For a city known to give up early, Los Angeles was out last night for Sunday’s Oscars. Men in tuxedos jetted across the Sunset Strip, valet stands were packed, and after-parties abounded throughout the city. And this year was one of our own: Popsugar hosted an awards season after-party in collaboration with Affinity Nightlife at Skybar in West Hollywood on March 15th.

The event took place in the rooftop bar of the Mondrian Hotel and was a raucous start to the annual series of awards ceremonies, which, of course, ended with the Oscars. Notable attendees included Love Story actor Noah Fearnley, PS Fit favorite Tanner Courtad, Love Island alums Andreina Santos and Jeremiah Brown, and Chloe Veitch from Too Hot to Handle and The Circle.

Stars stopped by the Popsugar lounge to answer questions about hidden talents and the Oscar-worthy aspects of their everyday lives. For the latter, Santos shouted out her “booty workout” alongside a stunned Brown. Meanwhile, Fearnley, who most recently portrayed Calvin Klein model Michael Bergin alongside Sarah Pidgeon’s Carolyn Bessette, revealed that he could see himself being a personal chef (unless, of course, he was a model-turned-actor playing a model). Once these celebs were done in the hot seat, they picked up VIP gift bags full of goodies from Popsugar-favorite brands like NYX Cosmetics, Solawave, M&Ms, The Lip Bar, RTIC, Good Dye Young, Kosas, Uni, Eos, Sacheu and more.

Back at the party, guests danced and enjoyed Popsugar Spritzes poolside while Golden Reserve Caviar servers made their way through the crowd, equipped with blinis and bottles of crème fraîche in a holster. If you’re out late on a school night, a little caviar – coupled with celebrity sightings – won’t hurt.

Check out photos from the Popsugars Awards Season After Party.

Kelsey Garcia (she/her) is the Lifestyle Director at PS, where she oversees balance and health & fitness coverage. Kelsey is passionate about travel, wellness trends, and evolving parenting styles. Before joining the PS team as an editorial assistant in 2015, she completed an internship at Elle and Harper’s Bazaar, among others.

The assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in late 2024 sparked a flood of public outrage against the health insurance industry. And since then, Americans’ anger has snowballed into deep distrust of companies.

Much of the current dissatisfaction stems from growing economic concerns: more and more people cannot afford the rising costs of insurance premiums and medical bills.

Consumers are directing their ire at giants like UnitedHealth Group, which owns UnitedHealthcare and a host of related companies, including Optum Rx, the large pharmacy benefit manager, and extensive networks of doctors. CVS Health, which owns major insurer Aetna, a drugstore chain and CVS Caremark; and Cigna, which operates Express Scripts and is a major insurer, have also drawn criticism.

“There is a huge backlash against corporate medicine right now,” said Jeff Goldsmith, a health care industry analyst. Not only did the public’s antipathy persist, he added, “If anything, it has expanded.”

Luigi Mangione, the defendant accused of killing Mr. Thompson. had no direct relationship with UnitedHealthcare, according to authorities and the company. But insurers’ practices were at the heart of the complaints in Mr. Mangione’s writings, which resonated as a flashpoint for the public.

On Friday, Mr. Mangione admitted killing Mr. Thompson when he pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking using interstate facilities resulting in death. Both charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Federal and state lawmakers have called for the breakup of UnitedHealth Group and other large companies that now control decisions throughout the healthcare journey by insuring patients, employing their providers and dispensing their medications.

Both Republicans and Democrats have accused insurers in congressional hearings this midterm election year of the companies’ inability to rein in rising medical costs. In poll after poll and month after month, lawmakers have been reminded that Americans have cited health care costs as their top concern.

The companies tried to shift blame, countering that hospitals and pharmaceutical companies were responsible for the high prices. “The cost of health insurance is determined by the cost of health care,” Stephen J. Hemsley, the chief executive of UnitedHealth, told lawmakers in January.

But insurers and other companies were shocked by Mr. Thompson’s killing in midtown Manhattan. Companies have removed photos of executives from their websites, assigned additional security to their management teams and restricted public meetings.

But while many insurance executives were surprised by the ugliness of the discourse, others saw it as a clear message for the entire healthcare sector.

“It’s a moment of reckoning for the broader healthcare industry,” Dr. Sachin H. Jain, the managing director of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan, at the time. “We have exposed the feeling that things need to change.”

According to KFF, a nonprofit health research group, nearly 70 percent of adult insureds surveyed earlier this year described the process of getting an insurer’s approval before seeking medical care as burdensome.

