According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the number of people beating a cancer diagnosis reached nearly 14.5 million in 2014 and is expected to rise to almost 19 million by 2024. Now, that’s good news, but it doesn’t mean that cancer researchers — in the lab or clinic — are resting on any laurels.

When it comes to health advice, the internet tends to contradict itself. The benefits of food get flipped around, and longstanding fitness tips can suddenly be deemed ineffective. Self-weighing is another one. Don’t jump on the scale – it’s counterproductive and will drive you crazy. Or, step on it – it’s motivating and keeps you in check. So, which is it?

When I started my career seven years ago, it hadn’t crossed my mind that at some point I would spend nearly 12 hours – overnight hours, to be exact – inside an operating room for anything other than a potential surgery of my own. That is, until I had the opportunity to don paper scrubs, a facemask and hair net, and observe a life-changing procedure –with a film crew in tow.

Chester County is the wealthiest county among all 67 counties in Pennsylvania — and yet, more than 25,000 county residents received over $3 million in SNAP (food stamp) benefits because they do not have enough money to consistently put food – let alone healthy food – on the table each night.

There are still questions waiting to be answered about exactly how and why migraines are generated: What are these things? Why are they so difficult to treat? Why are they different for everybody? Research is ongoing, though, and several different models are helping physicians shed new light on what makes migraines tick — which could, in turn, lead to new and more effective treatment options down the line.

While we aren’t watching Olympians set records and break barriers this year, some athletes are still making headlines. On Sunday, Michael Phelps — the most decorated athlete in Olympic history — will go head-to-head against a very unlikely competitor: a great white shark. Yes, you read that correctly – an actual shark.

Christine Jaslar, a lactation consultant at HUP, stared at the name Dawn Morgan on the list of new moms she would visit in the post-partum unit and wondered: Was it possible? Twenty-five years ago, in HUP’s intensive care nursery, a tiny baby named Dawn Morgan – born at 26 weeks gestation (14 weeks early) and weighing less than two pounds – had been her very first patient.

More than a third of Americans don’t get enough sleep, and growing evidence suggests it’s not only taking a toll on their physical health through heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and/or other conditions, but hurting their mental health as well.

As debate swirls around the utility, necessity and accuracy of fitness trackers - about half of the current wearable-tech market - Penn researchers are examining whether such technologies and other approaches can bring about behavioral changes that improve a patient’s health and well-being.

Summer is becoming a time during which certain children are prone to experience summer learning loss — the loss of academic skills and knowledge over the summer months – and parents are desperately fighting to prevent their children from falling behind. When it comes to keeping their kids academically focused over the summer, Penn Medicine's Martin Franklin says some parents might be overdoing it.