Disease and Illnesses

The trepanated skull of a Neolithic woman. The fact that the hole is rounded off by ingrowth of new bone suggests that the patient survived the operation.

No, Getting a Hole Drilled in Your Head Was Never a Migraine Cure

The ancient and controversial procedure was used for a slew of reasons, but to 'let the headache out' was not one of them

"The Night," Michele di Rodolfo del Ghirlandaio, oil on panel, Galleria Colonna, Rome, Italy

Earliest Images of Breast Cancer Found in Renaissance Paintings

The signs of illness in the paintings illustrate that breast cancer is not just a modern malady

Set to land in mid 2018, the new mosquito emoji will give people a new way to talk about the dangerous insects.

Will a New Mosquito Emoji Create Some Buzz About Insect-borne Diseases?

Available in mid-2018, the emoji could provide a new means for communicating the science and health implications of mosquitoes

Coal miners walk through a tunnel at the Consol Energy Bailey Mine in Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania in 2013.

Why Black Lung Disease Is Deadlier Than Ever Before

As President Trump prepares to send miners back to work, a near-obsolete illness is once again ravaging coal country

Genetic testing is opening up new ethical questions for parents.

Now You Can Genetically Test Your Child For Disease Risks. Should You?

Genomics is cheaper and more available then ever, but its usefulness for parents has yet to be proven

Healthcare providers leave a village after completion of a culling operation in response to a bird flu outbreak in Budgebudge, West Bengal, India.

The Pandemic Everyone Fears Is Flu In the Wrong Place At the Wrong Time

Governments should constantly be preparing for outbreaks, instead of just hastily responding to threats as they arise

Dr. Kevin Olival and the USAID PREDICT wildlife team surveying areas for bat trapping at the entrance to a cave in Thailand.

Can Virus Hunters Stop the Next Pandemic Before It Happens?

A global project is looking to animals to map the world's disease hotspots. Are they going about it the right way?

Simply Exhaling May Spread Flu

A new study suggests the virus is found in tiny airborne particles that can be released while breathing

Rare Footage of FDR Walking With Leg Braces

FDR contracted polio at the age of 39, which left his legs partially paralyzed. Fearing this would impact his bid for presidency, he came to an agreement

Approximately 80 percent of all pharmaceuticals used by Americans are produced overseas.

A Saline Shortage This Flu Season Exposes a Flaw in Our Medical Supply Chain

Most IV saline bags used in U.S. hospitals are made in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria has shown how troubling it can be to rely on one producer

Why Holding in a Sneeze Can Be Dangerous

A 34-year-old man squeezed while holding nose closed, leading to a tear in his throat and a stay in the hospital

An etching of carts laden with corpses in the Piazza San Babila, Milan during the plague of 1630.

How Proteins Helped Scientists Read Between the Lines of a 1630 Plague Death Registry

New tech reveals bacterial contamination, what scribes were eating and how many rats were around

Can All Living Things Exhibit Albinism?

You asked, we answered

When a Medical “Cure” Makes Things Much, Much Worse

In 1960s Japan, a bizarre outbreak of hairy green tongues failed to set off alarms around the world

The newly lifted funding ban allows for more research of viruses like influenza, SARS, and MERS. But critics worry it's a risky step.

NIH Lifts Ban on Funding High-Risk Virus Research

Manipulating viruses could help prepare the U.S. for future pandemics, but it could also risk starting the next outbreak

Thomas Cole's The Course of Empire: Desolation, 1836

How Climate Change and Plague Helped Bring Down the Roman Empire

We can learn crucial lessons by examining the natural forces that shaped Rome's rise and fall

Two nurses observe a young child suspected to have bird flu at an observation room in the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

Where Would Pandemic Flu Wreak the Most Havoc?

A virulent flu strain would overwhelm developing countries where health care systems are already floundering

An illustration of Washington's imagined deathbed scene, painted about 50 years after his death.

George Washington’s Hard Death Shows the Limits of Medicine in His Time

He’s one of the United States’s most revered figures, but his last hours were plagued by excruciating illness

Stanford radiologist Matthew Lungren, left, meets with graduate students Jeremy Irvin and Pranav Rajpurkar to discuss the results of detections made by the algorithm.

Can an Algorithm Diagnose Pneumonia?

Stanford researchers claim they can detect the lung infection more accurately than an experienced radiologist. Some radiologists aren't so sure.

Female match workers in the 1870s.

Friction Matches Were a Boon to Those Lighting Fires–Not So Much to Matchmakers

Those who worked in match factories were exposed to white phosphorus, which caused a debilitating and potentially deadly condition

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