Andrea K. McDaniels

Nearly 20,000 children in Maryland, or 1 in 68, have some variation of the autism spectrum disorder; the precise number of adults is hard to come by, underscoring the fact that autism is looked at still as largely a children's disorder. In recent decades, there's been a dramatic increase in children diagnosed with autism for multiple reasons and now these youngsters are growing up.

This year for the first time, most people will have to check a box on their tax return or face a financial penalty, and the experience is already causing headaches for some.

It has become hard to recruit new volunteers to Maryland's volunteer fire departments

Dr. Levi Watkins, the first black chief resident of cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, was known as much for fighting the injustice faced by African Americans as his groundbreaking medical work.

Clean eating can get out of control for some people

Representatives from the Maryland Public Interest Research Group Foundation delivered a petition to a Walgreens at 1300 East North Avenue in Baltimore Tuesday, saying it contributes to high rates of asthma in children.

Research by Johns Hopkins University has found that babies are born with some natural smarts, but it is when this innate intelligence is challenged, that these youngsters learn more about the world

The Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has received a $50 million grant to stop the transmission of HIV from mother to child in Zambia.

A lucky winner bought a $1 million Powerball ticket at Weis Market in Howard County.

The massive Carnival Pride cruise liner docked at the Port of Baltimore just before sunrise Sunday for the first time in five months, ending a hiatus created when new air standards sent the ship looking for fresh digs.

Once destined for churches, food pantries are opening rapidly in schools as advocates make food more accessible to the littlest citizens.

Public health officials, Annapolis lawmakers and the beverage and beer industry have joined together to ban the sale of powdered alcohol before it even hits the market in Maryland.

A panel of nutritionists and health experts that updates the nation's Dietary Guidelines every five years included sugar reduction in a draft last month. Natural sugars are OK, the panel said, but people should not eat more than 200 calories a day in added sugar.

C-sections are becoming more like birth experiences and less like surgical techniques.

A member of the board that oversees the state exchange where people buy insurance plans under health reform said the entity needs to take more care in approving contracts.

Health advocates, led by the Sugar Free Kids Maryland coalition, wanted bottled water, low-fat milk and 100 percent fruit juice offered in kids meals in lieu of sugary sodas.

The Maryland Health Exchange reported Monday that 289,131 people enrolled in private and government-funded plans during open enrollment that ended Feb. 28..

Babies contract infant botulism by ingesting bacterium spores, which then harbor in the large intestine where toxins breed. The toxins damage nerves that send the signals to make muscles contract. In turn, the body slowly loses its ability to move.

Carolyn Anne Watts had committed suicide at 56. Her family didn't know of Watts' secret art hoard until after her death.

Four health insurance companies have paid a combined $280,000 in fines to the Maryland Insurance Administration for selling health insurance plans to college students that did not meet state standards.

State auditors are criticizing Maryland's health department for the way it hired a contractor to replace the system used to process Medicaid payments — and later having to suspend work with the company.

Marylanders who get dinged with a tax penalty this year because they didn't realize federal law requires everyone to have health insurance will get extra time to enroll in a plan.

Chronic coughs are one of life's little annoyances. Coughing fits make it hard to sleep, make breathing difficult when exercising and can sneak up when you least expect it.

Anne Arundel Medical Center and University of Maryland Washington Baltimore Medical Center filed applications with the Maryland Health Care Commission Friday to get designated as heart hospitals.

Rite Aid Corp. is the latest retailer to step into the medical clinic market, a concept that has grown exponentially since the first opened in 2000.

The number of people who bought private health plans on a state exchange set up under health reform doubled from last year.

Lisa Swinton McLaughlin delivered twins at age 56. The new mother who had longed for kids for so long died before her boys ever left the hospital. An autopsy found she passed from a bowel obstruction.

Marylanders will get several extra days to enroll in health insurance after a rush of last-minute interest clogged phone lines.

Health advocates have begun the final push to enroll citizens in insurance plans through the Maryland health exchange.

Doctors at trauma units around the country use different blood mixtures when performing transfusions on patients. For a long time it was unclear if one combination worked better than another because no one had ever studied the issue.

Just like last week, the snowstorm headed for the Northeast Sunday will most likely skip blanketing Maryland with heavy snow, however those heading to Super Bowl parties should take note that the Baltimore area may still have to contend with some wintry precipitation.

Human trafficking is an issue getting more attention in Maryland

Orioles player Adam Jones releases radio ad encouraging people to sign up for health plans under Obamacare.

Maryland health exchange officials told the Senate Finance Committee of the General Assembly Wednesday that 191,000 people had signed up for public and private insurance during open enrollment, which lasts until Feb. 15.

The health care law that was supposed to make insurance available to hundreds of thousands in the state is costing Marylanders so much in prescription drug costs that it may deter patients from taking their medicine, the survey by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease found.

National health reform was supposed to open the doors to mental health services for hundreds of thousands of people who couldn't get treatment, but in Maryland patients are finding there aren't enough doctors.

Hogan people's celebration pays ode to average citizen

Doctors at University of Maryland Medical Center perform domino liver transplant to save two lives.

Even when temperatures dip well below freezing causing school delays, closing the zoo and prompting "code blue" advisories to get homeless people into shelters, some still must work outside.

People with eating disorders often mask their disease making it hard for a primary physician to detect. But the dentist can see tell-tale signs, such as redness and ulcers, that patients can't hide

A Baltimore woman has sued the Johns Hopkins Health System, saying she had to have her legs and arms amputated after doctors at one of its hospitals failed to diagnose a uterine infection.

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced a new initiative Monday that would offer rehab services and drug education to these patients – many who will wind up in the hospital again. Doctors could also prescribe patients with the drug naloxone, an overdose-reversing drug.

Surveys being conducted by the ACLU Maryland are finding that one way to offset the hidden health consequences of violence is to move families out of troubled neighborhoods.

More needs to be done to address a hidden toll of violence that is creating a ripple of social ills in Baltimore, including hurting children's ability to learn, community advocates and health professionals say.

Killings in Baltimore, which has the fifth-highest homicide rate of major U.S. cities, have left behind thousands of grieving families. Like the children exposed to violence, or the caregivers tending sons disabled by shootings, the grieving relatives of the murdered are little noticed after the funerals and the candlelight vigils. But their suffering is part of the devastating domino effect of violence in the city.

Many families that have been victimized by violence find themselves on a long odyssey taking care of an adult son — and illustrating the unseen toll of violence in the Baltimore region. Little is known about these families; there have been few studies of their situation, and it's unclear how many victims end up being cared for at home. Experts compare their experience to that of the families of injured soldiers back from war.

Studies show that exposure to violence is a major factor damaging children's health.