, can result in pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and other health problems.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gonorrhea is the second most common STI in the U.S., behind chlamydia. Gonorrhea has progressively developed resistance to the antibiotic drugs currently prescribed to treat it, the agency said. This has contributed to the recent rise in reported gonorrhea cases. In 2021, there were 710,151 reported gonorrhea cases in the U.S. compared to 677,769 in 2020 and 616,392 in 2019, according to the CDC.

Earlier this year, health officials in Massachusetts announced it had detected a “concerning” new strain of gonorrhea that resisted response to five commonly-used classes of antibiotics.

“The discovery of this strain of gonorrhea is a serious public health concern which DPH, the CDC, and other health departments have been vigilant about detecting in the US,” Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke said in a statement. “We urge all sexually active people to be regularly tested for sexually transmitted infections and to consider reducing the number of their sexual partners and increasing their use of condoms when having sex. Clinicians are advised to review the clinical alert and assist with our expanded surveillance efforts.”

AHF said its Wellness Centers currently provide free testing and prevention for gonorrhea and other STDs in multiple locations across the country.

McVicker-Weaver said larger-scale efforts are needed to draw attention to the underlying risk.

“We know now that gonorrhea is resistant to the main lines of treatment for it. It’s rare, still, to run into those strains of gonorrhea, but it’s there. So, without a robust public health response, it’s going to become a real crisis,” he said.

A panel of independent advisors to the Food and Drug Administration on Friday unanimously endorsed the Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi made by Eisai and Biogen, paving the way for full approval of the treatment this summer. 

The advisors voted 6-0 that Eisai’s data demonstrated a clinical benefit to patients. The FDA is not required to follow the advisors’ recommendation, but the panel’s vote for Leqembi will weigh heavily in favor of full approval.

The FDA is expected to make a final decision on Leqembi on July 6. The agency’s decision will determine whether Medicare broadly covers the treatment. The program for seniors is severely restricting coverage of Leqembi right now because it was previously approved through an expedited process.

Eisai has set the annual list price of Leqembi at $26,500 per year.

The advisory committee for Leqembi was unusually small, with just six voting members.

Dr. Teresa Buracchio, acting head of the FDA’s neuroscience office, said the smaller-than-usual committee resulted from a number of experts recusing themselves from Friday’s meeting due to conflicts of interest.

“While this group is small, it contains the appropriate expertise necessary to have a robust discussion on the topic at issue today,” Buracchio said.

Leqembi is the second Alzheimer’s treatment from Eisai and Biogen to come under FDA review, after the controversial approval of the drug Aduhelm in the summer of 2021.

The drug regulator granted expedited approval to Aduhelm, developed by the two companies, despite 10 out of 11 advisory committee members concluding that the treatment did not demonstrate a clinical benefit. A congressional investigation subsequently found that the approval of Aduhelm was “rife with irregularities.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate Health Committee, told the Health and Human Services Department in a letter Wednesday that the “FDA has a special responsibility to restore the public trust after its inappropriate relationship with Biogen during the agency’s review of a prior Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm.”

FDA sees clinical benefit, but there are risks

Eisai’s study of Leqembi found the drug slowed cognitive decline in early Alzheimer’s patients by 27%. The antibody is administered twice monthly through intravenous infusion. It targets a protein called amyloid, often referred to as plaque, that builds up in the brain and is associated with the disease.

Buracchio told the panel that the agency views these results as clinically meaningful for patients.

But Leqembi also carries serious risks of brain swelling and bleeding. During the study, 13% of patients who received Leqembi had swelling and 14% had bleeding.

The swelling and bleeding are normally mild without obvious symptoms, but these episodes can be life-threatening, according to the FDA.

There were three deaths in the study that are possibly related to Leqembi, though the FDA was unable to draw definitive conclusions in its review.

Two patients who died suffered cerebral hemorrhages after receiving the infusions. They had been administered blood thinner medications. A third patient who died had an underlying condition called cerebral amyloid angiopathy in which the blood vessels in the brain are weak, which can lead to bleeding.

Dr. Deniz Erten-Lyons, an FDA official, told the panel that taking blood thinners during treatment with Leqembi might increase the risk of cerebral hemorrhages.

Several groups expressed strong opposition to FDA approval of Leqembi during the meeting’s public comment section Wednesday. 

Nina Zeldes with the Public Citizen‘s Health Research Group said the FDA has not been presented with clearly compelling evidence that Leqembi has a clinical benefit. Zeldes said serious safety concerns associated with the treatment outweigh the benefit based on the current data. 

Dr. Dona Kim Murphey, a neurologist with Doctors for America, said Eisai’s study was flawed because Black Americans, who are at higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, were severely underrepresented in the trial. Black Americans represented 2.3% of participants who received Leqembi during the trial.

“With racialized instance of Alzheimer’s and brain bleeding in Black patients and with their significant underrepresentation in this trial, I cannot as a neurologist advise this group with lecanemab data,” Murphey said.

Small panel due to conflicts of interest

Buracchio said panel was smaller than usual due to experts recusing themselves due to conflicts of interest.

The FDA’s decision on whom to include in Friday’s meeting was impacted by a letter from the Alzheimer’s Association that advocated for Leqembi’s full approval, Burrachio said. At least one member of the FDA advisory committee, Dr. David Weisman, signed that letter.

Weisman was originally granted a waiver to participate in Friday’s meeting despite serving as the principal investigator for Biogen and Eisai clinical trials on Leqembi and Aduhelm at Abington Neurological Associates.

Weisman subsequently recused himself from the meeting and did not participate.

Acting Chair Dr. Robert Alexander was granted a waiver to lead the panel Friday despite holding stocks valued up to $150,000 in companies that compete with Eisai and Biogen. The FDA disclosure did not name the companies.

Alexander is the chief scientific officer of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative at the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute. Banner is conducting an Alzheimer’s clinical trial for a competing firm, and Alexander receives $50,000 to $100,000 in salary per year from funding supporting the trial.

Bryan Marshall, who heads the office that manages the FDA’s advisory committees, asked the agency to grant Alexander a waiver because he has unique expertise that is “invaluable” to Friday’s meeting.

Medicare coverage, price controversy

Leqembi is technically already available on the U.S. market after receiving fast-track approval in January, but very few seniors can access the expensive treatment because Medicare is restricting coverage to only people who are participating in clinical trials. There are no clinical trials underway.

As consequence, most seniors can only access Leqembi if they can afford to pay for the drug out of pocket. Leqembi has a list price of $26,500 per year.

Medicare has promised to broadly cover Leqembi on the same day the FDA fully approves the drug. The Veterans Health Administration is already covering the treatment for veterans.

Sen. Sanders said the price of Leqembi is “unconscionable” and called on HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to take action to slash the price in a letter ahead of the meeting this week.

Sanders said seniors would face substantial out-of-pocket costs even if Medicare covers Leqembi. The price of the drug would also put a substantial financial burden on the program for seniors, raising premiums even for people who are not using the medication, he said.

A panel of independent advisors to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended Thursday that the antibody nirsevimab be approved for use to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus, the leading cause of hospitalization among newborns.

If the FDA approves nirsevimab, the antibody would become the first medical intervention available in the U.S. that can protect all infants from RSV. The FDA, which is not obligated to follow the recommendation of its advisory panel, is expected to make a final decision on nirsevimab in the third quarter.

Nirsevimab is a monoclonal antibody made by AstraZeneca. The medication would be marketed by Sanofi.

The advisory panel voted 21-0 to recommend its approval.

