CARLA K. JOHNSON

Medical writer

Johnson covers research in cancer, addiction and more for The Associated Press. She is a member of AP’s health and science team.

FILE - Olivia Munn arrives at the Governors Awards on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, at the Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles. When Munn revealed in March 2024 that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy, she urged people to ask their doctors to figure out their score on a breast cancer risk calculator, a questionnaire on the National Cancer Institute’s website that is designed for health care providers to use with patients. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

What is the breast cancer risk calculator recommended by Olivia Munn?

Olivia Munn’s breast cancer diagnosis is drawing attention to a frequently used breast cancer risk calculator.

This image provided by Guardant Health in March 2024, shows packaging for their colon cancer blood test, Shield. According to a study published Wednesday, March 13, 2024, in the New England Journal of Medicine and sponsored by Guardant Health, the test performed well, further expanding screening options for a leading cause of cancer deaths. The test missed some cancers and won’t replace colonoscopy, the gold standard test. (Guardant Health via AP)

A blood test for colon cancer performed well in a study, expanding options for screening

A blood test for colon cancer performed well in a study, offering a new kind of screening. The blood test looks for cancer by checking for DNA fragments shed by tumor cells and precancerous growths.

In this photo provided by University of Michigan Health-West, Dr. Lance Owens, chief medical information officer at the university, demonstrates the use of an AI tool on a smartphone in Wyoming, Mich., on Sept. 9, 2021. The software listens to a doctor-patient conversation, documents and organizes it to write a clinical note. (University of Michigan Health-West via AP)

New AI tools can record your medical appointment or draft a message from your doctor

New artificial intelligence tools are helping doctors communicate with their patients. Some tools answer messages and others take notes during exams.

FILE - Plastic bottles and other garbage are seen next to a beach at Fiumicino, Italy, near Rome, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. We breathe, eat and drink tiny particles of plastic. But are these minuscule specks in the body harmless, dangerous or somewhere in between? A small study published Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in the New England Journal of Medicine raises more questions than it answers about how these bits — microplastics and the smaller nanoplastics — might affect the heart. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Study raises questions about plastic pollution’s effect on heart health

A study raises more questions than it answers about how tiny specks of plastic might affect the heart.

FILE - TV talk show host Wendy Williams attends a ceremony honoring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, in Los Angeles. Williams has been diagnosed with a rare form of dementia called frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, according to a statement released Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, on behalf of her caretakers. It affects parts of the brain controlling behavior and language. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

Wendy Williams has frontotemporal dementia. What is FTD?

Former talk show host Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with a rare form of dementia called frontotemporal dementia, or FTD.

Jill Feldman, 54, poses for a photo at her home in Deerfield, Ill., Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. Lung cancer patient and advocate Jill Feldman takes pills at home that shrink tumors by blocking a signal that tells cancer cells to grow. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

As cancer treatment advances, patients and doctors push back against drugs’ harsh side effects

Cancer patients and doctors have ignited a movement to radically change how new cancer drugs are tested to make them more tolerable.

FILE - Activists with Black Lives Matter protest in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in the wake of a decision by federal prosecutors who declined to bring civil rights charges against New York City police Officer Daniel Pantaleo, in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner. The decision was made by Attorney General William Barr and announced one day before the five-year anniversary of his death, officials said. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

The effect of police violence on Black Americans’ health is documented in 2 new studies

Two new studies track the effect of police violence on Black Americans. One study ties police-involved deaths to sleep disturbances.

This photo provided by Sholto David shows David at his home in Pontypridd, Wales, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. David is a scientist-sleuth who detects image manipulation in published scientific papers. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced it is requesting six retractions and 31 corrections of scientific papers after he flagged problems in a recent blog post. (Sholto David via AP)

Science sleuths are using technology to find fakery and plagiarism in published research

Allegations of research fakery at a leading cancer center have turned a spotlight on scientific integrity and the amateur sleuths uncovering image manipulation in published research.

