The tick menace is even worse than we thought. A pair of new studies this month suggests that there are more tick species out there in the U.S. that can cause an unusual form of allergy to red meat.

Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials published the research late last week in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. The studies detail cases of red meat allergy, formally known as alpha-gal syndrome, tied to bites from two tick species not normally associated with it—ticks that also cause Lyme disease. These cases seem rare, but indicate that more people are at risk for the syndrome than currently assumed.

Alpha-gal is a sugar found in the muscles of most mammals, though importantly not humans. We can normally tolerate the alpha-gal found in the meat we eat without issue. But for reasons we’re still trying to understand, a tick bite can sometimes cause our bodies to develop an overactive immune response to alpha-gal, essentially making us allergic to red meat and even dairy. Alpha-gal syndrome is the only type of classic food allergy that involves a sugar (the alpha-gal) rather than a protein. And unlike other food allergies, symptoms might take hours, not minutes, to show up after exposure.

March 24 (Reuters) – Tuberculosis (TB) infections among children in the European region rose 10% in 2023, indicating ongoing transmission and the need for immediate public health measures to control the spread, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

WHO’s European region, which comprises 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia, reported more than 7,500 cases among children under 15 years of age in 2023, an increase of over 650 cases compared to 2022.

An outbreak of tuberculosis, or TB – a lung disease that is often accompanied by a hacking cough – began in January 2024 in Kansas City, Kansas, and two nearby counties and continues as of early March 2025. To date, 147 people have been reportedly diagnosed with TB in the outbreak, with 67 becoming ill. The remaining 80 people diagnosed with TB in Kansas contracted the illness but showed no symptoms, which is called a latent infection.

TB is the leading infectious cause of death around the world, outpaced only by COVID-19 during the first three years of the pandemic.

The Conversation asked microbiologists Karen Dobos and Marcela Henao-Tamayo, both from Colorado State University, to explain why this ancient disease seems to be making a comeback.

What’s the history of TB?

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the organism that causes the disease tuberculosis in humans. The disease has been infecting humans for thousands of years. Researchers found evidence of the disease 9,000 years ago in the excavated remains of people who lived in the Eastern Mediterranean region during that time.

Reports of TB date back to around 410-400 B.C.E., when the physician Hippocrates termed the disease phthisis, an archaic word that means a progressive “wasting away,” due to the way people with the disease become emaciated.

TB was also known as consumption for the same reason. Similarly, it was called the white plague or white death – due to anemia from the disease, with people appearing pallid or chalky – leading to near-certain death. Untreated active TB, meaning cases that are symptomatic, is highly lethal.

About half of all people with untreated active TB die from the disease, whereas treatment reduces the death rate to 12 percent.

One of the more colorful phrases describing TB is “the king’s evil.” This is a form of TB that also causes neck swelling and lesions, a condition called scrofula. During the Middle Ages, people believed that the touch of a king could cure a person from this form of TB through miraculous intervention.

Finally, TB was most ominously called the “robber of youth” due to its historical propensity to afflict people 15 to 30 years old.

In 1865, Jean Antoine Villemin, an army physician in Paris, demonstrated that TB could be transmitted from infected animals to healthy ones through inoculation. Before these studies, the cause of TB was presumed to be primarily constitutional, by either an inherent predisposition or from unhealthy or immoral lifestyles.

The microorganism causing TB was ultimately discovered in 1882 by the German physician Robert Koch. Koch announced his findings on March 24, 1882, a day globally recognized as World TB Day.

How does TB spread?

Tuberculosis is spread by small infectious droplets in the air. A TB patient may emit these droplets by coughing, singing and potentially from regular breathing that occurs during sleep or resting.

One form of TB can be spread through unpasteurized dairy products. While rare, there have been reports of TB transmission through bone grafts, in which healthy, donated bone material is used to replace damaged bones.

The origin of the TB outbreak in Kansas remains unknown as of early March 2025. The outbreak has disproportionately affected those in low-income communities, and two people have died from it.

Importantly, a patient with untreated TB can infect 10 to 15 others.

Could the COVID-19 pandemic be a factor?

The COVID-19 pandemic has played a pivotal role in the resurgence of TB. Cases increased globally by 4.6 percent from 2020 to 2023, reversing decades of steady declines in the disease. In the U.S. alone, TB cases rose by more than 15 percent from 2022 to 2023.

