Health

Sept. 8 is 988 Day, a national initiative to raise awareness about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. People can call or text 988 if they’re experiencing thoughts about suicide or any mental health issues. News4’s Adam Tuss and Molette Green talk to Monica Johnson, the director of the 988 & Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office about 988’s importance. 

Health officials say a hospitalized patient in Missouri was infected with bird flu, despite having no known contact with dairy cows or other animals.

Botulism is a rare but severe illness that attacks the nerves in the body.

Soon, doctors must tell their mammogram patients if they have dense breast tissue, a factor that can make it harder to detect breast cancer and put them at greater risk for cancer. The Food and Drug Administration released new standards in March of 2023 in an effort to help more women detect breast cancer sooner. The FDA gave providers until…

A D.C. woman who is a two-time breast cancer survivor says for a long time she didn’t know she had dense breast tissue. A new rule aims to provide more people with the knowledge about their breast density. News4’s Aimee Cho reports.

Here’s what health experts are predicting about this year’s flu season.

Federal, state and local governments are all trying to reduce maternal mortality rates across the United States and eliminate racial disparities.

This year’s flu season could start earlier than expected — and the dominant strain to spread might be influenza A, which can cause more severe illness, health experts say.

On this Science 4 Everyone, Storm Team4 Meteorologist (and Science Teacher!) Ryan Miller talks to the Arlington County Fire Department about the LIFEPAK 35, a new advanced heart monitor in Virginia that tracks the heart in real time and can send a live image to a hospital. 

D.C. has acquired $42 million in medical debt from some local hospitals. News4’s Juliana Valencia reports.

The decision comes only a week after it approved a new round of messenger RNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna, which both target an offshoot of JN.1 called KP.2.

D.C. says it has canceled $42 million in medical debt. First on 4: Jenny Reed, the Director of the Office of Budget and Performance Management, explains who will benefit and why it helps Black and Latino communities.

Thousands of low-income D.C. residents will soon see their medical debt erased. The District of Columbia is wiping nearly $42 million in debt from the books at local hospitals, the mayor’s office said.

Daniel Wright Jr.’s approach is clinically sound, experts say.

Dorothy Staten used to be a professional cook and loves food. She has firm rules about what she eats and avoids in her diet.

Polio is one of the world’s most infectious diseases and until it is wiped out globally, the virus will continue to trigger outbreaks anywhere children are not fully vaccinated.

People who volunteer to donate a kidney face an even lower risk of death from the operation than doctors have long thought, researchers reported Wednesday.

Oropouche virus, also known as ‘sloth fever,’ is a virus spread by infected biting insects. Here’s what you need to know.

Mosquitoes are known to leave their victims itching, but more importantly, they transmit diseases like West Nile virus. Here are tips to protect yourself and your family after Maryland’s first human case this year.

Eli Lilly released a new form of its weight loss drug Zepbound for roughly half its usual monthly list price to increase access for patients without insurance coverage.