The best time to talk to your parents about senior care — before it's too late

Most families wait to talk about senior care until an emergency hits, but experts say having those discussions early can lead to better outcomes and less conflict.

Tatyana Zlotsky, CEO of A Place for Mom in New York City, said 77% of the families she works with tell her they wish they’d acted sooner.

Planning before a crisis gives families more time to compare care options, understand costs and honor an older adult's wishes instead of making rushed decisions, the expert advised.

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"If you think about this being an extremely stressful, financially burdensome decision already, doing it under the duress of a medical emergency makes it 10 times worse," she told Fox News Digital. "And yet most families are still not taking action."

Family caregivers lose an average of $21,000 per year as they cut back on work to care for aging relatives, she noted. 

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Families generally tend to procrastinate because they suffer from caregiver burnout, according to Zlotsky, who specializes in providing support services and digital tools for finding local senior housing options.

"They're already dealing with so much, it's nearly impossible for them to predict the situation sooner," she added.

"It's a reconfiguration of a parent-child relationship ... the parent wants to maintain their independence ... the child becomes the one providing the care," Zlotsky went on. "And so the senior resists this at all costs ... and the adult child is not sure how to have the conversation."

The discussion shouldn't wait until a fall, hospitalization or other medical emergency, according to the expert.

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Zlotsky emphasized that cognitive decline often begins with subtle changes in executive functioning — not always dramatic memory loss. Adult children should pay attention to these signs during routine visits, as they may signal that it's time to talk about future care plans.

These may include, but are not limited to, any of the following, according to the expert.

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"Maybe Mom has made the same pot of coffee for the last 20 years," Zlotsky said as an example. "Now all of a sudden she doesn't drink coffee anymore ... the truth might be that it takes five steps to fill the coffee maker ... and her executive functioning skills are failing her."

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She encourages family members to look for those signs earlier, and to seek guidance from a professional.

"You can't be required as a caregiver to diagnose Mom or Dad," she said. "You really have to be able to get consultation."

When having the conversation, Zlotsky emphasized the importance of listening to the older adult’s preferences.

"Your parents do have opinions on how they want to be taken care of, and what that looks like and who does it," she said. "It's really about having the courage to start that conversation and engaging in it."

"If you can break through that ice and really get to the core of what they need and want, it can make the financial and emotional journey much easier."

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Last American to use an iron lung dies at 78 years old after childhood polio diagnosis

A 78-year-old Oklahoma woman who was diagnosed with polio as a child and was the last American to rely on an iron lung to live has died.

Martha Lillard found out she had the once-feared disease when she was 5 years old, which left her paralyzed from the neck down, and required her to use the machine to help her breathe while she slept.

Lillard contracted COVID-19 twice during the pandemic, which left her in the machine nearly 24 hours a day.

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"They told her she wasn't supposed to live past 20 years old," her younger sister, Cindy McVey, told The Associated Press on Friday. "She had the enthusiasm and the drive to continue living and make the best of her life."

Despite having polio, Lillard was able to go to school two hours a day as a child, and she had tutors the rest of the time. She also used an intercom phone system that allowed her to interact with her teachers and classmates from home.

Lillard was even able to take road trips as a child because of a custom trailer that could accommodate the iron lung and her father making sure their hotels had wide enough doors for the machine.

An iron lung is a negative-pressure ventilator that would help a patient with paralyzed lung muscles breathe.

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The disease once caused thousands of cases of paralysis in children during outbreaks each year in the first part of the 20th century before a vaccine became available in 1955.

By 1979, polio was considered eliminated in the U.S.

Later, Lillard was able to regain the use of her left arm and legs through therapy and was even able to drive for a time.

She lived independently for many years, even marrying earlier this year to a man from Egypt she corresponded with for two decades after he was able to obtain a visa.

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"They were really soul mates," McVey said. "He's extremely brokenhearted."

Lillard, who her sister said wrote poetry and volunteered with the Humane Society, had just 25% lung capacity before she was diagnosed with COVID.

She died of chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome, according to her death certificate.

Her sister added that it was related to the effects of long-haul COVID.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Major American city again takes top honors for worst possible travel reason

As people prepare to travel for summer vacation, a top pest-control company is revealing the U.S. cities where you’re likely to encounter bedbugs.

