HEALTH

Slate -   Beyond factors that you truly cannot change, the single biggest thing that we know can affect your health is really, really simple: money. There are literally thousands of ways in which income influences your health and well-being—from the minor, such as whether you live in a suburb with sidewalks where it’s safe to go running, to the more significant, like whether there are enough doctors in your area to treat all the people who need help. Money gives you the ability to travel if you do need to see a specific specialist, as well as the ability to take time off work for lengthy appointments in the middle of the day. Studies bear out the various health benefits of money. To cite just a couple: Rich people are less likely to get diabetes, and when they do get it, the outcomes tend to be less severe. Having an occupation that doesn’t pay well is strongly linked to developing lung disease later in life, in part because sitting at a desk exposes a person to fewer things that cause lung issues.

Axios - More than 32,000 cases of whooping cough were recorded in the U.S. in 2024 — the highest annual total in a decade. It marked a return to pre-pandemic levels...  Preliminary data show that more than six times as many cases have been reported by Dec. 14, compared with the corresponding period in 2023.  Read more