In a separate vote, the advisors also recommended nirsevimab’s use in children up to 2 years old who remain vulnerable to the virus in their second RSV season. That vote was 19-2.

RSV kills nearly 100 babies in the United States every year, according to scientists.

Infants hospitalized with RSV often require oxygen support, intravenous fluids and are sometimes placed on a ventilator to support their breathing.

The virus is a major public health threat. A surge in RSV infections last year overwhelmed children’s hospitals leading to calls for the Biden administration to declare a public health emergency in response.

RSV circulates at the same time as the flu and Covid-19, which puts added pressure on hospitals.

There is a second monoclonal antibody used against RSV called palivizumab. But this antibody is only for preterm infants and those with lung and congenital heart conditions that are at a high risk of severe disease. Palivizumab also has to be administered monthly.

Nirsevimab, by contrast, would also be administered to healthy infants, who make up a majority of the hospitalizations. It is also given as a single dose, which would make administration easier.

Nirsevimab is not considered a vaccine because it is a monoclonal antibody.

It is unclear whether the federal Vaccines for Children program will provide nirsevimab for uninsured and underinsured children for free because the antibody is regulated as a drug.

Nirsevimab is already approved in Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom.

Nimish Patel, an expert on medications for infectious disease, said nirsevimab performed “extraordinarily well” in both premature and term babies.

“The once-seasonal dosing is a huge advance and this is probably the closest thing to an RSV vaccine that we have and it really moves the field forward,” said Patel, a member of the FDA committee and a professor of clinical pharmacy at University of California, San Diego.

Effectiveness

Nirsevimab was up to 75% effective at preventing lower respiratory tract infections that required medical attention and 78% effective at preventing hospitalizations, according a review by the FDA.

A more conservative estimate by FDA put the antibody’s effectiveness at about 48% against lower respiratory tract infections that required medical attention. This estimate assumed patients with missing data on their health outcomes had lower respiratory tract infections that required medical attention.

Nirsevimab is administered as a single injection with the dose depending on the infant’s weight. Infants that weigh less than 5 kilograms would receive a 50 mg injection for their first RSV season, and those weighing 5 kilograms or greater would receive a 100 mg injection.

Children less than 2 years old who remain at risk for severe RSV in their second season would receive a single 200 mg injection of nirsevimab.

Safety

The FDA did not identify any safety concerns in its review of nirsevimab.

Other monoclonal antibodies have been associated with serious allergic reactions, skin rashes and other hypersensitivity reactions.

The FDA did not find any cases of serious allergic reactions in the nirsevimab trials and cases of skin rash and hypersensitivity reactions were low in infants who received the antibody. But Dr. Melissa Baylor, an FDA official, said cases of these side effects will likely occur if nirsevimab is approved.

Twelve infants who received nirsevimab in the trials died. None of these deaths were related to the antibody, according to the FDA’s review.

Four died from cardiac disease, two died from gastroenteritis, two died from unknown causes but were likely cases of sudden infant death syndrome, one died from a tumor, one died from Covid, one died from a skull fracture and one died of pneumonia.

“Most deaths were due to an underlying disease,” Baylor said. “None of the deaths appeared to be related to nirsevimab.”

There has been very close attention to safety due to historical failures in the development of RSV vaccines. Scientists first tried to develop a vaccine in the 1960s with an inactivated virus, but that shot actually made disease from RSV worse in some children when they received their first natural infection, resulting in the death of two infants.

Manish Shroff, head of patient safety at AstraZeneca, said the company will keep a close eye on the safety of nirsevimab through a large global monitoring system: “Safety is of utmost importance,” he said.

Baylor said there are also unanswered questions about how nirsevimab would interact with vaccines in development that confer protective antibodies to the fetus by administering the shot to the mother.

It’s unclear if giving nirsevimab to infants whose mothers received such RSV vaccines would provide additional protection or create potential safety issues, Baylor said.

The FDA’s advisors endorsed Pfizer’s maternal RSV vaccine that protects infants in May. The agency is expected to make a decision on Pfizer’s shot in August.

“The workouts I used to do were exhausting and painful,” Aniston, 54, tells TODAY.com, noting that she would often injure herself from overexertion. She’s since stopped that cycle and shifted her approach to fitness.

Jennifer Aniston’s workout routine includes functional fitness

Aniston’s lightbulb moment came in 2021, after a friend introduced her to Pvolve, a fitness method that combines resistance training with low-impact exercise. The actor, who quickly became a devotee, is now an advisor for the online platform.

“It’s functional exercise. It’s mindful, it’s small movements,” Aniston explains.

Virtual classes range from five to more than 60 minutes.

Feeling content with shorter workouts is a big deal for Aniston, who used to feel panicky if she didn’t have time to do a long workout. “My mind used to (tell) myself that if I didn’t do 45 minutes to an hour workout, I wasn’t drenched, (it wasn’t enough),” she says.

“I put my body through it … and over time, breaking your body, pushing your body that hard is just diminishing returns,” she reveals. “And as long as I’m going to live, I want to be able to move.”

Though Aniston says she allows herself “that freedom” to take a day off, she offered advice on how to motivate yourself to exercise when you’re not in the mood.

“Just do 10 to 20 minutes, you can do anything for 10 to 20 minutes,” Aniston says. “You start to enjoy it, that’s the other thing. I really do push myself, just at least do that little bit. I’ll immediately feel incredible. You just instantly start to feel those endorphins and that energy. ”

Aniston says that’s one thing that appeals to her about the Pvolve platform, comparing it to a “good salad bar” because you can pick and choose what you’re in the mood for.

Jennifer Aniston’s go-to salad recipe

As for Aniston’s actual salad bar order? The Emmy winner starts with butter lettuce as a base.

“I’m not a romaine fan,” Aniston says. “I love to have some mushrooms. I love sprouts. I love a little tomato. Avocado, Kalamata olives, always some cheese — never gonna give up my cheese. I’ll do sliced parmesan, pecorino … feta … or all of them! Sliced almonds, sunflower seeds.”

Then she’ll add a chopped egg or poached egg on top to complete what she calls a “really hearty salad.”

Aniston’s go-to dressings include oil and vinegar or a vinaigrette, “and if it’s the weekend, some good ole ranch.”

Her lifestyle habits for healthy aging

From an early age, Aniston was conscious about self-care and her health. 

“Not so much my parents’ generation. So I would watch their bodies decline,” she says. “If I’m going to be 75, 85 years old, I don’t want to be in a wheelchair. I don’t want want someone to have to lift me up and take me to the bathroom.”

When asked to share her secret to aging well, Aniston says it comes down to clean eating, drinking water, getting enough sleep, meditation and doing the right workouts.

“Mindfulness, mindfulness,” Aniston says. “That’s all it is.”

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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As women’s bodies produce lower levels of reproductive hormones during menopause their risk for heart disease rises. High blood pressure further increases that risk — but it’s not clear whether there’s a link with hormone therapy for menopause symptoms.

Canadian researchers wondered if the way hormones are absorbed — orally, vaginally or through the skin — could play a role.

The University of Calgary team examined health records of more than 112,000 women ages 45 and older who filled prescriptions for at least six months’ worth of estrogen-only hormone treatment between 2008 and 2019. They tracked which women went on to develop high blood pressure at least a year after starting treatment.

While the differences weren’t huge, women who took estrogen pills had a 14% higher risk of developing hypertension compared to those using skin patches or creams, the researchers reported Monday. Oral estrogen carried a 19% greater risk than vaginal versions.

