Health & Well-Being

Elderly women in a nursing home. (Getty Images)

Some Nursing Homes are Inflating Their Medicare Ratings 

At least 6 percent of nursing homes inflate their self-reported measures, according to a study by UConn professors.

Close up of women and DNA helixes. (Getty Images)

Number of Genetic Markers Linked to Lifespan Triples

A new study by UConn researchers and others increases the number of genetic variants linked to lifespan to 25. These markers offer potentially modifiable targets to reduce the risk of an early death and improve health.

A local artist is brightening the holiday season using his coloring books as art therapy for his fellow UConn Health patients living with sickle cell and other diseases. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health Photo)

Coloring Away the Pain

A local artist is brightening the holiday season using his coloring books as art therapy for his fellow UConn Health patients living with sickle cell and other diseases.

Geriatric nurse measuring blood pressure of patient. (Getty Images)

Blood Pressure Begins to Decline 14 Years Before Death, Study Says

Previous studies reported falls in blood pressure late in life, but the study by UConn and University of Exeter is the first on individual trajectories before death.

Image of actual kratom pills with a faux prescription logo. (Getty Images)

The Dangers and Potential of ‘Natural’ Opioid Kratom

Pharmacy professor Mike White recommends treating kratom, which can become a drug of abuse, as one of a 'third class' of drugs, similar to decongestants.

A man winces in pain. (Getty Images)

Pain Gets Personal: UConn Health to Host Symposium

How to prevent acute pain developing into chronic pain, and how to treat pain without resorting to opioids will be among the topics for discussion.

UConn Health's Dr. Hynes Birmingham, right, and a colleague work with a patient in Dominica after Hurricane Maria. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Birmingham)

UConn Health Doc Gives Back to His Hurricane-Ravaged Homeland

Emergency medicine physician Dr. Hynes Birmingham spent two weeks in his native island of Dominica, providing much-needed medical care after Hurricane Maria.

Woman inhaling from an electronic cigarette. (Getty Images)

Don’t Vape Your Health Away

On Great American Smokeout Day, a UConn Health pulmonary specialist discusses the hazards of the growing e-cigarette and vaping trend.

Fast food restaurants thrive in one of the poorest areas of Los Angeles. South LA has the highest concentration of fast-food restaurants of the city, about 400, and only a few grocery stores. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Food Swamps Predict Obesity Rates Better Than Food Deserts

A new UConn Rudd Center study found that easy access to fast- and junk-food outlets was a better predictor of high obesity rates than lack of access to affordable, nutritious food.

UConn Health periodontist Frank Nichols at his lab at UConn Health in Farmington on Oct. 30, 2017. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Bacterial Fats, Not Dietary Ones, May Deserve Blame for Heart Disease

A new study by UConn scientists suggests that the fatty molecules linked to heart disease may come not only from what you eat, but from the bacteria in your mouth. The research may explain why gum disease is associated with heart trouble.