Health

Two new variants of the coronavirus have emerged that seem to make the virus more easily transmitted. But will they stymie vaccination efforts? One, first identified in Britain, has popped up around the world. While researchers worried at first that it might have changed enough to evade the protection offered by coronavirus vaccines, the evidence

This year will be marked as a year of continued uncertainty, anxiety and — if you’re like many people — a lot of stress-related eating. There is no need to stress about stress eating, though. As most of us await the arrival of new vaccines and the hope for a more healthful way of living,

The US reported its highest daily Covid-19 death count ever Tuesday — a grim milestone that comes as state leaders work urgently to combat a slow pace of vaccinations. More than 3,770 American deaths were reported in one day — more than two dozen above the country’s previous record, set less than a week ago.

Houston Methodist, a Texas hospital system with more than 26,000 employees, is offering a $500 bonus to workers if they get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. Houston Methodist employees are eligible for a “Hope Bonus” in March to thank them for their work last year, Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist, wrote in

Lourdes Pelaez-Kingery was recovering from appendix surgery when she got the phone call that parents of college-age kids have come to dread in this time of coronavirus: Her daughter tearfully explained that she had moved out of her dorm at Texas A&M University-San Antonio days earlier after her suitemates threw a party and 14 unmasked

Covid-19 was likely the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2020, according to statisticians at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency only has early data on the leading causes of death for last year and researchers are still combing through those numbers, but provisional data suggest that

Motivating kids to do schoolwork was hard enough in pre-pandemic times. No matter how skilled the teacher, and how clever the lesson plans, most kids would find at least some academic work utter drudgery. Many families are experiencing this drudgery compounded by distance learning compounded by two-plus weeks of sweet, winter break freedom during which

What do you need for a meaningful life? Even as 2020 strained communities around the world, it offered some object lessons in living well. In the widespread nostalgia for pre-pandemic gatherings and rituals, we saw just how much we depend on other people. When medical and other frontline workers risked their own health to support

The gold medal for best 2021 diet went to the Mediterranean diet for the fourth year in a row, according to rankings announced Monday by U.S. News & World Report. Tied for silver was the DASH diet, which stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension, and the Flexitarian diet, which encourages being a vegetarian most

Motivating kids to do schoolwork was hard enough in pre-pandemic times. No matter how skilled the teacher, and how clever the lesson plans, most kids would find at least some academic work utter drudgery. Many families are experiencing this drudgery compounded by distance learning compounded by two-plus weeks of sweet, winter break freedom during which

What do you need for a meaningful life? Even as 2020 strained communities around the world, it offered some object lessons in living well. In the widespread nostalgia for pre-pandemic gatherings and rituals, we saw just how much we depend on other people. When medical and other frontline workers risked their own health to support