Nancy Shute

More than half of Americans suffer lower back pain each year, the latest NPR/Truven Health Analytics survey finds. And they're often not going for treatments recommended as safest and most effective.

Neither getting the flu nor getting a flu shot appears to increase the risk of autism in children, a study finds. The shots are recommended because the flu poses health risks to mother and fetus.

Black women are more likely to die of breast cancer than are white women, and that's especially true for older women, the CDC reports. Lack of access to quality health care is a big factor.

The risk of getting dementia has been dropping for decades. Why? Research suggests education's effect on the brain and good cardiovascular health help.

People who have Medicaid insurance are much more likely to be smokers, and the program pays for medication to help them quit. But just 10 percent of Medicaid recipients get that help, a study finds.

People in lower-income communities are more likely to die of colon cancer, often because they don't get diagnosed early enough. Those premature deaths take a financial toll, too.

Ductal carcinoma in situ often doesn't turn into breast cancer, but most women have surgery for it. The trend is for less invasive surgery, which hasn't affected survival rates.

Hispanics are less likely to get cancer than non-Hispanic whites, but they're more susceptible to gallbladder, liver and stomach cancer. And country of origin affects cancer risk, too.

Cities and towns across the West are warning residents that high levels of smoke from forest fires threaten their health, with no sign of abating. That means indoor recess and no vacuuming.

Babies in the neonatal intensive care unit often get multiple tests and treatments a day. Not all of them help, and some can hurt. Neonatologists have picked the five least likely to do good.