The findings were published in the journal Hypertension.

Hormone therapy has a mix of risks and benefits that mean it’s not for everyone. Today it’s prescribed not to prevent disease but to relieve menopause-related symptoms — generally using the lowest possible dose for the shortest time. Most commonly used are combination pills of estrogen and another hormone, progestin. (Estrogen-only pills typically are prescribed to women without a uterus.)

Different versions of hormone therapy may work better for different menopause symptoms, something the study didn’t address.

But it adds important clues to understanding the complex relationship between hormone therapy and blood pressure, said Dr. Garima Sharma, a women’s heart specialist with Virginia’s Inova Health System and the American Heart Association.

Sharma would like to see a more rigorous trial that compares different hormone versions. But she pointed to a possible biological explanation: Maybe oral estrogen affects enzymes linked to blood pressure as it’s being processed, while skin and vaginal versions have much more limited activity in the body.

Still, “these findings are very clinically relevant,” Sharma said in an an email, and suggest it’s especially important to monitor blood pressure in women who use oral hormone therapy.

___

In March, Kevin Maginnis embarked on a 100-day journey to lose 50 pounds by only eating McDonald’s. Now that he’s finished the challenge, he shared the results on the TODAY show on June 1.

When the 57-year-old started going viral for his unusual weight loss methodology, he raised plenty of eyebrows. But by Day 43, he had already lost 33 pounds.

On Thursday, Maginnis stopped by Studio 1A to celebrate the last day of his unconventional experiment and revealed that he’d lost 58.5 pounds. When he started, he weighed 238 pounds and he’s now down to 179.5 pounds.

“I feel amazing,” he said on TODAY.

Before and after: Maginnis lost over 50 pounds.TODAY

Maginnis’ methods were quite straightforward: Eat three meals a day from the fast food chain, but cut the portions in half. He also skipped snacks and only drank water, about 80 to 90 ounces a day.

Nothing on the McDonald’s menu was off limits — including fries and dessert — and Maginnis didn’t work out or count calories during the experiment.

Maginnis said his bloodwork shows that his health has improved. He said he lowered his level of triglycerides, a type of fat that circulates in the body, by 205 points and his cholesterol by 65 points.

Beforehand, Maginnis was prediabetic, but he said his A1C levels (which measures your average blood sugar levels over the past three months) are now in a healthy range.

Halfway through the challenge, Maginnis’ wife, Melody, joined him. In 40 days, she’s lost 17 pounds, her husband shared.

Maginnis live in Studio 1A.Nathan Congleton / TODAY

Now that Maginnis has reached his goal weight, the next step is embarking on a workout routine.

“(I plan to) increase the beast in me. We’re going to be doing an ice plunge. I’m going do a 100-foot rope climb,” he said, adding that the latter goal is his “personal Everest.”

Maginnis is looking forward to eating a filet mignon on Friday, and he plans to eat three quarters of his meals moving forward to maintain his weight.

Maginnis understands that many people question his methods, but he said the initial part of his experiment was focused primarily on weight loss.

“Are there better micronutrients or macronutrients for brain health? Absolutely. But when it comes to getting rid of obesity, reduce the size of the meals,” he said.

TODAY.com previously consulted registered dietitian Frances Largeman-Roth to determine how healthy Maginnis’ weight loss approach is.

Largeman-Roth agreed that cutting calories is important, but suggested that anyone looking to shed some pounds focus on a more well-rounded method.

“Even though Kevin is cutting his meals in half, he’s still getting well over the recommended 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily. One bacon, egg and cheese biscuit contains 1,330 milligrams of sodium, and a Big Mac has over 1,000 milligrams without ketchup or mustard,” she explained.

Largeman-Roth also emphasized the importance of physical activity, adding that, without this, weight loss eventually plateaus.

“And let’s remember that health isn’t just about the number on the scale. It’s also about cardiovascular health and other measures,” she added.

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

• Walking this number of steps a day only a few days a week has major health benefits
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This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Pacino’s girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, is eight months pregnant. The “Scarface” star already has three other children: daughter Julie Marie, 33, and 22-year-old twins Anton and Olivia.

Pacino’s friend and former co-star Robert De Niro welcomed his seventh child last month at age 79.

Research published over the last decade suggests that babies born to older men have an increased risk of arriving prematurely or developing birth defects, certain cancers or neurodevelopmental disorders, though the overall risk is still low.

“Older guys have been having babies since biblical days. It’s not a new phenomenon. What we didn’t understand was they might be producing kids with a higher risk of problems,” said Arthur Caplan, a professor of medical ethics at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine.

The medical community does not have a consistent definition of so-called advanced paternal age, but the American Urological Association and American Society for Reproductive Medicine jointly recommend that doctors talk to men ages 40 and up about the increased risk of adverse health outcomes in their offspring.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

The move was first announced last year by Health Canada and is aimed at helping people quit the habit. The regulations take effect Aug. 1 and will be phased in. King-size cigarettes will be the first to feature the warnings and will be sold in stores by the end of July 2024, followed by regular-size cigarettes, and little cigars with tipping paper and tubes by the end of April 2025.

“This bold step will make health warning messages virtually unavoidable,” Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett said Wednesday.

The warnings — in English and French — include “poison in every puff,” “tobacco smoke harms children” and “cigarettes cause impotence.”

Health Canada said the strategy aims to reduce tobacco use below 5% by 2035. New regulations also strengthen health-related graphic images displayed on packages of tobacco.

Bennett’s statement said tobacco use kills 48,000 Canadians every year.

Doug Roth, chief executive of the Heart & Stroke charity, said the bold measure will ensure that dangers to lung health cannot be missed.

The Canadian Cancer Society said the measure will reduce smoking and the appeal of cigarettes, thus preventing cancer and other diseases.

Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, said health messaging will be conveyed in every puff and during every smoke break. Canada, he added, will have the best tobacco health warning system in the world.

Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship are banned in Canada and warnings on cigarette packs have existed since 1972.

In 2001, Canada became the first country to require tobacco companies to include picture warnings on the outside of cigarette packages and include inserts with health messages.

Norovirus and salmonella, germs that can cause severe illness, were the most common cause of 800 outbreaks, which encompassed 875 restaurants and were reported by 25 state and local health departments.

Investigators with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for better enforcement of “comprehensive food safety policies,” which emphasize basic measures like hand washing and keeping sick workers off the job.

Although 85% of restaurants said they had policies restricting staff from working while sick, only about 16% of the policies were detailed enough to require workers to notify managers and to stay home if they had any of the five key symptoms — including vomiting, diarrhea, and sore throat with fever.

About 44% of managers told the CDC their restaurants provided paid sick leave to workers. That’s a problem, according to Mitzi Baum, the chief executive of STOP Foodborne Illness, a nonprofit advocacy group.

She said it means workers are forced to choose between earning money or showing up sick — or there’s social pressure not to leave fellow employees short-staffed.

“If there’s a positive food safety culture, you’re not penalized for illness,” Baum said.

It can be hard for consumers to know when sick workers might be on the job, she said, but there are some signs to look for: “Is your server sniffing? Are they sneezing? How are they handling the utensils?”

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About 48 million people a year in the U.S. are sickened by foodborne illness, including 128,000 who are hospitalized and 3,000 who die, according to the CDC.

Opportunities like these are especially popular during the spring and summer months.

From NYC to Las Vegas, here are five wellness activities you can attend free of charge in some of the travel capitals of America.

