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After many years in hospital beds and on operating tables, Dede Koswara recently lost his battle with the rare "tree man illness," a bizarre skin disorder. Though they are rare, Koswara's case -- and other strange maladies we've taken a look at -- seem more common in Indonesia than in other parts of the world. Why is that?

A hunchbacked german shepherd and a third-grade girl with Marfan syndrome both recently made headlines --proof that when it comes to the spine, genetic abnormalities don't play favorites.

The rise of medical marijuana has kicked off a host of medical claims. A recurring one from some ex-NFL players is that pot greatly helps manage pain, and that it can be an effective substitute for opioid narcotics while helping guard against possible addiction. But while there may be benefits, these claims aren't medically proven, as a range of results from different studies show.

The first Friday in February is national "wear red" day, a time when the American Heart Association asks that, in an effort to increase awareness around women's heart health issues, everyone wear something red.

A case of Zika infection by transfusion has been reported by Brazillian health officials. This shouldn't be terribly surprising, since if it can be transmitted by mosquitos, a pint of infected blood seems like a sure bet. Although this may be obvious, it raises a range of questions that are less so -- but important.

A recent study reveals that mitochondria, which have recently gained recognition for their essential role in longevity and health, are essential for cell aging and this is the first research to conclusively prove it.

Considering hair plugs? Craving a convertible? According to the research from a real estate website, where a middle-aged man lives could play a huge role in how he specifically perceives, adopts and manages a midlife crisis.

Once again, researchers have taken on that perennial question: What's better for weight loss, low fat or low carb? But this time, they've added walnuts to the mix. This isn't a nutty idea, since these nuts are rich in unsaturated fats and calories.

Researchers say that the U.S. cities whose teams play in the Super Bowl see a spike in flu cases, as well as an 18-percent increase in flu deaths among those 65 and over. The reason? These locations are always where game interest is highest, leading to a higher percentage of parties thrown, which ups the odds of germs being spread in close quarters.

A company in India began working on a vaccine for a disease that hasn't been in India for decades 9 months before it exploded in South America? It's okay to be skeptical.

The mosquitoes causing all the headaches these days are not key pollinators, or any sort of indicator species. They are simply pests, and 3,400 other mosquito species could fill the ecological gap just fine. It's time for vector-borne disease factories to go.

A new law that e-cigarette trade groups and public health experts uniformly support -- making sure nicotine liquid can't easily be ingested by kids -- was signed ad made official by President Obama.

Ketamine, a dangerous 1960s hallucinogenic, may have new life for treating major depression.

The next time you make your way to a chain restaurant for a quick fix, don't utter the words "fast food." The phrase is dying. Enter "fast casual" and "fast crafted." The food itself isn't going anywhere, but re-branding it is now necessary since it's become so unpopular. Here are some other foolishly-named products down through the years.

Would taxes on less-nutritious foods lead to better health? Or better purchasing patterns? In a recent study of food taxes vs. food subsidies, researchers found little to support that notion as both affect food shopping decision making.

If you think you've heard it all when it comes to food, think again. Recently, 36 restaurants in Xinhua, China were accused of cooking up their cuisine with poppy capsules, among other illegal substances, in an effort to make dishes more addictive, increase sales and entice customers to come back for more.

While the Zika virus from Central America is captivating the U.S. and many audiences around the world, another disease is creeping behind the curtains and across our southern border: Chagas disease. An average human case is transmitted by an infected "kissing bug," but the smootch it delivers is rather nasty.

The CDC has issued a new, unnecessary warning to women of childbearing age. Essentially, it tells them that if they're not using birth control, do not drink. At all. Not only does this seem unduly alarmist and hyper-precautionary, but it's also not firmly rooted in sound science.

The ABC News affiliate in Denver and The New American talked to Dr. Gil Ross about the Zika virus, and how a pesticide that hasn't been used in the United States for over 40 years might be the solution.

As far as information goes, once our wrists only carried time. Then came music, and recently, heart rates. But now a team of California researchers has developed a wearable wrist device that seeks to tell us about the body's inner workings by "drinking" sweat from our wrists and analyzing it.

Vitamin water is back. No, not the kind you drink, but rather the kind you bathe with. So wrap your head around ... the Vitamin C-infused shower head. Because the current shower that deploys only water is no longer good enough? Really? How have we managed all this time without this device?

In science, a product passes reasonable safety tests and is deemed safe until shown otherwise. To modern food activists, alleging food is unsafe is a mercenary tactic to sell new fads.

There have been several cases of sexually transmitted Zika virus. Will this be the exception or the norm? It's too soon to tell, but two other viruses provide us with some clues.

Itchy bedbug bites are hardly a thing of the past, since resistance to commonly-used pesticides is on the rise. Not only are the critters basically laughing at older chemicals, the resistance seems to be carrying over to newer ones as well. A precipitous rise in the bedbug population may be in our future.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus has been declared a global public health crisis by the World Health Organization, but the agency did not say how to effectively fight it. One way would be to allow widespread use of DDT, which eradicated that same mosquito during the 20th century.