I recently helped my mom sort through boxes she inherited when my grandparents passed away. One box was labeled – either ironically or genuinely – “toothpick holders and other treasures.” Inside were many keepsakes from moments now lost to history – although we found no toothpick holders.

My favorite of the items we sorted through was a solitary puzzle piece, an artifact reflecting my late grandmother’s penchant...

After nearly a decade of almost year-over-year increases^[1] in overdose deaths, the tide may finally be turning in Philadelphia^[2].

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in May 2024 an estimated 3% decrease in overdose deaths^[3] in the U.S. in 2023 compared with 2022. Shortly after, data from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health^[4] showed a similar trend: Fatal overdoses across the city decreased 7% in...

Rural Americans – particularly men – are expected to live significantly shorter, less healthy lives than their urban counterparts, according to our research, recently published in the Journal of Rural Health^[1].

We found that a 60-year-old man living in a rural area is expected on average to live two fewer years than an urban man. For women, the rural-urban gap is six months.

A key reason is worse rates among rural...