Free wellness activities in 5 major U.S. cities

1. Yoga in Bryant Park – New York City, N.Y.

Every year when the weather gets warm in NYC, Bryant Park hosts free yoga classes for residents and tourists. The program typically runs from the end May to the end of September.

For summer 2023, classes will be held Tuesdays at 10 a.m. with the exception of July 4. Sessions are also held on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. through August, and evening classes will shift to a 5:30 p.m. start in September.

Registration is required to attend, and a waiver must be completed in advance. In order to participate, you’re encouraged to bring your own yoga mat, water and a towel if needed.

2. Seattle Free Walking Tours – Seattle, Wash.

In several big cities, you can find free walking tours run by nonprofit organizations. You’re encouraged to pay what you feel comfortable with, even if your choice is $0.

Options like these are especially great to have in expensive travel cities like Seattle.

During walking tours in the Emerald City, you can visit the waterfront and downtown area. The experience engages your brain as you learn about the city’s history, and the walk can be two hours long which is a good exercise for your body.

3. Planet Word – Washington D.C.

Going to museums can be very stimulating for your mind and great for your intellectual wellness. If you’re visiting the U.S. capital and looking for free experiences, Planet Word is a nice option to consider.

The museum in D.C. has interactive exhibits that explore the use of language, ranging from a quick karaoke sessions that ends with lessons about music, to a test of who’s the funniest person in your family.

General admission is free of charge, and the museum is open Monday through Sunday with varying hours.

4. Jazz Museum’s Courtyard Concert Series – New Orleans, La.

On Tuesdays at 2 p.m., the New Orleans Jazz Museum has live jazz concerts in its courtyard. The experience is completely free of charge and is usually an hour long.

To attend the event, you’re required to get a pass from the front desk of the museum. Passes are only available on the day of the show that you’re planning to attend, starting at 10 a.m.

The museum is also on the edge of the French Quarter which is the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans. Even after the concert ends, you can typically still hear music playing because street performances are common in the French Quarter.

5. Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens – Las Vegas, Nev.

Exploring a botanical garden can be a delightful experience to boost your mood. And the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in Las Vegas is a beautiful one to add to your bucket list.

You can enter the attraction for free, and there are five displays throughout the year that have rotating schedules.

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The season also presents unique risks to children’s health and safety, according to experts. Whether kids are enjoying the summer at home, going on vacations or heading to camp, it’s important to ensure they are having fun safely.

We spoke to pediatric emergency medicine physicians about some of the top reasons why children end up in the ER during summer, risky activities they wouldn’t let their own children do and how parents can ensure their kids stay safe this summer.

Play with fireworks

When asked about this nostalgic summer activity, the experts unanimously agreed that fireworks should be left to the professionals and enjoyed from a safe distance. That means no home fireworks, even the legal ones.

Every summer, children come into the emergency room with injuries related to fireworks — unsurprisingly, these tend to spike around the Fourth of July, Dr. Brent Kaziny, medical director of emergency management at Texas Children’s Hospital, tells TODAY.com.

These range from minor to third-degree burns, severe injuries to the face or eyes, and even losing fingers or hands, says Kaziny. In 2021, there were nine deaths in the U.S. due to fireworks, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Fortunately, most of these injuries can be prevented by not setting off fireworks at home, the experts note. If parents still want to take that risk, Kaziny emphasizes that children should never be allowed to touch or light any of the fireworks, including sparklers.

“Parents need to recognize that sparklers can get up to temperatures of over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s essentially like a welding torch type of heat,” says Kaziny. He recommends safer alternatives like glow sticks, especially for young children.

“Fireworks can be such a fun part of celebrating summer holidays, but it’s really not worth a devastating lifelong injury for your child,” Dr. Caitlin Farrell, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Boston Children’s Hospital and injury prevention researcher at Harvard Medical School, tells TODAY.com.

Go in or around home pools unsupervised

Swimming pools are one of the joys of summer, but also one of the biggest dangers for kids, the experts say. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 in the United States, and most of these drownings occur in home swimming pools, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Drownings and submersion injuries often happen quickly and quietly, Dr. Meghan Martin, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, tells TODAY.com. Because of this, she says kids should never be left in or around a swimming pool unsupervised. “Avoid stepping away, even for just a second, because that’s when it all happens,” says Martin.

Always make sure there is a designated “water-watcher” supervising kids in the pool, says Farrell, especially when young kids or toddlers are in the water. Parents should also teach children about pool safety as early as possible so they know not to get in the water when adults aren’t around and how to get out, Farrell adds.

Ideally, Farrell says home swimming pools should have a four-sided pool fence that self-locks or self-latches and is at least four feet tall.

“There is no hack for safety when it comes to kids around water; it’s making sure you have your full attention on the kids and then early swim lessons,” says Martin.

Swim in a rough ocean

Relaxing at the beach is a favorite summer activity for many families. However, the ocean presents unique risks — and drowning accidents in natural water (including oceans) are common among kids, especially those ages 5 to 14, according to CDC data.

Before going to the beach, always check the weather conditions and surf zone forecast, the experts note. “When you’re at the beach, make sure you’re paying attention to any advisories related to undertows or rip tides,” says Kaziny. If there are beach flags raised or lifeguard warnings, always listen to them, he adds.

In any case, if the ocean seems too rough or the current too strong, Martin recommends parents keep children out entirely, especially if they are young or not strong swimmers.

When children do swim in the ocean, they should be accompanied by parents or closely supervised, Kaziny says. U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets or floaties can offer an extra layer of protection. “The biggest thing that you can do (to protect) younger kids is get them in swim lessons,” says Kaziny.

Another beach safety tip from Martin is teaching children how to swim out of a rip tide, which involves swimming parallel to the beach and never against the current. “Even the strongest swimmers can fall into this trap,” she notes.

Spend time in the sun without protection

Sunshine can be one of the best parts of summer, but it’s important for parents to take steps to protect children from too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays, the experts note.

“Every summer, we see some really bad sunburns in kids, especially in infants,” says Martin, adding these include second-degree sunburns that blister and damage the skin.

A history of one or more sunburns during childhood has been found to increase the risk of developing skin cancer as an adult, according to the CDC. Sun protection is key for both children and adults all summer long, the experts note.

“Babies under 6 months should really be out of direct sunlight,” Kaziny says, adding that parents should bring an umbrella or pop-up shelter to provide extra shade when spending time outside.

All children should wear sunscreen before spending time out in the sun, says Kaziny. The sunscreen should be broad spectrum (protects against UVA/UVB rays), he adds, and at least SPF 15 but ideally higher. “Make sure that you’re reapplying regularly or at least every two hours and after they get in the water and dry off,” says Kaziny.

In addition to sunscreen, Kaziny recommends children wear hats, sunglasses and protective clothing, like long-sleeved rash guards when possible.

If a child gets sunburned, parents should ensure they drink plenty of fluids and use over-the-counter pain relievers, as well as medicated lotions, says Kaziny. Parents should always reach out to their child’s pediatrician if they have concerns or questions.

Children are also at risk for sun poisoning, a severe sunburn that can mimic an allergic reaction or flu-like illness, per the Cleveland Clinic — on top of scorched skin, it can cause a fever, chills, severe rash, nausea, dehydration and dizziness.

Ride a bike without a helmet

Bicycle accidents occur year-round, but they surge among kids in the summer when school is out and people are spending more time outside, says Farrell. Resulting injuries can range from cuts and bruises to broken bones and traumatic brain injuries, TODAY.com previously reported.