Trust in insurers has declined slightly since 2024, according to a JD Power member satisfaction analysis. Only 30 percent of commercial plan participants described their insurer as a trustworthy partner for their health and well-being. Instead, people found that companies were focused on managing costs rather than helping them navigate the healthcare system.

In the immediate aftermath of Mr. Thompson’s killing, the industry, including then-UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty, vowed to do better. “We know the health care system is not working as well as it should,” he said, “and we understand people’s frustration about that.” Many companies promised to listen better to their customers and make approving a claim much less cumbersome.

Next year, the industry and UnitedHealth pledged to reduce the need for prior authorization for a medical test or treatment and speed decision-making when an insurer required authorization before treatment.

The companies say they have already eliminated millions of permit applications. UnitedHealth said it will reduce the number of treatments requiring prior authorization by 30 percent by 2026, and the company has also said it will exempt rural hospitals and pediatric patients from most authorization requirements. Optum Rx also said fewer medications needed to be reviewed.

But doctors and patients say there is little hard evidence that the companies’ actions have removed barriers to medical care. And a federal regulator recently criticized major insurers like UnitedHealthcare for denying care to people enrolled in private Medicare plans.

A KFF analysis released earlier this week provided mixed reviews: While the majority of procedural requests were approved, a large number of denials were overturned, raising concerns about the process. The report also found major differences between insurers.

“This new data confirms that the vast majority of prior permit applications are approved and responded to in less than a day, faster than federal standards,” Chris Bond, a spokesman for AHIP, an industry trade group, said in a statement. “Health plans continue to make steady progress on industry-wide efforts to standardize and simplify prior authorization and provide real-time responses to most electronic prior authorization requests in 2027.”

Under close scrutiny, UnitedHealth has sought to demonstrate its commitment to accountability. The company said it has established a board public responsibility committee and conducted numerous reviews of its operations, according to its most recent earnings release. Earlier this year, the company invited a group of reporters to its headquarters, where it gave presentations about its efforts to improve its responses to customer complaints.

Americans are also affected by new concerns about high insurance costs and rising out-of-pocket costs that are leaving many unable to pay for their care.

Many experts and insurers blame the double-digit decline in enrollment primarily on Republicans in Congress’ decision to eliminate additional subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. An estimated three million people have given up insurance coverage, and millions more are expected to do so in the coming years.

The nation’s major hospitals are already attributing the decline in coverage to a rise in unpaid medical bills and emergency room visits from the uninsured.

But even those who have insurance coverage, including employer-provided insurance, struggle to pay the cost of care. Less than half of American adults say they can consistently afford health care, according to a recent study by the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, a partnership between Gallup and West Health, a group of nonprofit organizations focused on health care costs.

There is hardly any relief in sight. Health insurance plans predict higher costs in 2027, and many people will face both higher premiums and larger deductibles. Health care costs are a top issue for voters, and insurance companies are likely to remain a political target for both Democrats and Republicans in the coming weeks.

24. According to an interview, her favorite lyrics from her Lover album are: “Ladies and gentlemen, would you please stand up? / With every guitar string scar on my hand / I accept this magnetic force of a man as my lover.”

25. Taylor is a billionaire! According to a report published by Bloomberg in October 2024, Taylor’s Eras Tour helped her reach billionaire status after over a decade of breaking records in the industry.

26. The 2019 Netflix film “Someone Great” inspired her music: “I cried when I saw the movie. For about a week, I wake up from dreams that I’m living this scenario – that this is happening to me,” she shared Elvis Duran during an interview. “I had these lyrics in my head based on the dynamics of these characters and went into the studio with them Jack Antonoff.” The studio session led to the creation of Taylor’s song “Death By a Thousand Cuts”.

27. She has a special place for her most emotional songs. From “All Too Well” to “The Archer,” the superstar reserves the fifth spot on her albums for a ballad.

28. She hides too much from cameras: In fact, she proudly supports her fiancé Travis Kelce at NFL games since 2023. “When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to let him do what he loves, we’re there for each other, there’s other people there, and we don’t care,” she told Time. “The opposite of that is that you have to go to extreme lengths to make sure no one knows you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.”

Like many of you, I spent many weeknights sitting on my couch, remote in hand, binging the latest episode of Hacks, Survivor, or Beef, while simultaneously waiting for (and talking about) the next episode of The White Lotus and Love Island. I’ve spent hours of my evenings spreading TikTok theories about fictional TV characters that don’t exist, and sent dozens of Instagram direct messages alerting various friend groups to the celebrity soft launch that’s happening. That’s partly because I’m a pop culture fan at heart.