During mandatory shutdowns, people were less able to access health care centers for early diagnosis of TB or to fill prescriptions for treatment, perhaps due to the fear of contracting COVID-19 while visiting a medical care facility. COVID-19-related disruptions in care resulted in nearly 700,000 excess deaths from TB.

Access to health care may not be the only factor behind this uptick. Medical supply shortages and delays in shipment may have also played a role. For example, the U.S. experienced shortages of one of the primary TB drugs between 2021 and 2023.

What are the main treatments?

Multidrug treatment is currently the only way to cure TB and stop its spread.

Prior to the late 1930s, when the first antibiotic for TB treatment was developed, TB treatments included bloodletting and consumption of cod liver oil. The most popular treatment involved isolated sanatoriums in high-altitude areas such as the Adirondacks and the Rocky Mountains, where the cold, dry air was believed to be a cure. Scholars at the time suggested that the potential for cure was due to these environments being more invigorating for the body and providing more restful sleep. There is no evidence to support these beliefs.

Streptomycin was the first antibiotic treatment to become available for TB, in the 1940s. However, the microorganism quickly became drug resistant. A second antibiotic, called isoniazid, was developed as a first-line treatment against TB in the 1950s. Again, the microorganism became drug resistant.

Two- and four-drug combinations are now used to treat both latent infections and active disease. Treatment of active TB requires at least six months of uninterrupted therapy. Disruptions in treatment result in further spread of TB and the emergence of multidrug resistant TB, which requires additional drugs and more than nine months of treatment.

All TB drugs are toxic; the quality of life for TB patients deteriorates during treatment and remains so throughout their lives. Finding cases and treating TB illness early, before symptoms begin, is important because it not only reduces the spread of disease but also greatly reduces drug toxicity.

What should people be aware of?

People should be aware that TB is still a public health problem across the globe. Education on the transmission, treatment and need for active work to eradicate TB is the best defense.

One of the reasons why education and awareness about TB are so important is that a person with latent TB may be unknowingly harboring the microorganism for years. In the absence of symptoms, these people are unlikely to seek care and will not be diagnosed and treated unless identified as part of an outbreak, as was the case for more than half of the patients in Kansas.

This is going to hurt. Around 15 million Aussies with some form of private health care cover are about to feel the pinch of another rate rise on 1 April.

The government has approved a health insurance industry average price increase of 3.73 per cent. This is the biggest hike since 2018 and a kick in the teeth as Aussies also juggle rising grocery prices, energy bill blowouts and higher insurance premiums across the board.

But don’t be fooled by the headline figure – the impact varies massively between funds, and individual policies.

Some of the nation’s popular funds are increasing above the industry average.

The highest average increase is 9.56 per cent.

The team at Compare the Market is hearing from some customers who have been told they’ll pay hundreds more in premiums a year if they stay on the same policy with their current provider.

But it’s not too late to put your policy under the microscope, do a pulse check on features, and take a scalpel to some of the extra bits you may not be using.

Here are my health insurance saving hacks, which aren’t as scary as you’d think.

Lock in last year’s prices

Some health funds will let you pay for your policy up to a year in advance.

By paying 12 months up front before prices go up on 1 April you can effectively turn back time on this year’s rate rise.

While not everyone is in the financial position to pay a year’s worth of premiums in one hit, this hack is a doozy if you can do it.

Depending on your fund and your policy this move could help you avoid hundreds of dollars in extra premiums for 12 months.

Switch don’t ditch

If you’ve been with the same health fund for several years, you could be missing out on offers and incentives reserved for new customers.

Run a quick comparison and see if you can find similar value for less.

Bump up your excess

A higher excess can be a great way to save on your regular premium, as long as you don’t mind paying more in the event you need to claim on your hospital policy.

If you don’t have any hospital visits or treatments planned, and you have a bit of money stashed in your emergency fund, this could be a good option.

A new study shows that young people who consume marijuana are six times more likely to experience a heart attack than their counterparts.

Research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) documents that people under the age of 50 who consume marijuana are about 6.2 times more likely to experience a myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, than non-marijuana users. Young marijuana users are also 4.3 times more likely to experience an ischemic stroke and 2 times more likely to experience heart failure, the study shows.

Researchers surveyed over 4.6 million people under the age of 50, of which 4.5 million do not use marijuana and 93,000 do. All participants were free of health conditions commonly associated with cardiovascular risks, like hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and a history of myocardial infarctions. The study also excluded people who use tobacco to eliminate another potential risk factor.