“When kids fall and hit their head or injure their brain … these can be devastating injuries (with) a lifetime consequence,” says Farrell, adding that it’s essential for all children to wear helmets every time they ride a bike, no matter how close to home.

“Older kids often don’t think they need a helmet because they’re good bike riders and they’re not afraid of falling,” says Farrell. But emergency room visits prove otherwise. Adolescents and teens have some of the highest rates of bicycle-related injuries treated in emergency departments in the U.S., per the CDC.

No matter how experienced the bike rider, accidents can happen, the experts note. “(Helmets) are a simple safety rule that we know saves lives,” says Farrell, adding that parents should consistently wear helmets as well to model this behavior for children.

A final word on child safety

These aren’t the only popular activities that are risky or unsafe for children. TODAY.com reported previously that pediatric emergency medicine also experts caution against these activities year-round: driving ATVs, jumping on trampolines unsupervised, touching unfamiliar pets, riding in the front seat of a car under the age of 13, and going into another home without asking about firearms.

Conservative lawmakers wrangled just enough votes to end a filibuster and pass a bill with both measures. Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, who pushed for the bill and met with various lawmakers to shore up support, has promised to sign it into law.

The mood in the Nebraska Capitol has been volatile since lawmakers on Tuesday advanced by a single vote the hybrid measure that ties together restrictions that Republicans across the U.S. have been pushing. Nebraska’s lawmakers have traded insults and promises of retribution, while protesters have loudly voiced their displeasure.

Friday’s debate was briefly stopped when protesters in a chamber balcony stood and yelled obscenities at conservative lawmakers while throwing what appeared to be bloody tampons onto the floor. Security arrested at least one person and cleared the balconies. As lawmakers began voting, chants of, “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!” could be heard coming from outside the chamber.

Nebraska had not passed a new abortion ban since the U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that established a nationwide right to abortion. The state currently bans abortion starting around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The 12-week ban includes exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

The bill also would prevent transgender people 18 or younger from receiving any gender-confirming surgery. The state’s chief medical officer — a political appointee who is currently an ear, nose and throat doctor — would set rules for puberty blockers and hormone therapies. There would be some exceptions for minors who were already receiving treatment before the ban was enacted.

At least 17 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for minors, and proposals are pending before the governors of Texas and Missouri. Medical groups and advocates say such restrictions are further marginalizing transgender youth and threatening their health.

Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh led an effort to filibuster nearly every bill this session — even ones she supported — to protest the proposed restrictions on gender-affirming care. She railed against conservatives who voted for the hybrid bill and warned that people, medical professionals and businesses will leave the state over it.

Cavanaugh declared in early March that she would “burn the session to the ground over this bill,” and she and a handful of progressive allies followed through. They introduced hundreds of amendments and motions to slow every bill at each stage of debate, impeding the work of the Legislature and sending leadership scrambling to prioritize which bills to push through.

After lawmakers merged the abortion limits with the transgender health bill, Cavanaugh clashed with Sen. Julie Slama, who insinuated that conservatives were supporting the restrictions on gender-affirming care to retaliate against Cavanaugh. Slama noted that the restrictions did not initially have the 33 votes needed to survive.

“But then Machaela Cavanaugh got up and ran her mouth because she was just overjoyed that the national media was here to give her some more attention,” Slama said. “So that gave us 33 votes.”

Cavanaugh responded that it would “cost” conservatives with just days left in the session for lawmakers to pass bills.

“I am going to take all of the time. Every single, solitary minute of it to make sure the speaker has to decide what actually gets scheduled in these last handful of days,” she said.

Conservatives in the one-house, officially nonpartisan Legislature announced early this month that they would amend the trans health bill to squeeze in the abortion restrictions. That unconventional move came after conservatives failed to advance a bill that would have banned abortion once cardiac activity can be detected — generally around six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

Legislative rules state that a bill failing to defeat a filibuster must be tabled for the year. So opponents were surprised when conservatives announced a plan for a 12-week ban. Progressive lawmakers say it was an underhanded way to ramrod through a ban after the issue already failed. Conservatives say the ban is as a compromise.

Because an emergency clause is attached to the bill, it will take once the governor signs it.

The 81 cases, up from 68 identified in March, include 14 people who have been blinded and four others who had to have their eyeballs surgically removed.

Though most infections have been limited to the eyes, the bacteria can be fatal when it enters the bloodstream. As of Monday, the CDC said, four people have died.

“These were catastrophic and life-altering infections,” Maroya Spalding Walters, who leads the CDC’s antimicrobial resistance team, said in an interview.

The CDC expects the case count to rise, although the rate has slowed since the eyedrops were recalled by Global Pharma in February.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

RSV fills hospitals with wheezing babies each fall and winter, and the virus struck earlier than usual and especially hard in the U.S. this past year.

If the vaccine pans out, “many infants and their parents will breathe easier in the coming years,” said Dr. Jay Portnoy, a member of the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel from Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

The idea: Give women a single injection late in pregnancy, between 24 weeks and 36 weeks, so they develop RSV-fighting antibodies that pass through the placenta — just like they pass protection against other bugs to their babies.

In Pfizer’s international study of nearly 7,400 pregnant women, maternal vaccination proved 82% effective at preventing severe RSV during babies’ most vulnerable first three months of life. At age 6 months, it still was proving 69% protective against severe illness.

Pfizer said there were no signs of safety problems but the FDA did ask its scientific advisers to consider whether a slight difference in premature birth between vaccinated moms and those given a dummy shot was of concern. Debate over whether that was really a hint of trouble or just due to chance dominated the panel’s daylong meeting.

Pfizer pledged to closely track the vaccine’s real-world use for more evidence. Ultimately the advisers unanimously decided that the shot is effective — and voted 10-4 that there’s adequate safety data. The FDA will consider Thursday’s recommendations in making the final decision on approval.

“If you’re in any sense risking premature births with this vaccine, I think there will be a big price to pay,” said Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, among the panelists who voted “no” on the safety question.

If the FDA ultimately approves the maternal shot, it would mark a second milestone in the decades-long quest to prevent the respiratory syncytial virus. Earlier this month the FDA approved the world’s first RSV vaccine, rival GSK’s shot for older adults, who also are at high risk. There isn’t a vaccine yet for children, but Pfizer is about to begin testing one.

Here are some things to know:

RSV IS A COMMON THREAT

For most healthy people, RSV is a cold-like nuisance. But it can be life-threatening for the very young –- infecting deep in the lungs to cause pneumonia or impeding babies’ breathing by inflaming their tiny airways. In the U.S. alone, between 58,000 and 80,000 children younger than 5 are hospitalized each year, and between 100 and 300 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“All young infants are at risk of severe disease with RSV,” but postponing infection even by a few months lessens that risk, said CDC’s Dr. Katherine Fleming-Dutra.

VACCINE’S POTENTIAL IMPACT

Pfizer’s vaccine isn’t intended to prevent RSV infection but to avoid the worst outcomes. In late-stage testing, six infants born to vaccinated mothers had a severe RSV illness in their first three months of life compared to 33 infants whose mothers received a dummy shot. In addition, the vaccine cut in half the chances of needing any medical attention for an RSV infection by age 6 months.

The company predicts the U.S. could prevent as many as 20,000 infant hospitalizations a year, and 320,000 doctor visits, if enough pregnant women were vaccinated.

