Meryl Davids Landau

1 month ago | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

Despite being declared eliminated in the U.S. a quarter century ago, measles has infected 146 people in northwest Texas in the past two months, killing one child. Other smaller outbreaks are happening in New Mexico, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and other states. Most of the cases are in children, but more than two dozen of the Texas patients are adults. What most infected individuals have in common is that the vast majority were not protected by the measles vaccine.

2 months ago | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

Most of us associate air pollution with the outdoors—from car or bus exhaust in a city to industrial waste or wildfire smoke. But you may not realize the air inside your home can be even more contaminated, especially in winter. Since home is where we spend some 70 percent of our time—more if you’re one of the 35 percent of workers who do some or all business from there—these toxins can have an outsized impact on your health.

2 months ago | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

Parents have long known too much sugar can harm their child’s health, but a growing body of research reveals just how much damage it can do. A recent study in the journal Science found the dangers continue well into adulthood, with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes more common in adults who were exposed to increased added sugars early in life. The results of this study and others make clear the sweet spot for sugar is well below what many kids currently consume.

2 months ago | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

As the Palisades and Eaton wildfires still blaze in Los Angeles, exactly what kindled the fires remains a mystery. But one fact is clear: Climate change made the conditions that drove the devastating fires some 35 percent more likely than they would have been had the fires occurred before the Earth began warming in the industrial age.

Dec 3, 2024 | nationalgeographic.com | Meryl Davids Landau

The quest for the fountain of youth may go back centuries, but it’s only in the past two decades that scientists may be close to finding it—at least as it pertains to yeast, flies, and mice. The elixir of interest to both researchers and longevity seekers is the prescription drug rapamycin. Some anti-aging influencers like Peter Attia, a physician and popular podcaster who devoted a chapter to the drug in his recent bestseller, Outlive, are enamored by its possibilities.