National Geographic | YOUR WEEKLY CHECKUP

National Geographic

YOUR WEEKLY CHECKUP

This week: The U.S. is going maskless; the mistake that changed medicine forever; the healing power of you; looming global food shortages; when the plague came to America; the doctor who risks his life for a house call.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RUBEN SALGADO ESCUDERO FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

If no one else is wearing a mask, should you?

The question is becoming more urgent as masking mandates are being revoked across the U.S., and as cases rise in Europe due to the fast-spreading variant Omicron BA.2—which has often presaged a spike here.

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

COVID UPDATE: Growing number of U.S. cases linked to Omicron BA.2 +

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID M. PHILLIPS, SCIENCE SOURCE (LEFT); BETTMANN COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES (RIGHT)

The 1918 pandemic mistake that changed medicine forever

A misunderstanding about the microbe that actually causes the flu created a ripple effect that changed the future of U.S. drug development, clinical trials, and pandemic preparedness.

FINDING THE TRUTH

PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIKA LARSEN

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ FROM THE ARCHIVES‌ ‌ ‌

How science is demonstrating the healing power of belief

But it's not just religious faith that has the ability to make us feel inexplicably better. Scientists have known about the placebo effect for decades. Now they are seeing placebos as a window into the neurochemical mechanisms that connect the mind with the body, belief with experience. But how does a belief become so potent it can heal?

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

PHOTOGRAPH BY JORGE GUERRERO, AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The war in Ukraine could plunge the world into food shortages

With far less Ukrainian and Russian grain and fertilizer entering global markets, experts fear that a bleak period of scarcer, pricier food will arrive this year.

A BIGGER THREAT LOOMS

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

NG STAFF

More COVID cases linked to Omicron variant BA.2

But experts say a huge surge is unlikely.

TRACK COVID IN THE U.S.

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Could a self-spreading vaccine prevent the next pandemic?

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America is about to test how long 'normal' can hold (The Atlantic)

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COVID vaccinations—including boosters—fall to lowest levels since 2020 (Washington Post)

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COVID and schizophrenia: Why this deadly mix can deepen understanding of the brain (NPR)

POST MORTEM

Revisiting history's strangest medical mysteries—and scandals

PHOTOGRAPH FROM AMERICAN PHOTO ARCHIVE, ALAMY

The day bubonic plague struck America—and the cover-up that backfired

The first case ever identified on American soil came in March 1900, in San Francisco. Over the next two years came a nationwide controversy that ultimately forced one governor from office—but not before a leading scientist was demonized and more than a hundred victims had died of the grisly disease.

A POLITICAL FIRESTORM

MORE ON YOUR HEALTH

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMER IFRAH

This doctor braves mountains by horseback and on foot to make house calls

He never visits a patient without first packing a knife, a box of matches, food that will last for at least two days, and a hunting rifle—along with his stethoscope and other medical supplies. Such is the life of this 80-year-old mountain doctor.

'ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN'

The deceptively simple plan to replenish California’s groundwater

Microplastics found in human blood for first time (The Guardian)

10 ways to boost the benefits of sunlight for kids

How a game-changing transplant could treat dying organs

Allergy season is about to get worse

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