SAFETY DATA

Vaccine reactions included typically mild injection-site pain and fatigue. As for the prematurity question, vaccinated mothers had slightly more preterm infants – 5.7% versus 4.7%. The vast majority were born just a few weeks early. That’s better than the nation’s preterm birth rate — overall in the U.S., 1 in 10 babies were born premature last year – and the study imbalance wasn’t statistically significant, meaning it could be due to chance.

A total of 17 infants died during the study, five born to vaccinated mothers and 12 to those given a dummy shot. Researchers deemed none of the deaths related to the vaccine but FDA said it “is unable to exclude the possibility” that one infant’s death, stemming from extreme prematurity, might be related.

Vaccines always get close safety scrutiny but regulators are especially mindful of a major setback in the 1960s when an experimental RSV shot worsened infections in children. Eventually scientists figured out the problem and the RSV vaccines in the pipeline today are made with safer, modern methods — yet still were tested first in older adults.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

FDA’s advisers already have recommended approving Pfizer’s vaccine for older adults, and the agency is expected to make a decision by month’s end. Whether to use the same shot in pregnant women will be a separate FDA decision, expected in August.

Meanwhile, rival GSK is gearing up for fall immunizations with its RSV vaccine for seniors. First, the CDC’s advisers will debate next month whether all older adults or only those at high risk need vaccination.

Vaccines aren’t the only advance in the pipeline. High-risk infants often get monthly doses of a protective drug during RSV season but European regulators recently approved the first one-dose option, from Sanofi and AstraZeneca. FDA’s advisers will debate that drug next month, too.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff on Tuesday said Pfizer’s vaccine that protects infants from respiratory syncytial virus has “generally favorable” safety data.

The FDA staff made the conclusion in briefing documents ahead of a meeting on Thursday when a panel of external advisors to the agency will discuss whether to recommend full approval of the RSV shot.

The advisors will vote on whether Pfizer’s late-stage clinical trial data on the vaccine supports its safety and efficacy. The FDA typically follows the advice of its advisory committees, but is not required to do so.

The agency is slated to make a decision on whether to clear the shot in August before RSV season in the fall. If approved, Pfizer’s jab would become the world’s first vaccine that protects infants against RSV. 

RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. But infants and older adults are particularly vulnerable to having more severe cases.

Each year the virus kills 6,000 to 10,000 seniors and a few hundred children younger than 5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The FDA earlier this month approved an RSV shot from GlaxoSmithKline for adults ages 60 and older.

The agency is expected to make a decision within weeks on Pfizer’s other RSV shot for that same age group.

Pfizer’s RSV vaccine that protects infants is administered to expectant mothers in the late second or third trimester of their pregnancy. 

The single-dose vaccine triggers antibodies that are passed to the fetus, which provides it with protection against RSV from birth through the first six months of life. 

Along with safety information, the staff also reviewed the vaccine’s efficacy data.

Pfizer’s trial found the shot was 82% effective at preventing severe disease from RSV in newborns during the first 90 days of life. The shot was about 70% effective during the first six months of the baby’s life.

Most of the more than 3,000 mothers who received the shot in a phase three trial experienced mild to moderate adverse reactions, according to the FDA staff’s review of data.

The most common reactions were fatigue, muscle pain, headache and pain at the injection site. Most reactions resolved within three to four days after vaccination, the staff review noted.

A higher number of premature births occurred among mothers who took the vaccine compared to those who received a placebo, according to the staff review.

But they said that difference does not appear to be statistically significant. 

Some of the participants’ children also had low birth weights, the staff review said. 

The trial reported a total of 18 peripartum fetal deaths, which includes infants who survived briefly after birth and fetuses that died during pregnancy. 

But the FDA staff said it is unlikely that those deaths are related to Pfizer’s shot.

At 102, she’s a little bit older but is still working as a consulting doctor, exercising daily and living mostly independently at her home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

As a physician and holistic medicine pioneer, McGarey has plenty of wisdom to share after a long life that’s provided lots of joy, but also many setbacks along the way.

She’s a cancer survivor, endured the death of a daughter and went through a divorce when she was almost 70.

That breakup happened after her husband of 46 years and clinic partner left her to be with another woman — one of the hardest phases of her life, she writes in her new book, “The Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age.”

How can people get past such setbacks?

“You just don’t get stuck in them. It’s a matter of choice: What do I choose? I chose not to be stuck in the pain and suffering. It hurt and I didn’t like it,” McGarey tells TODAY.com.

“There comes a point where it’s just not worth my energy to spend any more time on that. I’ve got the energy to do something that’s creative and pull myself out of that and work forward.”

The philosophy is one of McGarey’s main tips for living:

Everything is your teacher

After her painful divorce, McGarey found healing and joy in starting a new holistic medical practice with her daughter, which gave her life’s purpose.

She called the experience “a huge teacher” that helped her to find her own voice as a doctor and woman.

“Up to that point, I had depended on (his) support in the things that I was saying. After that, I had to believe that what I was saying had strength and was important,” McGarey notes.

“Once I could actually find my own voice, I wrote him a letter and thanked him for giving me my freedom. Because up until that time, I did not feel that my voice was strong enough.”

The doctor also pays attention to her dreams and uses them to guide her choices, noting they’re a key to the unconscious. McGarey advises people struggling with a decision to ask for a dream before going to bed and then writing it down upon waking up to look for messages and clues from their unconscious.

All life needs to move

She means that on a mental, spiritual and physical level.

All of us have what McGarey calls “juice” — life’s energy, fulfillment and joy — which should be directed towards where you want to be and how you want to feel, she says.

This energy has to move, but it’s natural for people to occasionally get stuck, the way McGarey felt stuck during her divorce. When that happens, life doesn’t flow the way it should or could, she notes.

“It’s just like having a cut on your arm and picking at the scab. As long as you’re picking at the scab, it hurts,” McGarey says.

“If you’re spending your energy on something that is just keeping you miserable, uncomfortable or in a place you don’t want to be, start looking for what is out there… the world is all around you and it’s full of amazing, amazing things.”

Become aware you’re stuck and look for the path out — you’ll find it, but only when you start searching, she says. Look for light, love and hope.

It’s important to avoid getting stuck on a physical level as well, so McGarey walks every day. She’s worked up to a daily goal of 3,800 steps, which she accomplishes with the help of a walker.

Find what works for you

McGarey believes diet and exercise are important for good health and longevity, but doesn’t recommend any particular way of eating or staying active. The great-great-grandmother says she eats what she wants to eat, including chocolate cake and an occasional hamburger.

She doesn’t drink alcohol and doesn’t smoke.

“I’m not opposed to alcohol and I think wine for some people is a lovely thing. It’s what works for you,” she says.

“The individual person has to live their own individual life, so as you find what works for you, bless it and use it and work with it.”

You are here for a reason

“I truly believe each one of us has a purpose here,” McGarey says. “It’s our privilege and our responsibility to find that within ourselves.”

Each one of us is special, able to love and be loved, she adds, noting love is the central theme of her whole life. She considers love to be the most powerful medicine.

You can become better as your body grows older

That may seem counter-intuitive, but McGarey believes each year that goes by connects you more to your purpose, she writes in her book.

At 102, she has a 10-year plan to create a village for living medicine where people can “come together to practice wellness.”

“I have a wonderful life and I love it because I’m surrounded by love, not just by relatives but people that I have helped and they have helped me,” she says.

“I feel healthy. I feel stronger in aspects of my being that I did not have when I was younger. So I call it aging into health — find what makes you happy and makes other people happy and go for that.”