Ahmed Mahmoud, lead researcher and clinical instructor at Boston University, told USA TODAY that though the numbers appear significant, researchers’ biggest concern right now is studying more data, as research on marijuana’s effects on the cardiovascular system remains limited.

“Until we have more solid data, I advise users to try to somehow put some regulation in the using of cannabis,” Mahmoud said. “We are not sure if it’s totally, 100% safe for your heart by any amount or any duration of exposure.”

How does marijuana affect the heart?

As studies remain inconclusive and few and far between, scientists and doctors are still unclear how marijuana affects the cardiovascular system. But generally, researchers understand that marijuana can make the heart beat faster and raise blood pressure, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mahmoud said researchers believe marijuana may make small defects in the coronary arteries’ lining, the thin layer of cells that forms the inner surface of blood vessels and hollow organs.

“Because cannabis increases the blood pressure and makes the blood run very fast and make some detects in the lining to the coronary arteries, this somehow could make a thrombosis (formation of a blood clot) or a temporary thrombosis in these arteries, which makes a cardiac ischemic (stroke) or the heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen to function,” Mahmoud said. “This is what makes the heart injured and this is a myocardial infarction or heart attack.”

Stanton Glantz, a retired professor from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, co-authored a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association last year that also addresses marijuana’s effects on the cardiovascular system.

Glantz told USA TODAY he believes smoking marijuana has the same effects on the cardiovascular system as smoking tobacco.

When smoking a cigarette, the blood that is distributed through the body becomes contaminated with the cigarette smoke’s chemicals, which can damage the heart and blood vessels, the CDC reports. This damage can result in coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart attack, stroke, aneurysms and peripheral artery disease.

Changes in blood chemistry from cigarette smoke can also cause plaque in the body’s arteries, resulting in a disease called atherosclerosis, according to the CDC. When arteries become full of plaque, it’s harder for blood to move throughout the body. This can create blood clots and ultimately lead to a heart attack, stroke or death.

How does the new study correspond with previous research?

The recently published study aligns with previous research in the field.

The Journal of the American Heart Association study, which surveyed more than 434,000 people between the ages 18-74 , found that marijuana affects the cardiovascular system. The study also singled out marijuana users who didn’t use tobacco.

The 2024 study found that people who consume − specifically inhale − marijuana are more likely to experience coronary heart disease, myocardial infraction and stroke. There is a “statistically significant increase in risk,” Glantz said.

The main difference between the new study, co-authored by Mahmoud, and the 2024 study, is the populations studied, Glantz said.

The 2024 study analyzed data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, a CDC-operated telephone survey that includes responses from across the country. The new study analyzed data from 53 healthcare organizations using the TriNetX health research network.

Simply put, the CDC survey includes information from what is supposed to be “representative” of the U.S. population, whereas TriNetX includes information from individuals who have visited a healthcare institution, Glantz explained.

Leaders of Hennepin Healthcare, who oversee the state’s largest emergency room, fear federal cuts to Medicaid will increase the number of patients coming to the emergency department with serious, preventable conditions.

But if Congressional Republicans want to achieve their goal of extending tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy while leaving areas like defense and Social Security unscathed, they will almost certainly have to cut federal spending on Medicaid, the federal-state partnership that provides health insurance to low-income and disabled Americans.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Kelly Morrison, a physician, joined Hennepin Healthcare leaders and patients Thursday at one of the health care provider’s downtown Minneapolis buildings — across the street from the already-overwhelmed Hennepin County Medical Center — to raise awareness of the potential impacts of the proposed cuts.

“Medicare and Medicaid funds just about everything I do,” said Joel Williams, who has been a patient at Hennepin Healthcare for 11 years.

The programs cover his group home, he said, and paid for a new kidney.

One-fifth of Minnesotans are enrolled in Medical Assistance, Minnesota’s Medicaid program, on par with national enrollment. One in 3 births in Minnesota are covered by Medicaid, and more than half of nursing home residents are enrolled in the program.

At Hennepin Healthcare, 62% of ER patients are covered by Medicaid, said chief of emergency medicine Dr. Tom Wyatt.

Medicaid pays for preventative services that can help keep people out of emergency rooms, Wyatt said. When diabetics can’t access insulin, they may come to his department with life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis. Patients who can’t get their blood pressure medications may suffer a stroke.

“Those conditions are preventable if they have access to primary care,” Wyatt said.

The health care system also offers behavioral health services to Medicaid recipients, which can help patients keep mental health conditions and substance abuse issues in check, said Hennepin Healthcare CEO Jennifer DeCubellis.