It’s also the heartbeat of everything Popsugar stands for. For 20 years, this brand has been at the forefront of culture, helping to shape conversations about what’s new, what’s next, and what everyone will inevitably be talking about in two weeks. Our editors always have their finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist. Now let’s make it official.

Introducing Popsugar Pulse, our brand-new digital cover series highlighting the people, moments and stories that are defining culture right now, from breakout stars on the cusp of fame to long-standing icons whose grip is so strong that everyone cares about things like Formula 1 or crocheting or whether two actors looked at each other for “too long” during a press tour. Through exclusive interviews, original photography, and social-first video moments, Pulse is where the conversation starts—or at least where it’s infinitely more fun.

For our very first Popsugar Pulse cover storyWe spoke to Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright, rising stars of Amazon Prime Video’s new show Off Campus and TV’s biggest heartthrobs you haven’t met (yet). Based on the bestselling book series by Elle Kennedy, the series features hockey, love triangles and sex scenes that might make you blush. Plus, it sits somewhere on the bench between “Heated Rivalry” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” which means it’s on the precipice of something big.

In some ways, this cover series took decades to create. In the early 2000s, celebrity coverage was often based on shame, rumor, and intrusive scrutiny of people’s private lives. Popsugar was born as an antidote to that: a celebratory, safe place to love what you love and feel good about it. Invest unashamedly and unashamedly in the films, music, television shows, trends and celebrities that shape culture. Fandom has always lived here—the swooning, theorizing, yearning, always-online kind—and that continues to guide everything we do.

So make yourself comfortable, swipe along, and enjoy the feeling of being connected to the best of what’s happening in pop culture right now. The group chat is waiting.

With the remote control I stand,
Kelsey

What the Research Actually Shows

Several studies have found that long-term Metformin use is associated with lower serum B12 levels¹ ². One of the best-known analyses came from NHANES data involving people with diabetes, where Metformin users showed measurably lower average serum B12 levels compared to non-users¹. A separate placebo-controlled trial published in the BMJ found a similar pattern in patients using Metformin long-term for type 2 diabetes².

At first glance, that sounds straightforward: Metformin can lower B12.

But the full picture is more complicated.

Serum B12 is only one part of the story. Researchers also look at markers such as methylmalonic acid (MMA) and homocysteine to determine whether the body is actually experiencing functional B12 deficiency. In some Metformin users, serum B12 may appear lower while functional markers remain within normal ranges. That suggests the body may still be utilizing B12 effectively despite lower circulating levels. One experimental study even suggested Metformin may increase vitamin B12 storage inside the liver, which could partly explain why blood levels sometimes decline without obvious signs of true deficiency³.

The key takeaway is this: low serum B12 does not always equal clinically significant deficiency.

Why B12 Matters for Healthy Aging

Vitamin B12 is involved in several systems closely tied to long-term health and aging.

B12 helps support:

• Nerve function
• Red blood cell production
• Cognitive health
• Energy metabolism
• DNA synthesis
• Neurological function

When B12 levels become too low, symptoms often develop gradually. That slow progression is one reason deficiency can go unnoticed for long periods.

Common symptoms may include:

• Fatigue
• Brain fog
• Memory issues
• Mood changes
• Weakness
• Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet
• Poor concentration
• Sleep disruption

Many people assume these symptoms are simply part of getting older when B12 insufficiency may actually be contributing. Long-term deficiency can become more serious when neurological symptoms develop. In some cases, nerve-related complications may become difficult to fully reverse if low B12 levels persist for too long.

Why Metformin Can Affect B12 Absorption

Researchers believe Metformin interferes with calcium-dependent absorption of B12 in the small intestine². At the same time, B12 absorption naturally becomes less efficient with age. The body gradually produces less protein required to absorb B12 properly from food and supplements.

That creates a situation where several factors may overlap:

• Age-related absorption decline
• Long-term Metformin use
• Dietary limitations
• Digestive health issues
• Reduced stomach acid production

For some people, the combination may eventually lead to functional B12 deficiency if not monitored appropriately.

Why Injections Often Make Sense

Oral B12 supplements work well for many people. However, injectable B12 is often considered more reliable for individuals dealing with absorption issues. That is especially relevant for long-term Metformin users. B12 injections bypass the digestive tract entirely and deliver the nutrient directly into circulation. Because of that, the bioavailability is significantly higher than most oral supplements.