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After six miscarriages, Tincopa and her husband started saving for in vitro fertilization, which can cost well over $20,000. But the pandemic wiped out their savings, and they can’t find coverage for IVF on their state’s health insurance marketplace. So, the California couple is saving again, and asking politicians to help expand access.

“No one should ever have to go through this,” Tincopa said.

Infertility, or the inability to get pregnant after a year or more of trying, is a common problem. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that it affects nearly one in five married girls or women between the ages of 15 and 49.

Yet coverage of fertility treatments can be hard to find in many corners of health insurance even as it grows briskly with big employers who see it as a must-have benefit to keep workers.

It’s a divide researchers say is leading to haves and have nots for treatments, which can involve a range of prescription drugs and procedures like artificial insemination or IVF, where an embryo is created by mixing eggs and sperm in a lab dish.

“It is still primarily for people who can afford to pay quite a bit out of pocket,” said Usha Ranji, associate director of women’s health policy at KFF, a nonprofit that studies health care issues.

Clouding this picture are insurer concerns about cost as well as questions about how much fertility coverage should be emphasized or mandated versus helping people find other ways to build families, such as adoption.

“If you’re going to offer one, there should be a corollary and maybe even more significant benefits for adoption,” medical ethicist Dr. Philip Rosoff said.

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A total of 54% of the biggest U.S. employers — those with 20,000 workers or more — covered IVF in 2022, according to the benefits consultant Mercer. That’s up from 36% in 2015. Walmart started offering coverage last fall and banking giant JPMorgan began this year.

Many businesses that offer the coverage extend it beyond those with an infertility diagnosis, making it accessible to LGBTQ+ couples and single women, according to Mercer.

The benefits consultant also said there’s big growth among employers with 500 or more workers, as 43% offered IVF coverage last year. But coverage gets spotty with smaller employers.

Lauderhill (Florida) Fire Rescue Lt. Ame Mason estimates she and her husband have spent close to $100,000 of their own money on fertility treatments over the past few years, including several unsuccessful IVF attempts. Mason and her husband both work for the same department.

Her brother-in-law also has a fertility issue. He works for a bigger fire department in nearby Palm Beach County and got coverage. Mason said that couple has a son.

“It’s pretty wild. You could work a county away and have coverage,” Mason said. “There’s nothing regulating it … both government jobs.”

Twenty-one states have laws mandating coverage of fertility treatments or fertility preservation, which some patients need before cancer treatments, according to the nonprofit patient advocacy organization Resolve. Of those states, 14 require IVF coverage.

But most of these requirements don’t apply to individual insurance plans or coverage sold through small employers.

“People tell us that their biggest barrier to family building is lack of insurance coverage,” Resolve CEO Barbara Collura said, adding that some insurers don’t view the care as medically necessary.

The state and federally funded Medicaid program for people with low incomes limits coverage of fertility issues largely to diagnosis in several states, according to KFF, which says Black and Hispanic women are disproportionately affected. States also can exclude fertility drugs from prescription coverage.

“By not covering this for poor folks, we’re saying we don’t want you to reproduce,” said medical ethicist Lisa Campo-Engelstein of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. She noted Medicaid programs do cover birth control and sterilization procedures like vasectomies.

In California, Tincopa says she has talked to both state and federal legislators about creating some sort of option for people to purchase individual insurance with the coverage.

The state Senate is weighing a bill that would require coverage of fertility treatments, including IVF, for large employers. But the California Association of Health Plans opposes it, just as it opposed similar bills in recent years, because of how much it might cost.

Spokeswoman Mary Ellen Grant noted independent analysis has shown that bills like this could increase premiums by as much as $1 billion in the state. She also said it would create a coverage gap because it wouldn’t apply to the state’s Medicaid enrollees.

“This is not about the treatment itself,” she said. “It’s strictly based on the increased costs for our members. It would impact everybody regardless of whether they received the benefit.”

But large fertility cost estimates often overstate how many people will use the benefit, said Sean Tipton, of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. He also said most people with fertility problems don’t need IVF.

Tipton, who has advocated for benefit mandates in several states, said he expects to see fertility treatment coverage grow, especially with small employers who may need to offer it to attract and keep workers.

Any states that decide to require fertility treatment coverage should also require support for adoption, said Rosoff, a retired Duke University medical school professor. He said “fairness and justice” dictate doing so, adding that adoption promotes the social good of finding homes for children.

Many companies that have expanded fertility benefits also support adoption.

Ame Mason’s employer helps with neither.

Mason said she has thought about adoption, but will stick with IVF for now — scrimping wherever they can and working overtime as much as possible to pay for it. They’ve found a doctor in Florida after traveling to Barbados for care that was slightly less expensive.

Plus, she and her husband are seeing improvements in their most recent IVF attempts. This makes her reluctant to stop trying.

“We keep getting that glimmer of hope,” she said.

Patients are now enrolling in an early stage clinical trial to test a universal flu vaccine based on messenger RNA technology, the National Institutes of Health announced Monday. 

Scientists hope the vaccine will protect against a wide variety of flu strains and provide long-term immunity so people do not have to receive a shot every year.  

Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is the technology behind Moderna‘s and Pfizer‘s widely used Covid vaccines. NIH played a crucial role in developing the mRNA platform used by Moderna.  

“A universal flu vaccine could serve as an important line of defense against the spread of a future flu pandemic,” Dr. Hugh Auchincloss, acting director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a statement Monday.

The universal flu vaccine trial will enroll up to 50 healthy people ages 18 through 49 to test whether the experimental shot is safe and produces an immune response, according to NIH. 

The study will also include participants who receive a quadrivalent flu vaccine, which protects against four strains of the virus, to compare the experimental universal shot to those currently on the market. 

The universal shot was developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The clinical trial is enrolling volunteers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

The current generation of flu vaccines provide important protection against hospitalization but the effectiveness of the shots can vary widely from year to year. 

Scientists right now have to predict months in advance which flu strains will dominate so vaccine manufacturers have time to produce the shots ahead of the respiratory virus season. 

The dominant flu strains can change between the time when experts select the strains and the manufacturers roll the shots out. In some seasons, the shots are not matched well to the circulating strains and are less effective as a consequence. 

Flu vaccines reduce the risk of illness by 40% to 60% when they are well matched against the circulating strains, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in some years the the vaccines’ effectiveness has been as low as 19% because the shot was not well matched.

Flu killed between 12,000 and 52,000 people annually in the U.S. from 2010 to 2020 depending the circulating strains and how well matched the shots were, according to the CDC.

What you eat for breakfast can make or break how successful your day is going to be, especially if you’re reaching for foods that lower your energy.

It’s important to know that “there is no one size fits all [breakfast],” says Maya Feller, a registered dietitian. But there are ways you can tailor your meals toward what you’re hoping to get out of your day.

On an individual basis, Feller notes that people should generally make their breakfast choices based on factors like affordability, accessibility, cultural relevance and taste.

“It’s not nutritious unless we eat it. If it doesn’t taste good, then we won’t interact with it,” she tells CNBC Make It. “Breakfast is that first meal of the day for many people. And when we’re thinking about that, that really sets the stage.”

Feller also recommends taking intent into account when deciding what to eat at the start of your day. “What are your goals? What is it that you’re looking for?” she asks.

Reach for these foods to boost your mood and energy

Typically for a productive morning and a successful day, you should target your energy and mood. Here are the types of foods Feller recommends for boosting each:

• Improve mood: Eating foods high in fiber, such as berries and oats, can positively impact your gut biome. Research has shown that an unhealthy gut can lower your mood.
• Increase energy: Meals with a combination of heart-healthy fats and slow-release carbohydrates, or complex carbs such as wheat bread and sweet potatoes, can keep you feeling energized through the day.

