One December day in 2017, I lined up with friends at a Santa Barbara theater under a “Holiday Concert” marquee in a wintry scene replete with whirling white flakes. But there would be no music, only coughing and distant sirens. It was wildfire ash falling onto the holly wreaths that day, and we were in line for concert cancellation refunds.

A cornucopia of confusion surrounds the benefits of taking L-arginine supplements. Also called just "arginine," there's some evidence that this amino acid may lower blood pressure and improve heart health, but there's little agreement among experts about safe dosage or its interaction with alcohol.

Evelyn Nicol (1930–2020), a world-renowned immunology expert and one of few Black women scientists to ever be awarded a patent for a new medical treatment, died of complications from Covid-19 in May, just a week before her 90th birthday. In 1976, Nicol became the rare Black American to be awarded a patent for a scientific product, and reportedly the first for a patent in the field of Molecular Biology.

Uncontrollable eyebrow twitching is not only random, but awkward. Not fun on a first date or a job interview. It's often caused by stress, lack of sleep or even excess caffeine, but low magnesium levels may also be a trigger. Whether it's around the eyebrow, lips, forehead or eyelids, "in adults, a facial spasm rarely indicates an underlying medical condition," says Ali Samii, MD, a neurologist at University of Washington Medicine who specializes in movement disorders and spasticity.

In the U.S. pandemic’s early months, African-American patients’ infection and death rates soared. “How many people will die this summer, before Election Day? What proportion of the deaths will be among African-Americans, Latinos, other people of color? This is getting awfully close to genocide by default.

Sanitizer and toilet paper comprise but a small portion of what truck drivers deliver. They also move COVID-19 tests, disinfectant cleaning fluid, critical hospital supplies, surgical masks, plastic gloves, food, diapers, cellphones, computers and more. The ongoing crisis has fueled temporary changes in safety regulations.

You may never have noticed a C-reactive protein (CRP) level on your blood test results. But it's an important marker of inflammation — and one that can help predict your risk for a heart attack. When illness or injury strikes, CRP levels in the bloodstream rise as your immune system goes into action.

When you're sick with the flu, it's no fun trying to figure out what to eat and drink. That's why we've put together a list of doctor-recommended foods and fluids to help.

Do medicinal herbs curb illness as well as pharmaceutical drugs? What are the biological reasons that naturally-growing plants can alleviate symptoms? Answers are on the way.

Flu vaccines will help protect you against the influenza virus. The flu shot cannot give you the flu, though the side effects may feel very similar to a minor version of the virus.

At least one veterinarian thinks pet anti-vaxxers don’t deserve to have animals: “They are sentencing their dog to death from one of the most shocking, horrible viruses you can imagine,” in the view of Sydney, Australia’s Dr. Sam Kovac. Kovac sees dog owners refusing rabies vaccinations, because they think it will give their dogs canine autism.

It’s a parasite that lives in swimming pools because it is chlorine-resistant. It can float right through pool filters that keep other germs out. It breeds infectious outbreaks that have increased by 13 percent every year for ten years. It’s called crypto. not a new kind of currency. It’s the crypto that’s short for the “cryptosporidium” parasite.

Ventura County has one of the highest rates of thyroid cancers in all of California’s 58 counties. Yet few county residents are talking about it, and few thyroid cancer survivors are willing to speak publicly ab­out their experience.

When golf legend Jack Nicklaus publicly announces that his decades-long back pain has been reduced following experimental stem-cell therapy. “I’m not a doctor,” Nicklaus said about his 18 major championship titles and 120 tournament victories. “But I think that stem cells are going to change the direction of orthopedics, totally.”.

“It’s not what we hire our staff to do,” a library director said after a man was found dead of an overdose in the library restroom. Overdue books, not overdose deaths, are librarians’ traditional realm. Yet American Libraries Magazine notes that plumbing clogged with needles is now a challenge in many public media centers.

MediCannaCon, the first Ojai Medical Cannabis Conference, is set for May 4 in Ojai, and will focus on the use of Medical Marijuana. The conference is presented by the Ojai Herbal Symposium and the Sespe Creek Collective, and will welcome scientists, healthcare professionals and the general public — anyone who wants to learn about the use of medical marijuana.