FILE - Britain's King Charles III hosts a gathering of young UK community and faith leaders to discuss the challenges their communities face, at Buckingham Palace, in London, Dec. 13, 2023. King Charles III has arrived at a private London hospital to undergo a “corrective procedure” for an enlarged prostate, Buckingham Place said Friday Jan. 26, 2024. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP, File)

What are the symptoms of an enlarged prostate and how is it treated?

King Charles III is in a hospital to undergo a procedure for an enlarged prostate — an extremely common condition among older men.

FILE - A pedestrian wears a heavy coat against the cold in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022. January can be the worst month for respiratory illnesses and vaccination rates are low. When relatives, friends and co-workers are coming down with coughs, nasal congestion, fatigue and fever, keeping viruses at bay means thorough hand-washing, good ventilation and wearing a mask in crowded areas. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

How to stay healthy during cold, flu and COVID-19 season

Getting through winter healthy means trying to protect yourself from respiratory viruses. January can be the worst month for these illnesses and vaccination rates are low.

FILE - A hospital exam room is seen in Alabama on Thursday, July 30, 2015. A large Swedish study, published Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in JAMA Psychiatry, has uncovered a paradox about people diagnosed with an excessive fear of serious illness: They tend to die earlier than people who aren’t hypervigilant about health concerns. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

In hypochondria paradox, Swedish study finds a higher death rate in those who fear serious illness

A Swedish study has uncovered a paradox about people diagnosed with an excessive fear of serious illness: They tend to die earlier than people who aren’t hypervigilant about health concerns.

FILE - A radiologist uses a magnifying glass to check mammograms for breast cancer in Los Angeles, May 6, 2010. Annual mammograms are now recommended indefinitely for breast cancer survivors in many countries including the United States. Now a large British study finds that less frequent screening is just as good. The findings were being discussed Friday, Dec. 8, 2023 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Breast cancer survivors may not need so many mammograms after surgery, UK study suggests

A large British study finds that less frequent screening is just as good as annual mammograms for certain breast cancer survivors.

This March 1988 microscope photo provided by the National Cancer Institute shows human cells with acute myelocytic leukemia. Advances in childhood cancer are a success story in modern medicine. But in the past decade, those strides have stalled for Black and Hispanic youth, opening a gap in death rates, according to a new report published Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. (National Cancer Institute via AP)

Progress in childhood cancer has stalled for Blacks and Hispanics, report says

A new report says progress against childhood cancers has stalled in recent years for Black and Hispanic youth.

Peer support worker Jesse Johnson of the Family Resource Center looks to her client Tyler Baker as they talk in the driveway of Baker's home in Findlay, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Peer support services for people in recovery are a major component of Hancock County's strategy for addressing the opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

As billions roll in to fight the US opioid epidemic, one county shows how recovery can work

Legal settlements could provide local and state governments $50 billion to fight the deadly U.S. opioid overdose crisis. What could that look like?

Carole Stovall, a participant in the Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial, poses for a portrait in her office in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. “We all need a mammogram anyway, so why not do it with a study that allows the scientists to understand more and move closer to finding better treatments and ways of maybe even preventing it?” Stovall says. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Breast cancer is deadlier for Black women. A study of mammograms could help close the gap

A clinical trial is recruiting thousands of volunteers to try to figure out if 3D mammograms are better than standard 2D imaging for catching advanced cancers.

FILE- This image from police body camera video provided by Roth and Roth LLP, shows a Rochester police officer as he puts a hood over the head of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y., March 23, 2020. Prude died after police held him down until he stopped breathing after encountering him running naked through the snowy streets of Rochester, NY. On Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, a leading doctors group has formally withdrawn its approval of a 2009 paper on “excited delirium,” a document that critics say has been used to justify excessive force by police. (Rochester Police via Roth and Roth LLP via AP, File)

A doctors group calls its ‘excited delirium’ paper outdated and withdraws its approval

A leading doctors group is formally withdrawing approval of a 2009 paper on “excited delirium.” Critics say the document has been used to justify excessive force by police.