At the top of the morning, it’s also important to hydrate which is a natural way to boost your energy, Feller says. Another way to set yourself up for success is to get a good night’s sleep the night before, she adds.

Try these 3 quick and easy breakfast choices to boost your mood and energy

For a nutritious breakfast that can boost your mood and energy, Feller says, “I love to see a nice source of protein, plant or animal, in tandem with some type of phytonutrient or plant.”

Here are some options you can choose from that follow this structure:

1. Breakfast salad: Leafy greens like spinach that are either cooked or raw, topped with an egg
2. Whole-grain, low-sugar cereal with a side of fruit: Check the first five ingredients of the cereal’s nutrition label, and make sure sugar isn’t on the list if you’re aiming to avoid having too much of it. “If sugar is ingredient No. 2, then you know that’s the second-most predominant ingredient in that cereal. So make your choice based on what your needs are,” says Feller.
3. Waffles with nut butter and fruit: For a more nutritious meal, you can drizzle honey and sprinkle chia seeds or hemp seeds on top.

“Those breakfast options are balanced,” Feller notes, “they’re giving you really wonderful nutrients. You’re getting high-quality protein [and] a plethora of vitamins and minerals. You’re also getting fiber which is quite important. When you’re eating it on a regular basis, you tend to see that you’re nourishing your body.”

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The Food and Drug Administration approved the once-a-day pill from Astellas Pharma to treat moderate-to-severe symptoms, which can include sweating, flushing and chills.

Astellas’ drug, Veozah, uses a new approach, targeting brain connections that help control body temperature. The FDA said the medication will provide “an additional safe and effective treatment option for women,” in a statement.

More than 80% of women experience hot flashes during menopause, the FDA noted, as the body gradually produces lower levels of reproductive hormones between the ages of 45 and 55.

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The most common treatment consists of hormonal pills aimed at boosting levels of estrogen and progestin. But the treatment isn’t appropriate for some women, including those with a history of stroke, blood clots, heart attack and other health conditions. Large studies have found that the hormones can increase the chances of those problems reoccurring, although the risks vary based on a number of individual factors.

The new pill is not a hormone. It carries an FDA warning about potential liver damage. Women will need to be screened for liver damage or infection before getting a prescription, then get a blood test every three months for nine months to monitor for safety problems, according to the FDA label.

Astellas said the drug will cost $550 for a one-month supply. That’s the price before insurance coverage and other discounts typically negotiated by insurers and pharmacy benefit managers.

Peanut allergy is one of the most common and dangerous food allergies. Parents of allergic tots are constantly on guard against exposures that can turn birthday parties and play dates into emergency room visits.

There is no cure. The only treatment is for children 4 and older who can consume a special peanut powder to protect against a severe reaction.

The patch, named Viaskin, aims to deliver that kind of treatment through the skin instead. In a major test with youngsters ages 1 to 3, it helped those who couldn’t tolerate even a small fraction of a peanut to eventually safely eat a few, researchers reported Wednesday.

If additional testing pans out, “this would fill a huge unmet need,” said Dr. Matthew Greenhawt, an allergist at Children’s Hospital Colorado who helped lead the study.

About 2% of U.S. children are allergic to peanuts, some so severely than even a tiny amount can cause a life-threatening reaction. Their immune system overreacts to peanut-containing foods, triggering an inflammatory cascade that causes hives, wheezing or worse. Some youngsters outgrow the allergy but most must avoid peanuts for life and carry rescue medicine to stave off a severe reaction if they accidentally ingest some.

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In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment to induce tolerance to peanuts -– an “oral immunotherapy” named Palforzia that children ages 4 to 17 consume daily to keep up the protection. Aimmune Therapeutics’ Palforzia also is being tested in toddlers.

France’s DBV Technologies is pursuing skin-based immunotherapy as an alternative way to desensitize the body to allergens.

The Viaskin patch is coated with a small amount of peanut protein that is absorbed into the skin. A daily patch is worn between the shoulder blades, where toddlers can’t pull it off.

In the new study, 362 toddlers with peanut allergy first were tested to see how high a dose of peanut protein they could tolerate. Then they were randomly assigned to use the Viaskin patch or a lookalike dummy patch every day.

After a year of treatment, they were tested again and about two-thirds of the toddlers who used the real patch could safely ingest more peanuts, the equivalent of three to four, researchers concluded.

That compares to about a third of youngsters given the dummy patches. Greenhawt said they likely include children who are outgrowing the allergy.

As for safety, four Viaskin recipients experienced an allergic reaction called anaphylaxis that was deemed related to the patch. Three were treated with epinephrine to calm the reaction, and one dropped out of the study.

Some youngsters also accidentally ate peanut-containing foods during the study, and researchers said allergic reactions were less frequent among the Viaskin users than those wearing the dummy patches. The most common side effect was skin irritation at the patch site.

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The results “are very good news for toddlers and their families as the next step toward a future with more treatments for food allergies,” Dr. Alkis Togias of the National Institutes of Health, which wasn’t involved with the study, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

Togias cautioned that it’s too early to compare oral and skin treatments, but pointed to data suggesting each might have different pros and cons — raising the possibility that oral therapy might be stronger but also cause more side effects.

DBV Technologies has struggled for several years to bring the peanut patch to market. Last month the company announced the FDA wants some additional safety data for toddlers, and a separate study already is tracking longer treatment. A study of 4- to 7-year-olds also is underway.

At Nutrition Solutions this looks like paying their staff a little extra money to exercise.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, every employee at the meal-prep company has the option to attend a free exercise class before the workday starts. For many, the incentive is hard to pass up.

“If they come to those workouts, they are on the clock. They’re getting compensated whatever their pay rate is to be there,” says Chris Cavallini, CEO of Nutrition Solutions.

“It’s basically logged into their normal pay, just like the regular hours they would work. It works exactly the same.”

Essentially, the sessions can be thought of as overtime for personal and financial gain, with employees having the autonomy to go as often, or as little, as they’d like.

“It gives them the benefit of getting [exercise] out of the way, so after work they can go home, and work on their personal goals, spend time with their family and loved ones,” Cavallini says.

Exercises range from body-weight calisthenics, outdoor runs and even “mental toughness training” like body plunges in ice water.

‘The real reason we do it is to help our team develop resilience’

In the military where he was “paid to train and stay fit,” Cavallini saw firsthand how exercise improved his discipline and overall quality of life.

“I believe the key to living a strong life is having a strong mind. And I think in order to create and build a strong mind, you have to first build a strong body,” he says.

As he began taking his business more seriously, he saw investing in his employees’ well-being by encouraging physical activity as a no-brainer.

“I want to ensure my team has the tools to become the healthiest, fittest and most dominant version of themselves,” says Cavallini.

“The real reason we do it is to help our team develop resilience,” and improve the way they respond to stress by experiencing adversity through challenging exercises, he adds.

More and more people attend each year since the initiative was first implemented in 2016, he notes. It started with just Cavallini and one other employee going to the workouts, but now classes fill up to as many as 40 people.

“Having systems that are set up to help them optimize their physical health and mental health, and help them significantly elevate their mindset, it certainly helps us as a business,” Cavallini says.

“Making this investment into them becoming a better version of themselves is a fail-safe investment, and it’s definitely one that I would suggest, in one shape or form, that other leaders implement. The return is you’re going to have a stronger, more disciplined, more energized team member.”

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