Diseases and Conditions

In countries where governments mandate vaccination against chickenpox, a new study finds, online searches for information about symptoms drop.

By Christopher Hassiotis

New approach to treating allergies involves hiding allergen in friendly shell so immune system doesn't attack it.

By Nichole Bazemore

Are jet air hand dryers the safest way to dry your hands after using the bathroom or are they blasting invisible microbes through the air with every use?

By Laurie L. Dove

Scientists know that being married makes you more likely to survive cancer. Now they've discovered why.

By Alia Hoyt

A new study finds that babies are surprisingly willing to resist the dark side — to a certain point.

By Robert Lamb

Although scientists knew that birth season affected people's allergy risk, they didn’t know why this happened. A study gets us one step closer.

By Nichole Bazemore

With the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, scientists are taking a second look at infection treatments that were popular before antibiotics. Which ones might work today, and which ones are just quackery?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Just how common is it for schools, jobs and insurers to turn people away based on their DNA?

By Oisin Curran

New studies find links between regular coffee intake and lowered risks for cirrhosis and multiple sclerosis, but you've got to drink a significant amount.

By Laurie L. Dove

As the Zika virus spreads, there's still much health experts don't know. So just how bad is the outbreak, and is it really connected with the rising cases of microcephaly?

By Nicholas Gerbis

Only Charlie Sheen knows exactly why he went public with his HIV diagnosis last fall, but public health researchers are glad he did, as more people sought information.

By Jesslyn Shields

Genetic mutations in ancient Vikings protected them from parasites, but contribute to our modern susceptibility to lung diseases COPD and emphysema.

By Jesslyn Shields

Studies presented at the 2016 AAAS meeting find an impact on immune system genes and on the potential for artherosclerosis.

By Christopher Hassiotis

Children with chronic fatigue syndrome miss more school and face more adverse environments than healthy peers, finds a new UK study.

By Laurie L. Dove

The sixth-leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S. remains maddeningly difficult to figure out.

By John Donovan

The WHO has declared such an emergency only three times before. And in the U.S., public health authorities are reporting the first sexually transmitted Zika infection.

By Julia Layton

If you spent the year on the International Space Station, you could drop about 180 pounds of personal payload. That's just one crazy fact we learned about No. 2 in 2015.

By John Donovan

Is surrounding yourself with supercooled nitrogen gas a smart move for pain relief or a bunch of pseudoscience?

By Oisin Curran

While pigeons probably won't be donning lab coats anytime soon, they are proving their prowess when it comes to detecting cancer.

By Laurie L. Dove

Depending on the test and other factors, false positives can be extremely high for certain tests. Why is that, and what can be done about it?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

The parasite-host relationship just got a lot more complicated.

By Robert Lamb

Are turkey necks the next man bun? Turns out smartphone use can increase the wrinkle factor for saggy skin known as "tech neck."

By Chris Opfer

The human body requires water to thrive, so how could one possibly be allergic to H2O? Consider the strange case of one teen who broke out in hives after swimming.

By Laurie L. Dove

With blood pumping through your body every second of the day, it seems unthinkable that this life-giving substance could be an allergen. For some people, it's not weird science — it's reality.

By Laurie L. Dove

Allergy symptoms like itchy, watery eyes aren't any fun to deal with. Could you be causing your own pain with certain patterns of behavior?

By Laurie L. Dove