FILE - Carolina Panthers offensive guard Greg Van Roten slides while trying to tackle Atlanta Falcons cornerback Ricardo Allen after an interception during an NFL football game Sept. 16, 2018, in Atlanta. When Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury just a few plays into his first season with the New York Jets, it reignited calls from NFL players to have all the stadiums in which they play use natural grass fields for their safety. In major college football, the players don’t have a union behind them to voice concerns. (AP Photo/Jeff Haynes, File)

What does the science say about the grass vs. turf debate in sports?

There’s a longstanding question in sports that scientists have tried to answer: Which playing surface is safer for athletes: natural grass or artificial turf?

FILE - In this photo made with a long exposure, a man is silhouetted against lights reflected in the waters off Cape Neddick in Maine on Dec. 11, 2017. A study published Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in the journal Nature Medicine has found that the psychedelic drug MDMA, combined with talk therapy, can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Psychedelic drug MDMA eases PTSD symptoms in a study that paves the way for possible US approval

A study has found that the psychedelic drug MDMA, combined with talk therapy, can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

A man holds an iPhone next to an Amazon Echo, center, and a Google Home, right, in New York on June 14, 2018. A study published Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in JAMA Network Open, says Alexa, Siri and other voice assistants could do a better job giving instructions on CPR to help bystanders respond in emergencies. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Need to know about lifesaving CPR? A new study says it’s probably wise not to ask Alexa or Siri

A new study says Alexa, Siri and other voice assistants could do a better job giving instructions on CPR to help bystanders respond in emergencies.

Surgeons perform a bilateral mastectomy on a transgender patient at a hospital in Boston on Friday, July 15, 2016. The number of gender-affirming surgeries in the U.S. nearly tripled from 2016 to 2019 before declining slightly in 2020 when about 12,800 procedures were done, according to a study published Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in JAMA Network Open. (Christine Hochkeppel/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP)

Gender-affirming surgeries in the US nearly tripled before pandemic dip, study finds

A new study finds the number of gender-affirming surgeries in the United States nearly tripled from 2016 to 2019.

A sign announcing a face mask requirement is displayed at a hospital in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. COVID-19 hospital admissions are inching upward in the United States since early July 2023. It's a small-scale echo of the three previous summers. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

COVID-19 hospitalizations in the US are on the rise again, but not like before

COVID-19 hospital admissions are inching upward in the United States since early July. It’s a small-scale echo of the three previous summers.

FILE - This illustration provided by AstraZeneca depicts packaging for their medication Beyfortus. On Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, a panel of outside advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that babies get the drug to protect them against a respiratory virus that sends tens of thousands of American children to the hospital each year. (AstraZeneca via AP, File)

Babies should get recently approved drug for RSV, CDC says

U.S. health officials are recommending that babies get a recently approved drug to protect them against a respiratory virus.

FILE - This electron microscope image provided by the National Institutes of Health shows human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) virions, colorized blue, and anti-RSV F protein/gold antibodies, colorized yellow, shedding from the surface of human lung cells. Americans 60 and older can get a new RSV vaccine but should discuss it with their doctor first, U.S. health officials recommended Thursday, June 29, 2023. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH via AP, File)

Older Americans can get RSV vaccine this fall after consulting their doctor, CDC says

Americans 60 and older can get a new RSV vaccine but should discuss it with their doctor first. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that those eligible for the newly approved vaccines should talk with their doctor to see if it is right for them.