Bedbugs are small insects that feed on blood and live near humans or animals, favoring places we sleep or rest, such as beds, couches and nearby furniture. They can cause itchy bites, skin irritation, and in some cases, allergic reactions.

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Chicago once again topped the list of Orkin’s 2026 Bed Bug Cities List, retaining the pest control and extermination company’s number one ranking as America’s city where it performed the most bedbug treatments.

Orkin announced last year that the Windy City had held onto its spot as the most bedbug-infested city in the nation for the fifth consecutive year.

Los Angeles, Detroit, Cleveland and Indianapolis rounded out the top five this year. Popular tourist hot spots Tampa and Myrtle Beach experienced increased bedbug activity, Orkin reported.

"Many cities where bedbug activity has been the worst in the last year are also some of the country’s most popular travel destinations and are expected to welcome large numbers of visitors for major concerts, festivals and sporting events throughout the summer and beyond," Orkin announced in a press release.

Nashville and Oklahoma City each climbed 10 spots on this year’s list, the company said, while Youngstown, Omaha and Knoxville recorded some of the largest declines.

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According to Orkin, "These year-over-year changes highlight the persistent and evolving nature of bedbug activity across the nation."

The rankings are based on treatment data from metro areas where Orkin performed the most bedbug treatments from May 2025 to May 12, 2026, and includes both residential and commercial bedbug treatments.

A report by casino.ca released earlier this summer ranked Michigan as the state with the highest estimated risk of encountering bedbugs, followed by Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Fox News Digital previously reported. Hawaii and Oregon ranked lowest on the list.

Warren, Michigan, topped the list of U.S. cities, with North Las Vegas, Nevada, and Madison, Wisconsin, also ranking among the biggest hot spots, according to the report.

The casino.ca analysis combined bedbug data from Orkin and Terminix with TripAdvisor hotel reviews, treatment records and social-media posts to estimate travelers' risk of encountering bedbugs.

While such reports "make for fun reads," Zachary DeVries, associate professor of urban entomology at the University of Kentucky, previously cautioned Fox News Digital against putting too much stock in them.

"The main problem I have with these [rankings] is they make it seem like urban areas have all the bedbug problems, but from some recent work we’ve done and anecdotal reports, we know bedbugs can show up anywhere — urban, suburban or rural," he said.

"In fact, while people are more packed together in urban areas and thus more likely to bump into bedbugs, those living in rural areas may have less access to good pest control services and thus may find it more difficult to get rid of bedbugs," he added.

Dini Miller, professor of urban pest management at Virginia Tech, told Fox News Digital that places tend to get attention for bedbugs when people are visiting and looking for them.

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Experts recommend inspecting mattress seams, upholstered furniture and behind headboards for bedbugs while traveling.

They also suggest using a sticky lint roller on clothing, upholstery and the bottoms of shoes to help detect hitchhiking bed bugs.

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Simple sitting change linked to lower risk of cancer death, study finds

Reducing your risk of cancer death may be as simple as taking brief breaks for physical activity throughout the day, according to a new observational study.

The study, led by researchers from the University of Glasgow studying the association between cancer and prolonged sedentary behavior, found that participants who regularly interrupted prolonged sitting with physical activity had a lower risk of cancer death.

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"This study adds to growing evidence that prolonged sedentary behavior is an independent health risk," Dr. Georgia Spear, chief of breast imaging at Northwestern Medicine, told Fox News Digital.

"While it does not prove that sitting causes cancer, it suggests that long, uninterrupted periods of sitting are associated with a higher risk of cancer mortality," Spear explained. "The findings reinforce existing public-health recommendations that regular movement throughout the day is an important component of cancer prevention."

The researchers monitored 91,292 volunteer participants in the U.K. who wore movement-tracking devices on their wrists for seven days to track their sedentary habits. The scientists followed the volunteers' health outcomes over the course of about 12 years.

The researchers defined prolonged sedentary behavior as any bout that lasted "at least 30 minutes and during which at least 90% of the time was sedentary."

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They defined interrupted sitting as sessions that lasted fewer than 30 minutes or were interrupted by brief periods of physical activity.

Each additional hour per day of prolonged sedentary behavior was associated with a 10% higher risk of cancer death, the researchers reported in their study, published by PLOS Medicine.

