Nicole Wetsman

There are plenty of reasons to watch the Women’s World Cup, which kicks off today at 3 p.m. with a game between the hosts, France, and South Korea: To follow the United States as they hunt for their fourth World Cup title (I’m stressed), to see…

People who could become pregnant shouldn’t take dietary supplements that contain vinpocetine, the Food and Drug Administration warned this week, because the synthetic ingredient could hurt a developing fetus. The warning comes after a report from the…

On an average day, the majority of air pollution in the United States comes from cars and powerplants. However, when wildfires start, they have an outsized impact on the quality of the nearby air—during wildfire season in the west, if an area has air…

CLINICAL CARE For young people with chronic illnesses, the transition into adult care can be uncharted—and dangerous—territory. Maria Ferris is a pediatric nephrologist at UNC Medical Center and specializes in children’s kidney disease. Yet despite…

DEADLY WAIT ‘As a climber, I’m offended, and as a physician, I’m horrified,’ Dr. Jeffrey Gertsch said. ‘It’s just a cattle call in a really dangerous place.’ It’s been a particularly deadly year on Mount Everest, with 11 people dying while attempting…

As the opioid epidemic took hold and expanded in the United States, physicians and medical organizations researched and created better guidelines for prescribing the drugs and preventing misuse. Those guidelines, though, have focused primarily on…

Leaving your corpse to researchers after you die is a relatively easy process, but donating your medical records to science is still nearly impossible. There are body donation programs scattered across the United States, including at major medical…

The 2017 hurricane season was the deadliest on record since 2005. Ten hurricanes occurred, including Harvey, Irma, and Maria, which also makes it the year with the highest number since 1966; tens of thousands of homes were destroyed, and damage to…

Death might be life’s natural and unavoidable conclusion, but humans have ensured that what happens to our bodies afterward is anything but. For more than a century, the circle of life in the United States has looked more like a horseshoe, with…

Over the past few decades, strict emissions and clean fuel rules in California have helped improve air quality, driving down levels of harmful pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. And, as air quality went up, fewer kids were…

This week, Alabama’s governor signed the most extreme anti-abortion bill in the country, effectively banning the procedure. It’s just one of a host of new laws restricting abortion: including one by the Missouri senate which passed a bill banning…

In January 2017, Philadelphia became the second United States city to tax sugar-sweetened beverages, like soda and fruit juices. Like prior taxes in Berkeley, California and in Mexico, the Philadelphia toll led to a significant reduction in sugar-…

Coca-Cola has spent millions of dollars on scientific research in the past decade, and the funds they provide have led to hundreds of scientific studies. In 2016, the company released a list of principals for research that it funds after criticism of…

In 2016, to the surprise of Alzheimer’s disease researchers across the world, a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that setting mice in front of a blinking light could clear out the characteristic protein plaques thought to be…

Emily Wang had a keen interest in health care in the criminal justice system from the start of her medical career. Early on, she was struck by the fact that people who are incarcerated receive good medical care while in prison—but too often don’t…

Through a program called the National Air Toxics Assessment, the Environmental Protection Agency surveys overall air quality across the country, and calculates the cancer risk posed by the combined amount of chemicals in the air. It takes into…

Shacking tiny rubber pellets out of cleats, hair and, occasionally, teeth, is a familiar activity to any athlete who has played on an artificial turf field. The synthetic pellets fill the spaces between long, plastic-y fibers meant to replace grass.…

In 2014, a Texas hospital refused to remove a woman who was declared brain-dead after suffering a blood clot from life support—even though, according to her family and husband, she had made it clear that she didn’t want to remain on a ventilator. The…

Back in the ’90s, Adar Pelah was studying vision at the University of Cambridge when he noticed something funny at the gym: For the first few minutes after stepping off a treadmill, he felt like he was moving much faster than he actually was. Pelah…

Hurricane Sandy tore through the east coast in 2012, killing 48 people, leaving millions without power, and causing billions in damages. On the coast of New Jersey, storm surges reach record heights, and hundreds of thousands of homes were…