This microscope photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a Fusarium sp. fungal organism in 1972. The U.S. CDC says the death toll has risen to six in an outbreak of fungal meningitis tied to surgical procedures in a city along the U.S.-Mexico border, and they have not been able to reach everyone who may be at risk of infection. Labs have detected fungal signals consistent with Fusarium solani species complex from the cerebrospinal fluid of patients receiving follow-up care in Mexico or the United States. (Dr. Lucille K. Georg/CDC via AP)

6 dead in a meningitis outbreak tied to Mexico clinics as officials struggle to reach more patients

U.S. health officials say the death toll from an outbreak of fungal meningitis tied to surgical procedures in a city along the U.S.-Mexico border has risen to six.

Registered nurse Erika Obrietan administers the third dose of an experimental breast cancer vaccine to patient Kathleen Jade at University of Washington Medical Center - Montlake, Tuesday, May 30, 2023, in Seattle. Jade, 50, learned she had breast cancer in late February. She's getting the vaccine to see if it will shrink her tumor before surgery. “Even if that chance is a little bit, I felt like it’s worth it," said Jade, who is also getting standard treatment. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

The next big advance in cancer treatment could be a vaccine

The next big advance in cancer treatment could be a vaccine that can shrink tumors and stop cancer from coming back.

FILE - A nurse holds tabs of buprenorphine, a drug which controls heroin and opioid cravings, as he prepares to administer the drug in Greenfield, Mass, on July 23, 2018. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, finds only 1 in 4 residential treatment centers for teens offers a gold standard medicine for opioid addiction. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

Few rehab centers for addicted teens offer recommended medicine, US study finds

A new study finds only 1 in 4 residential treatment centers for U.S. teens offers a recommended treatment medicine for opioid addiction.

FILE - Brian Hackel, right, an overdose prevention specialist, helps Steven Baez, a client suffering addiction, find a vein to inject intravenous drugs at an overdose prevention center, OnPoint NYC, in New York, Feb. 18, 2022. For the first time, the U.S. government will pay for a large study measuring whether overdoses can be prevented by safe injection sites, places where people can use heroin and other narcotics and be revived if they take too much. The grant is expected to provide more than $5 million over four years to New York University and Brown University to study overdose prevention centers in New York City and Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

US backs study of safe injection sites, overdose prevention

The U.S. government will pay for a large study measuring whether safe injection sites can make a dent in the nation’s overdose epidemic.

In a photo provided by the University of Vermont Health Network, licensed nursing assistant Jordan Bushy, right, and a student nurse care for newborns at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital in Burlington, Vt., Friday, April 28, 2023. Research led by Dr. Leslie Young of the children’s hospital has found that babies born to opioid users had shorter hospital stays and needed less medication when their care emphasized parent involvement, skin-to-skin contact and a quiet environment. (Ryan Mercer/University of Vermont Health Network via AP)

Quiet and parents’ touch help opioid users’ newborns: study

New research shows that babies born to opioid users have shorter hospital stays when care includes more parent involvement and a quieter environment.

This December 1993 microscope photo provided by the National Cancer Institute shows a typical neuroblastoma with rosette formation. In a study published Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in the New England Journal of Medicine, a novel treatment, CAR-T cell therapy, using supercharged immune cells, appears to work against tumors in children with the rare kind of cancer. (Dr. Maria Tsokos/National Cancer Institute via AP)

Novel treatment shows promise against rare cancer in kids

A novel treatment using supercharged immune cells appears to work against tumors in children with a rare kind of cancer.

FILE - In this image from video, Dr. Bill Smock, a Louisville physician in forensic medicine, testifies in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, charged in the 2020 death of George Floyd, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday, April 8, 2021. Smock testified that he believes excited delirium is real. But he said Floyd met none of the 10 criteria developed by the American College of Emergency Physicians. In a statement posted on the National Association of Medical Examiners’ site on March 23, 2023, the leading group of medical experts says the term “excited delirium”should not be listed as a cause of death. Critics have said the term has been used to justify excessive force by police. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

Medical examiners group steps away from ‘excited delirium’

A leading group of medical experts says the term “excited delirium” should not be listed as a cause of death.