Replacing one hour of sitting each day with light activity was associated with a 12% lower risk of cancer death. Replacing 30 minutes with moderate activity was linked to an 8% lower risk, and replacing just five minutes with vigorous activity was associated with a 22% lower risk.

The researchers classified light physical activity as walking at a low speed and performing household chores, such as ironing a shirt or washing dishes.

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These findings should be interpreted with caution, the researchers wrote, "because the study cannot prove causality."

The volunteers may not represent the wider population, they noted, "and the activity monitor captured behavior only during a limited period without showing the context of sedentary behavior, such as work, television viewing or driving."

Spear said that existing research has linked sedentary behavior to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and several cancers.

"What is notable here is the finding that how people sit appears to matter, not just the total amount," she said. "Breaking up sitting with regular movement may provide measurable health benefits."

According to Spear, other simple lifestyle strategies can be highly effective at reducing cancer-death risk.

"Stand and move every 30 to 60 minutes, take short walking breaks, including after meals, use the stairs, walk during phone calls and incorporate light activity throughout the day," she recommended.

"Combined with regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol, not smoking and staying current with recommended cancer screening, these habits can help reduce the risk of breast cancer and other chronic diseases."

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Dr Oz reveals 3 free ways to boost your health — no medication required

Being healthy doesn’t have to require a hefty price tag. Some of the most beneficial habits are actually completely free, according to CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital during the Great American State Fair in the nation's capital, Oz shared three "super simple" health tips that Americans can apply now without spending a dime.

"The best health advice I can give is super simple," he said. "There's nothing healthier than having a good time with the people that you care about."

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Spending time with loved ones can bring tangible health benefits, especially when paired with activities like eating a meal together or doing something active, according to the doctor.

"Do the things that bring you an inner sense of calm so you can sleep at night," he said. "That all comes along with being social."

Oz said that 50% of the human brain is designed to read the face of the person next to you.

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"We wouldn't waste that brain power if it wasn’t important," he said. "We're supposed to be social. We're supposed to interact with others, so spend time doing that."

Some traditionally "healthy" habits such as dieting may help to promote certain health benefits, but Oz cautioned that dieting can also "make you feel lonely."

"We celebrate around food," he said, adding that people can stay socially connected while also maintaining healthy habits.

Adequate sleep is one of the most powerful ways to improve your health — and it doesn't cost a thing.

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"Reducing the stress in your life so you can sleep is probably the single best way, especially as you get older, [to stay] youthful," Oz advised.

"You can try to spend money on medication, but I’m not aware of any that work as well as the natural sleep hygiene tools," he added.

These tools include making the room you’re sleeping in as dark as possible, keeping the temperature cool and avoiding screens before bed. The comfort of a loved one — or even a pet — can also contribute to better sleep, Oz added.

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"Do the things that we know allow us to sleep with more comfort," he said.

When it comes to eating healthier, Oz said the approach is "pretty straightforward."

"Eat real food that comes out of the ground," he recommended.

"These wholesome, real foods are what your brain is looking for," he said. "It's looking for nutrients, not calories."

Oz used nuts as an example of a nutrient-rich, natural food, which he described as "so valuable as a health tool."

"Nuts, which are baby trees, basically, have tons of nutrients," he said. "Yeah, they’ve got calories, but they’ve got so many nutrients in them that it's without question one of the wise things you can do to make your brain healthy."

He added, "If your brain's healthy, it'll stop feeding your mouth."

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Your resting heart rate could reveal more about your health than you think, doctors say

The simple act of noting how fast your heart is beating while you're at rest may be the key to measuring your overall health.

Resting heart rate is defined by Mayo Clinic as the number of times your heart beats each minute while you’re awake, calm and not moving. 

A normal resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute for adults. A slower resting heart rate means the heart does not have the work as heard to pump blood through the body — something typical of someone who is more fit.

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Athletes who are very fit may have a resting heart rate closer to 40 beats per minute, according to Mayo Clinic.

Your resting heart rate can vary due to a variety of factors, including age, physical activity levels, sleep health, smoking, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, stress, anxiety, hormones, body type and certain medications.

But a resting heart rate that’s often too high or too low may signal a health issue.

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A high resting heart rate, even if it’s slight, is usually a sign that something else may be going on in the body, such as anemia, an infection or a thyroid problem, according to Cleveland Clinic.

If your heart rate is regularly above 100 beats per minute, this is a sign to talk with your heart care provider. 

