Disease

Coverage of infectious and chronic diseases — their causes, mechanisms, epidemiology, prevention strategies, and the latest science on how the body fights back.

As part of the "natural is better" movement, many Americans -- particularly those who live in the city and know absolutely nothing about agriculture -- have decided that playing farmer is a fun pastime. It certainly can be a fun hobby...
A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 99% of donated brains from people who played in the NFL showed signs of
Does your blood type, specifically your Rh factor, matter in your daily life? Not in the slightest. But when pregnant, your Rh status can matter, especially if it's negative.
The causes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and Parkinson's disease are not known.
Popular medical diagnoses seem to go in cycles — at some point, lots of people will say they have gluten intolerance or chronic Lyme disease — but these seem to have more to do with newspaper headlines than they do with any real medical condition.
Unfortunately, often news headlines and science just don't track.
Men considering vasectomy for a permanent form of birth control may be leery of the procedure because of fears that it might increase the risk of prostate cancer.
Genetics plays a role in almost any conceivable characteristic, not just the obvious ones like eye color and height. Indeed, genetics plays a role in susceptibility to infectious disease, mental illness, and even personality traits.
The bad news is that millions of people in the world (roughly 78 million) have gonorrhea - the sexually-transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium Neiserria gonorrheae.
It's hard to admit that mom's nagging was correct more often than not. When she warned us that going outside in the cold would make us sick, she wasn't just being an overprotective helicopter parent. She was actually right.