Disease

Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, the real Baron Münchhausen, was a retired German officer who fought with a Russian regiment in two campaigns against the Ottoman Empire.

The 18th-Century Baron Who Lent His Name to Munchausen Syndrome

The medical condition is named after a fictional storyteller who in turn was based on a real-life German nobleman known for telling tall tales

The measles virus as seen through a transmission microscope. Rising numbers of measles cases in the U.S. threaten its eliminated status, according to a new CDC report.

U.S. Measles Cases Are Rising in 2024, CDC Warns

Health officials urge vaccination against the highly contagious virus, which has caused 121 infections in the country this year

A person has tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu just days after livestock across four states were reported to be infected.

First Human Case of Bird Flu in Texas Confirmed, Following Infections in Cattle—Here's What to Know

This marks only the second time in U.S. history that a human has contracted the H5N1 strain of avian influenza

Oral health problems can signify other problems throughout the body.

Why Isn't Dental Health Considered Primary Medical Care?

Ailments of the mouth can put the body at risk for a slew of other ills, yet dentistry is often siloed

Princess Diana opened the first dedicated ward for patients with AIDS and HIV-related diseases at London's Middlesex Hospital in 1987.

Who Will Design London's First Permanent HIV/AIDS Memorial?

Five artists have been shortlisted for the project, which will be located near the site of the U.K.'s first dedicated AIDS ward

Paul Alexander died on March 11 at age 78.

Texas Man Who Lived 70 Years in an Iron Lung Dies at 78: 'I Never Gave Up'

Paralyzed by polio in 1952, Paul Alexander led a full life despite being confined to a large steel ventilator

Hand washing is one of the simplest ways to prevent disease transmission.

The Dirty Secret About How Our Hands Spread Disease

The human hand is an incredible tool—and a deadly threat

Gene editing has produced a healthy "founder population" of pigs that are immune to a deadly virus called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, according to a new study.

Gene-Edited Pork Could Be Coming Soon to Your Dinner Plate

Scientists are using CRISPR technology to make pigs immune to a deadly virus—and they're hoping for FDA approval by early next year

The 23 pairs of human chromosomes. People who inherit two tall X chromosomes (bottom right) are much more susceptible to autoimmune diseases than people with one X and one short Y chromosome.

Why Do Women Get More Autoimmune Diseases? Study of Mice Hints at Answers

Four in five people with an autoimmune disease are women. New research points to an RNA molecule involved in silencing one of their X chromosomes as a potential culprit

Greenhouse gas emissions that result from burning fossil fuels drive climate change.

Six Big Ways Climate Change Could Impact the United States by 2100

Climate change is expected to affect all parts of the country in the coming decades, threatening everything from our food supply to our coastlines

A Parkinson’s patient in Nice, France, is prepped for a surgery to implant electrodes into the brain. The technique, called deep brain stimulation, is being used experimentally or in small studies to treat addiction.

Can a Brain Implant Treat Addiction?

Some experts tout deep brain stimulation as a lifeline for people struggling with opioid use. Others question the hype

A 2,000-year-old human skeleton found at the Jabuticabeira II burial site in Brazil.

DNA From 2,000-Year-Old Skeletons Hints at the Origins of Syphilis

In contrast to a common theory, new findings suggest Columbus-led expeditions may not have transported syphilis to Europe from the Americas, though they cannot disprove the claim with certainty

Genes that significantly increase risk of developing multiple sclerosis were introduced to northwestern Europe by herders who migrated from the east around 5,000 years ago.

Ancient DNA From Eurasian Herders Sheds Light on the Origins of Multiple Sclerosis

Genetic variants linked to the risk of MS were brought to Europe during a migration around 5,000 years ago, a new study finds—and they might have helped herders survive

A Tuskegee study subject gets his blood drawn in the mid-20th century.

What Newly Digitized Records Reveal About the Tuskegee Syphilis Study

The archival trove chronicles the extreme measures administrators took to ensure Black sharecroppers did not receive treatment for the venereal disease

An illustration of life in medieval Cambridge

'Bone Biographies' Reconstruct Lives of Medieval Cambridge Commoners

Researchers have used skeletal remains to compile information about the lives of ordinary residents of the city

A mule deer carcass in Yellowstone National Park tested positive for the fatal neurological illness known as chronic wasting disease.

'Zombie Deer Disease' Documented in Yellowstone for the First Time

The neurological condition, called chronic wasting disease, has a 100 percent fatality rate in the deer, moose and elk it infects

Researchers at the Ohio State University collected 9,287 Asian longhorned ticks in just 90 minutes using lint rollers.

An Invasive Tick That Can Clone Itself Is Spreading Across the U.S., Threatening Livestock

Researchers documented three cows in Ohio killed by Asian longhorned ticks, which can lay up to 2,000 eggs without needing to mate

Neurergus kaiseri, also called Luristan newt, is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. 

Amphibians Are in Decline Across the Globe

About 41 percent of all species across the planet meet IUCN criteria for classification as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable

Many organizations classify hypertension as a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher, though some say 130/80 mmHg.

High Blood Pressure Is a 'Silent Killer' That Affects One in Three People, WHO Says

But nearly half of those living with the condition don't know they have it, according to the organization's first report on hypertension

Two types of white blood cells, a neutrophil (top) and a lymphocyte (bottom), in human blood.

Human Cells Display a Mathematical Pattern That Repeats in Nature and Language

New research suggests adult humans have between 28 trillion and 36 trillion cells, which follow a commonly seen distribution of size and mass

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