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A recent health alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns travelers to protect themselves against measles before heading out to visit other countries this summer. A recent rise in cases of measles sparked the health advisory urging people to check that they've had two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine at least two weeks before leaving on international trips, the CDC said. (McGorry, 7/4)

Monsters under the bed aren’t the only bedtime horrors to worry about. Sheets and pillowcases may actually be embedded with bacteria, according to a new study by Amerisleep, a mattress company in Scottsdale, Arizona. Unwashed bedding could even contain more bacteria than toilet seats after just one week, according to the study findings. (Stabile, 7/5)

If you've ever been on #GutTok, the popular corner of TikTok dedicated to gut health, chances are you've heard people talk about "leaky gut" or "leaky gut syndrome." But what exactly is it? Leaky gut refers to the concept of relative intestinal permeability, or the ability for things to move through the intestinal lining. (Moniuszko, 6/30)

If TikTok and Reddit influencers are to be believed, the plant-based compound called berberine can be a replacement for such popular diabetes and weight loss drugs as Ozempic and Wegovy. Using berberine as a supplement has become so trendy, in fact, that it has been dubbed “Nature’s Ozempic” by social media users. Some manufacturers are jumping on the trend. (LaMotte, 7/4)

“We’re still having people trickle in that have not been tested but the vast majority have been notified,” said Dr. Ivan Melendez, the public health authority for Hidalgo County in Texas. “Less than half have actually done the test,” a spinal tap to look for signs of meningitis. Melendez and other health officials are concerned that people who have been exposed aren’t taking the risk seriously. Symptoms of fungal meningitis, unlike bacterial or viral meningitis, typically take weeks or longer to appear. Some fungal infections can take up to a year to show symptoms. The CDC declined to give a specific date when people could be confident they’re no longer at risk. (Syal, 7/3)

More than a third of American women between the ages of 12 and 21 have an iron deficiency, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research published online last week found nearly 39 percent of American girls and women aged 12-21 were affected by iron deficiency, and 6 percent were iron-deficient anemic. (Mueller, 7/3)

A female professional athlete has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, for the first time, researchers say. The degenerative brain disease, which is believed to be caused by repeated head injuries, was diagnosed in the Australian rules footballer Heather Anderson, who died at age 28 in November, researchers said. (Da Silva, 7/4)

Psychedelics are the latest craze in performance-enhancing drugs, not for improving physical prowess but by providing greater emotional and intellectual acuity, proponents claim. Star NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers publicly called for legalizing nature-based hallucinogens after consuming ayahuasca, a drink made from psycho-active Amazonian plants. He’s not worried about prohibitionists denouncing him. (Tomlinson, 7/5)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: More States Legalize Sales Of Unpasteurized Milk, Despite Public Health Warnings

Babe the goat is trendier than she looks. Babe lives a quiet life on a hillside farm in southern Iowa, where she grazes on grass with a small herd of fellow goats. Her owner, Stacy Wistock, milks her twice a day. (Leys, 7/5)

Dr. Susan Love, a surgeon, author, researcher and activist who was for decades one of the world’s most visible public faces in the war on breast cancer, died on Sunday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 75. The cause was a recurrence of leukemia, said Allie Cormier, the chief marketing officer at the Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. (Fox, 7/3)