The injections are typically administered subcutaneously into fatty tissue using a small insulin-style needle. Common injection sites include:

• Abdomen
• Back of the arm
• Flank area

Most people describe the injections as quick and relatively easy to tolerate.

B12 Deficiency Is Common Beyond Metformin Users

Metformin is not the only reason people become low in B12.

Risk factors for deficiency may include:

• Aging
• Vegetarian or vegan diets
• Crohn’s disease
• Celiac disease
• Pernicious anemia
• Gastric bypass surgery
• Digestive disorders
• Menopause and andropause-related digestive changes

Because B12 is found primarily in animal products, dietary intake can also become an issue for some individuals.

The Difference Between OTC Supplements and Prescription Injections

Not all B12 products are the same. Many over-the-counter supplements use cyanocobalamin, which is a synthetic form the body must convert before it becomes biologically active. Prescription injections more commonly use bioactive forms such as methylcobalamin or hydroxocobalamin. These forms are generally considered more directly usable by the body.

That’s one reason many long-term Metformin users buy B12 injections through medically supervised platforms like AgelessRx, where dosing, sourcing, and follow-up monitoring are built into the process instead of being left to guesswork.

Final Thoughts

The connection between Metformin and B12 deficiency is real, but it is more nuanced than many people realize.

Metformin may lower serum B12 levels in some patients, but that does not always translate into meaningful cellular deficiency. The only way to know what is actually happening is through proper monitoring and interpretation of functional markers.

For people using Metformin long term, especially as part of a healthy aging strategy, paying attention to B12 status simply makes sense.

If functional B12 levels are low, injections may provide one of the more effective ways to restore and maintain healthy levels over time.

The important point is not to panic about Metformin. It is to use it intelligently while monitoring the systems it may affect.

1- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22179958/

2- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20488910/

3- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23402786/

Imagine this scenario: During a routine visit, your doctor runs a new genetic test that shows you are at a tremendously increased risk of a future heart attack. You’re in shape; You feel good. But prediction is in your DNA.

The next day, you tell your employer that your doctor wants you to make some adjustments—switch to a less physically demanding job, or perhaps lower your stress levels to save your life. Can your boss legally deny you these accommodations? According to current law, yes.

That’s because federal regulations protecting employment and insurance discrimination based on genetics were not written with this technology in mind. While the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) protects employees from being fired because of their genetic test results and the Americans With Disabilities Act protects people with active disabilities, neither law compels an employer to make accommodations to reduce an individual’s future health risk.

This could become a problem as a new type of personalized medicine called polygenic risk scoring becomes increasingly popular. The technology uses DNA to estimate a person’s likelihood of developing a particular disease. Legal and health researchers fear that our legal framework is falling behind as genomic tools advance rapidly – which in some cases could lead to the outright dismissal of those who use genetic testing.

“These polygenic risk assessments are going to become an increasingly important part of your life,” said I. Glenn Cohen, a professor at Harvard Law School who specializes in the intersection of bioethics and law and co-authored a report on the topic. “For me it is a great opportunity to reopen questions about the rules – questions that are rightly difficult from a political perspective.”

To understand the legal delay, it is helpful to first consider how the science of risk prediction has evolved. When many people think of genetic testing, they imagine monogenic tests that look for specific gene mutations that cause certain diseases, such as Huntington’s disease or cystic fibrosis. However, polygenic risk scores look for a range of variants throughout a person’s genome and combine the information into a cumulative estimate of their risk of developing a disease such as diabetes or cancer. If a monogenic test is like finding a cut wire that cuts off the sound of a speaker, a polygenic risk score is like a soundboard with dozens of switches that can combine to produce a dangerous frequency.

When GINA, the main law preventing genetic discrimination, took effect nearly two decades ago, companies were barely able to map individual genomes at an affordable price. GINA was written for the cut wire, not the soundboard.

Sam Trejo, a quantitative sociologist at Princeton University who studies polygenic risk scores, warned that GINA is “definitely not enough” to protect people from the situations they may face in the coming decades. “We need more robust protections there – we treat DNA like some kind of protected class,” he said.

Even among medical experts, there are still many unknowns when assessing polygenic risk. For example, a high risk score for heart disease does not mean a clear structural defect is identified, but rather a complex mix of genetic influences that could affect your taste buds and cravings, your propensity for exercise, or even a personality trait that attracted you to a job with high levels of stress, Dr. Trejo. Since the algorithms behind the ratings only draw correlations, the causes and effects of a rating remain unclear.