Because the cost of Medicaid is shared between the federal and state government, cuts to federal spending would force Minnesota leaders to choose whether to spend extra money to maintain the same level of coverage, or to cut services.

State leaders may not have much of a choice; Minnesota’s budget picture is already bleak, with spending outpacing revenues, and a deficit on the horizon — and many of Trump’s proposed federal spending cuts could exacerbate the budget problems. Medical Assistance spending dwarves spending on every state program except education, and continues to increase as Minnesotans age and costs — including worker pay — go up.

The Medicaid cuts proposed by Congressional Republicans are already getting fierce pushback, including from some unlikely places: Minnesota Republicans in the Legislature wrote to President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, asking them to preserve Medicaid.

Indeed, Medicaid cuts are politically volatile; many of the recipients are the rural and elderly Americans that comprise Trump’s base. More than 75% of Americans have a favorable view of Medicaid, according to a January 2025 poll.

But Trump’s desired tax cuts aren’t possible without significant cuts to Medicaid and other safety net programs, like SNAP, which helps low-income families pay for food.

“The whole reason we are here is because the Trump-Vance administration and their unelected, unaccountable benefactor-advisor Elon Musk are looking for ways to make the math work so that they can get tax cuts for billionaires,” Morrison said. “It’s really that simple.”

The practice of “surprise billing” by hospitals should be severely restricted, state Senate health policy leaders said Wednesday, as they took a bipartisan vote to crack down on the practice and require more transparency for patients.

The idea is to give people a better idea of what a medical procedure might cost them before they agree to it, to give patients more certainty over whether their care will be in-network or out-of-network, and to stop new bills from continuing to arrive months or even years after the fact.

Supporters say if Senate Bill 316 becomes law, it would at least give people more information to make decisions on their health care. And ideally, they say, it could potentially also lead to lower costs for everyone in the future.

“There is, I think, no other industry that a consumer agrees to pay for a service in advance with no clue as to what the cost will be, and no clue as to what they will be charged in full for those services,” Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, said Wednesday.

She added that the bill “is an attempt to shine a light on every part of the health care system — to begin to see where the cost drivers truly exist, and to start to tamp down on those costs.”

The Senate has passed similar bills twice in recent years. But both bills went nowhere in the state House, in face of intense lobbying in opposition by the hospital industry. The North Carolina Healthcare Association, which lobbies for hospitals, declined to comment Wednesday on the new bill.

In addition to the various requirements to give patients more information before a procedure, the bill would also require hospitals to send patients an itemized bill — with descriptions written in what Galey called “plain English” — before the hospital could send the patient into collections for not paying their bill.

About one in every eight North Carolina adults had medical debt before the state approved Medicaid expansion, according to health policy analysis group KFF. After North Carolina approved Medicaid expansion in 2023, then-Gov. Roy Cooper pushed hospitals to forgive approximately $4 billion in medical debt held by low-income North Carolinians. Cooper announced last year that every hospital in the state was participating.

No lawmakers or members of the public spoke against the bill Wednesday, although Sen. Gale Adcock, D-Wake, said that based on her experience as a nurse there are probably some parts of the bill that would be difficult if not impossible for hospital staff to comply with.

She suggested further conversations on how to amend the bill to ensure hospitals could follow it — and the state could enforce it.

“It could provide clarity moving forward, and make sure you can enforce what you’re trying to do,” Adcock said.

AI claims denial

The Senate Health Committee also debated a separate bill — but stopped short of taking a vote on whether to advance it — that would ban health insurance companies from relying too heavily on artificial intelligence to deny people’s claims.

Insurance companies could still use AI to help review and make decisions on claims, even if Senate Bill 315 becomes law. But it would ban AI from being used as “the sole basis” of any decisions to deny or modify someone’s health care services.

“It’s 2025 — AI is a fact of life,” Sen. Benton Sawrey, R-Johnson, said. “It’s something that’s being used by doctors around the state, and health insurers, and hospitals. It’s inevitable. It’s going to be here, but I know that every person in this room has heard stories about their health insurers across the nation having some issues with it.”

UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest private health insurer, faces a class action lawsuit accusing it of using AI to deny many people’s claims. Last year the company’s CEO was gunned down in what police have said was a targeted assassination, apparently based on the company’s policies and practices.

Sawrey said the other bill on surprise billing also would exempt health insurance staffers from having to put their contact information on certain forms given to customers. He said it “addresses the aftermath of fear for employee safety after the tragedy that occurred a few months ago involving the UnitedHealthcare CEO.”

UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Manhattan in a targeted attack — a killing that fueled a public outcry over claim denials by insurers.

The anti-AI bill would also make a number of other changes to crack down on health insurance companies’ efforts to deny people’s claims, including by banning insurers from retroactively requiring prior authorization for certain types of care, and then using that to issue denials.

The bill would also require appeals of insurance denials to be heard by licensed doctors who have experience in the type of medicine in question.

And it would appear to ban insurance companies from paying their on-staff doctors more money for suggesting claims be denied, by requiring appeals to be heard by doctors with “no financial interest, or other conflict of interest, in the outcome of the appeal.”

A top health insurance industry representative, Peter Daniel, spoke at the meeting to tell lawmakers they were willing to work with the Senate on the bill as it moves through the legislature.

Drug manufacturer Arsell is recalling about 2,300 bottles of a liquid Benadryl elixir due to a risk of child poisoning, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall involves 100-milliliter bottles sold on Amazon.com between July 2023 and October 2024.

The product was sold in a round dark plastic bottle with a pink and white label on the front with the word “Benadryl” in blue text.

The packing of the products is not child-resistant, posing a risk of poisoning if the contents are swallowed by young children.

We all recognise the benefits of regular aerobic or cardiovascular exercise to support our heart and lung health. Being active is also good for our social and mental health. And strength training promotes strong bones and muscles.

But as we age, we also need to train our balance to avoid falls.

Around one in three people aged 65 and over have a fall each year.

Falls are a common cause of disability and loss of independence in older age and can lead to an older person moving from living independently into living in a residential aged care facility. More than 6,000 older Australians die each year from falls.

But many falls are preventable. So exercise that targets balance and strength is crucial.

How much do we need to do?

International guidelines recommend all older people exercise to prevent falls, even if they’ve never fallen. Prevention is far better than cure.

Other guidelines recommend people aged 65 and over do “functional balance and strength training” on three or more days a week, to improve their ability to do day-to-day activities, stay independent, and prevent falls.

Since balance starts to decline at around age 50, it’s even better to start training balance before the age of 65.

In order to increase our muscle strength, we need to progressively lift heavier weights. Similarly, to boost our balance, we need to practise activities that progressively challenge it. This improves our ability to stay steady in difficult situations and avoid falling.

Functional training means doing a physical activity that imitates everyday activities, such as standing up out of a chair, or stepping onto a step.

When you practise the everyday activities necessary for living independently, you improve your ability to perform them. This reduces the likelihood of falling when doing those activities, and therefore helps you maintain your independence for longer.

What exercises can you do?

The best exercises to challenge our balance system and reduce the risk of falling are performed while standing, rather than seated.

For example, you can stand with your feet close together or on one leg (if it’s safe to do so) while also performing controlled upper-body movements, such as leaning and reaching. This is a functional balance exercise and it can be made progressively more challenging as your balance improves.

Here are some exercises you can practise at home:

Sit to stand

Practise standing up from a seated position ten times every hour or so. See if you can do it without using your arms for support. To increase the balance challenge, place a cushion under the feet.

Heel-raises

Rise up onto your toes and hold the position for a few seconds. Hold on to a bench or wall for support if you need to but gradually remove the support as your balance improves. To increase the balance challenge, try doing this with your eyes closed.

Heel-toe walking

Practise walking along an imaginary line, with one foot placed in front of the other. Hold on to a bench or wall for support if you need to but gradually remove the support as your balance improves.

Stepping in different directions

Practise quickly stepping forwards, sideways and backwards. Being able to move our feet quickly can help avoid a fall if you trip on something. If you are able, more challenging activities include stepping up or jumping onto a box.

Squats and lunges

Squats and lunges improve balance and leg strength. Add some hand weights to increase the challenge.

These examples and others can be found on the Safe Exercise at Home website.

Make it regular – and tailor it to your needs

It’s important that balance challenging exercises are performed regularly, at least three times per week. The benefits of exercise are lost if you stop doing them, so ongoing practice is important.

People of all abilities can safely undertake balance training exercise, however extra guidance and support is recommended for people who have physical limitations, are frail, or who are at a higher risk of falls.

For younger or fitter people, agility activities such as rapid stepping, dancing and running are likely to improve co-ordination and balance too.

So next time you are carrying out your exercise routine, ask yourself: what am I doing to improve my balance? Investing in balance training now can help you avoid falls, and lead to greater independence in older age.