The same advice applies if you are not a trained athlete and your resting heart rate is frequently below 60 beats per minute.

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Talk to your doctor if other symptoms such as fainting, dizziness or shortness of breath occur.

You can check your own heart rate by tracking your pulse on your wrist or neck. The best time of day to measure resting heart rate is first thing in the morning, says Mayo Clinic. 

Place your index and middle fingers inside the wrist below the thumb, to feel the radial artery; or, do so on the side of the neck, to feel the carotid artery.

Count the number of times your pulse beats in 15 seconds, then multiply this number by four to calculate beats per minute.

Wearable devices can also detect and track resting heart rate, although this may not always be accurate.

If your resting heart rate is higher than normal, there are a few ways to work toward lowering it.

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Vigorous exercise is "the best way" to lower your resting heart rate and increase the heart’s aerobic capacity and max heart rate, according to Harvard.

For those who don’t exercise regularly, it’s important to work your way up in difficulty when following a new workout routine.

Some medications, such as beta blockers, can also lower heart rate. In the same way, managing stress through holistic methods such as meditation or yoga can also help. 

Cleveland Clinic also recommends cutting back on harmful substances such as drugs and alcohol, which can dehydrate you and raise your heart rate.

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Adequate sleep can also help bring your heart rate down, in addition to maintaining a healthy weight.

Cardiologist Tamanna Singh, M.D., shared with Cleveland Clinic that lowering your heart rate takes time as various lifestyle changes kick in.

"Just like building your biceps and triceps, it takes time for your heart to become stronger," the doctor said.

Singh recommended focusing on heart rate patterns rather than dialing in on just the number. 

Take note of how your heart rate changes after eating certain foods, when you’re dehydrated or after you’ve began a new exercise or stress management routine.

"If you notice that your heart rate is consistently over 100, mention it to your doctor, especially if you’ve tried making lifestyle changes and they don’t seem to be working," she said. 

"Your resting heart rate isn’t the be-all, end-all of your health, but it’s definitely a marker that you should pay attention to."

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Coffee may have powerful effect on liver health, major study suggests

The health benefits of morning coffee may go beyond a wake-up call, according to a massive new study linking the beverage to a significantly lower risk of severe liver disease, liver cancer and liver-related death.

Published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the research used data from 354,957 participants enrolled in the UK Biobank.

Researchers tracked individuals who had no history of cirrhosis or liver cancer at the start of the study for an average of 13 years, according to a press release.

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Participants who drank one to two cups of coffee daily showed a 20% lower risk of developing cirrhosis and a 31% lower risk of liver-related mortality compared to non-coffee drinkers.

The protective effects became even more noticeable at higher levels of consumption.

Individuals who drank five or more cups of coffee per day experienced a 32% reduction in cirrhosis risk, a 42% lower risk of liver-related death and a 47% lower risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of primary liver cancer.

While previous studies have hinted at coffee's positive relationship with liver health, this study provides biological evidence to support the statistical trends, the researchers said.

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To better understand why coffee may protect the liver, the researchers conducted additional analyses using imaging data from a subgroup of nearly 29,000 participants and blood samples from approximately 50,000 individuals.

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That data showed that heavy coffee drinkers had significantly lower levels of liver fat and liver iron, as well as lower odds of developing fibroinflammation, which is the scarring and inflammation that often precedes permanent liver damage.

The blood analysis linked coffee consumption with lower levels of some proteins known to trigger inflammation and tissue scarring, along with higher levels of proteins essential for healthy liver function.

Notably, the study found that the liver-protective benefits were similar for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, suggesting that these benefits are driven by naturally occurring compounds not related to caffeine.

While the benefits persisted regardless of whether the coffee was consumed black or with sweeteners, the researchers observed that adding sugar or artificial sweeteners slightly weakened the beneficial effects, particularly concerning markers of liver inflammation.

While these findings suggest that coffee consumption is an accessible dietary habit for supporting liver health, the authors noted that it should serve as a complement rather than a replacement for standard preventative health practices.

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Because the research relied on self-reported dietary questionnaires from the UK Biobank, the findings could be susceptible to changes in participants' coffee-drinking habits over the 13-year follow-up period.

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Additionally, as an observational study, it can only establish a strong correlation and cannot prove cause and effect, as other factors may influence the outcomes.

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