Courtenay Harris Bond
Courtenay Harris Bond is the staff writer covering health for PhillyVoice. She enjoys writing about behavioral health, maternal health and inequities in the healthcare system, as well as human rights and criminal justice. A veteran daily newspaper reporter, Courtenay has also written for national outlets, including KFF Health News, Undark Magazine and Filter. She was a 2018 Rosalynn Carter Fellow for Mental Health Journalism and has master's degrees from Columbia Journalism School and the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.
July 23, 2024
Mental Health
Montgomery County to open crisis center for people facing mental health and addiction emergencies
Montgomery County plans to open an $18 million crisis center that will respond to people experiencing mental health and addiction crises. The center also will help divert people who need behavioral health services away from the criminal justice system when it opens in 2025.July 18, 2024
Addiction
LGBTQ people smoke cigarettes at higher rates, and they face barriers to quitting
LGBTQ people are more likely to smoke cigarettes than heterosexual and cisgender people, research shows. Tobacco companies have targeted them, and they face many barriers to quitting. If actions aren't taken, the LGBTQ community will have an influx of tobacco-related illnesses, Temple Health pulmonologist Dr. Jamie Garfield says.July 18, 2024
Depression
Moving even once during childhood increases risk of being diagnosed with depression, study shows
Children who move at least once during childhood are at significantly higher risk of being diagnosed with depression later in life, a new study finds. Remaining settled during childhood in one place, even in a lower-income environment, may offer 'protective factors' against the mental health condition, the researchers concluded.July 17, 2024
Illness
Wistar Institute opens research center dedicated to finding an HIV cure
The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia has invested $24 million to open a new HIV research center in University City. The nonprofit seeks to find a vaccine to prevent the virus from spreading or a way to eradicate the virus once people have contracted it – or both.July 16, 2024
Adult Health
Your bathroom habits provide insights on your overall health, study finds
Having a bowel movement once or twice a day is associated with better health, according to research published Tuesday in Cell Reports Medicine. Pooping too often, or not often enough, puts people risk for reduced kidney function and liver disease, researchers found.July 16, 2024
Health News
What causes an ice-cream headache?
Cold-stimulus headaches, more commonly known as brain freeze or ice-cream headaches, are most likely caused by something cold touching the roof of the mouth or the back of the throat, prompting blood vessels to constrict and then to dilate rapidly, activating pain receptors.July 11, 2024
Health News
Skin substitute developed at Temple could revolutionize wound care if it gets FDA approval
A skin substitute developed by bioengineers at Temple University could be a breakthrough in wound care treatment, pending its approval by the FDA. The technology uses soy proteins to make nanofiber which form a scaffolding upon which new tissues can be grown, and it can be useful for treating burns, bed sores, diabetic foot ulcers and other wounds.July 11, 2024
Wellness
Night owls perform better on tests than morning people, a new study says
People who are naturally more active or alert in the evening performed better on tests than people who are more lively in the morning, according to research published Wednesday in the journal BMJ Public Health.July 10, 2024
Health Stories
To save their young children's vision – and lives – a Tennessee couple quit their jobs and headed to Philly
Vivian Kneller, 1, and her brother, Thomas, 2, were treated for bilateral retinoblastoma, a rare childhood eye cancer, at Wills Eye Hospital and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The health centers are among a few places in the world that provide a specialized form of chemotherapy, so the Kneller family temporarily moved from Tennessee to Philly.July 10, 2024
Adult Health
A Mediterranean diet and omega-3 fatty acids reduce acne, a new study shows
Acne can be reduced by eating a Mediterranean diet and taking an over-the-counter omega-3 fatty acid supplement, new study suggests. Researchers said lifestyle changes should be complementary to any acne treatment plan, including prescription medications.Just In
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- The holidays can mess up the healthiest of habits. Here's how to get back on track
- N.J. bill would write Gov. Murphy's 100% clean electricity goal into law before he leaves office
- In latest World Cup ticket phase, which ends Jan. 13, FIFA says requests are over 30 times higher than supply
- Eagles-Commanders Week 18 injury report, with analysis
- A look ahead at an extremely busy 2026 for sports in Philadelphia
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