News & Views: From the Editors of Health

Addie Parker was a happy 4-year-old who appeared to have the flu. But within hours she was in a coma. Tragically, her parents weren’t familiar with the signs of type 1 diabetes — extreme fatigue, thirst and sweet-smelling breath, among others — in time to save their little girl. Soon after she was diagnosed, Addie’s brain hemorrhaged. She died six days later, about a month shy of her fifth birthday.

In an effort to focus greater attention on the weight-gain epidemic plaguing the United States, the American Medical Association has now classified obesity as a disease. The decision will hopefully pave the way for more attention by doctors on obesity and its dangerous complications, and may even increase insurance coverage for treatments, experts said.

Every week, my dog, Murphy, and I visit a nearby rehabilitation home for elderly patients. Murphy is a certified therapy dog, so we work together as a team to bring a little happiness into these people’s lives. The hour we spend making visits is easily the highlight of my week.

This pan-fried falafel is delicious and better for you than the deep-fried falafel you can get at food trucks and Mediterranean restaurants. In our recipe, the two main ingredients, bulgur and garbanzo beans, are combined with spices, herbs, and garlic to make tasty patties that are great substitutes for burgers.

The kitchen is the heart of the home, but it’s also the place that can make or break you on the weight loss front. If you’re on a quest to slim down, do these nine things in your kitchen.

Pregnant women who live in smog-filled areas may be twice as likely to have children with autism, a new study suggests. “The study does not prove that pollution increases risk for autism. It found an association,” cautioned lead author Andrea Roberts, a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. “It adds to the weight of the evidence that there may be something in air pollution that increases risk for autism.”

Mushrooms are a staple in many vegetarian diets, but the bold, delicious flavors in this vegetarian recipe make it perfect for omnivores and carnivores alike.

Adding an organ donation option to the average Facebook user’s profile prompted a dramatic rise in potential donors, researchers report. In the day after the initiative launched last year, there was a 21-fold increase in donor registrations across the United States, according to the study in the American Journal of Transplantation.

A diet high in saturated fat can quickly rob the brain of a key chemical that helps protect against Alzheimer’s disease. In a small study, researchers found that dietary saturated fat cut the body’s levels of the chemical apolipoprotein E, which helps “chaperone” amyloid beta proteins out of the brain.

Plenty of Americans are eager to use their mobile phones and tablet computers to better manage their health care, a new poll finds — though the nation has a way to go before we’re all consulting Dr. Smartphone.

People who eat a lot of red meat increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while those who cut down on red meat cut their risk. Those are the findings of a large new study out of Singapore involving 149,000 U.S. men and women.

A new brain-imaging study could help explain why children with autism have difficulty with verbal communication: They may not get much pleasure from the human voice. Researchers found that those with the disorder showed weaker connections between the brain’s voice-processing areas and its “reward” centers compared to those without.

Add a little Italian flare to your meatless Monday with a vegetarian recipe that takes less than 30 minutes to make. Lycopene-rich cherry tomatoes are roasted with garlic, sugar, and spices to bring a rich, caramelized taste to this pasta dish.

There are a couple of words that cause more stress in my house than even “colonoscopy” and “root canal” and those words are “health insurance.” Over the years, my family has been insured through employers, we’ve been self-insured, we’ve signed up for insurance through the government (COBRA) after a layoff, and we’ve sought insurance as a small business owner.

Bored with the same old salad? You’ll love this citrusy recipe–it’s rich in healthy fats from avocado and contains oranges, one of the best superfoods for weight loss.

Remember when exercise meant playing kickball with neighborhood friends and Capture the Flag during recess? As a kid, I never went in search of a new workout or felt like I needed to check it off my list for the day. I got a workout without even trying! Boy, when did exercise stop being fun?

Eating breakfast every day may help overweight women reduce their risk of diabetes, a small new study suggests. When women skipped the morning meal, they experienced insulin resistance, a condition in which a person requires more insulin to bring their blood sugar into a normal range