If the medical field doesn’t fully understand how to interpret polygenic scores, it makes sense that the workplace doesn’t either. Still, doctors agree that lifestyle changes can help balance certain genetic predispositions — which is why they might encourage patients with certain polygeny scores to minimize their risks in the workplace.

This is where the legal concerns lie. Researchers from Harvard Law School and Yale Law School who recently examined the regulatory gap uncovered an important gap in workplace accommodations. For example, a construction company cannot fire a healthy worker because of a polygenic test result for fear of future health care costs; However, the company may refuse the employee’s request for less strenuous work. That’s because GINA does not require employers to provide accommodations, and while the ADA does, that law does not consider genetics alone to be a disability subject to these rules.

In a recent case, Darby v. Childvine Inc., a plaintiff with a BRCA1 mutation linked to breast cancer was fired after she requested an exemption for a double mastectomy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that “a genetic mutation that merely predisposes a person to other diseases, such as cancer, does not itself constitute a disability under the ADA.”

There is also a legal dead zone for employees who experience mild symptoms of illness, as GINA only protects those for whom the illness has not yet manifested itself, while the ADA requires accommodations only for those whose disabilities interfere with major life activities. So if supervisors at a chemical plant knew of a healthy worker with a high polygenic risk score for a rare lung disease, the employee could be fired immediately if he developed mild shortness of breath, the scientists said. GINA protections could disappear while standard ADA protections would not yet apply, leaving the employee to rely on difficult-to-prove legal exceptions to save the job.

In addition to workplace rules, GINA also prohibits health insurers from adjusting premiums or denying coverage based on genetic information. However, the law does not cover life, disability or long-term care insurance, which is why many people with genetic variants that are associated with a high risk of dementia are unable to obtain long-term care insurance.

Polygenic risk scores are still far from their full potential. The results do not provide medical certainty; They simply estimate a person’s risk of developing a particular condition relative to the population used to train the algorithm. Because they rely on the relatively small effects of many genetic variants, tests for some diseases require data from many more people to reduce statistical noise and improve their accuracy. Currently, some results may be misleading, particularly for people of non-European descent, who are underrepresented in many models.

Still, the test is growing in popularity: The direct-to-consumer market has grown, and at least one company has applied to the Food and Drug Administration for approval of its test to measure inherited genetic risk of coronary heart disease. Population geneticists and some doctors are advocating for wider use in clinics, saying the strongest algorithms could influence important decisions in patient care, such as when to start prescribing statins.

Some also say polygenic risk scores could be incorporated into so-called composite scores, integrating genetic data with other traditional measures such as diet, smoking status and body mass index, to increase their accuracy. But here too, legal scholars see an ambiguity, as factors such as age and gender are explicitly excluded in the GINA. Does GINA still apply if genetic data only makes up part of your score?

“I don’t want to give anyone the idea that this is a strong reason not to do it,” Cohen said. “My message is really to lawmakers: If you believe that these polygenic risk levels are good for public health, maybe you can close these gaps.”

Stocks and oil prices rose slightly on Friday, with little sign of concrete progress in talks on a peace deal between the United States and Iran.

Pakistan and Qatar have sent envoys to Iran, officials and diplomats said on Friday, as mediators stepped up efforts to prevent the collapse of a month-long ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.

Nearly three months after fighting began, disagreements continue over the fate of Iran’s uranium supplies and reports that Iran and Oman may impose transit fees on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration has warned against charging ships to transit through the strait, a key shipping route for oil and gas.

Under a fragile ceasefire, negotiations on the points of a lasting peace agreement appear to be far from complete.

Are Robert Pattinson and Suki Waterhouse married? Why his comments are causing a stir

The beginning of a new decade is dawning Robert Pattinson.

The Twilight alum turned 40 on May 13th. While fans have to wait and see what this milestone year will bring, you better hold on tight, spider monkey. Because if his 40s are anything like his 30s, Pattinson will be diving into a slew of new roles.

In recent years, the actor has appeared in several films, including The Drama, Die My Love, Mickey 17 and The Batman. And while he already has a few projects on the horizon – “The Odyssey” and “Dune: Part Three” are both set to hit theaters this year – he’ll always be grateful for how the “Twilight” films launched his career.

“The first movie was great,” Pattinson recalled to E! Back in 2018. “It was really, really fun. It was a huge turning point in my life. I had a completely different life after that. I still wasn’t entirely sure if I was going to be an actor until after this movie, so I’ll always appreciate it.”