MEDICINE

Get Your Flu Shot Now—This Flu Season Will Likely Be Worse Than Last Year

Flu cases are on the rise, and the most common virus strain is a serious one.

Cotton Swabs Officially Declared Bad for Your Ears

Experts agree: Stop sticking things in your ears.

Scientists Find More Evidence That Your Appendix Serves a Purpose

A paper supports the theory that the much-maligned organ may serve as a “safe house” for beneficial bacteria.

How a Child’s Toy Inspired a Super-Cheap Paper Centrifuge

Each whirligig “paperfuge” costs about 20 cents and can process blood samples in two minutes.

8 Facts About the Ankle

8. You might want to rethink an ankle tattoo.

Can Mental Disorders Predict Physical Illnesses?

"The most substantial associations with physical diseases preceding mental disorders included those between heart diseases and anxiety disorders, epilepsy and eating disorders, and heart diseases and any mental disorder."

Scientists Have Found a Possible Cause of Severe PMS

Dysfunctional gene expression may make some people hypersensitive to sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone.

There's No Good Proof That Cough Medicines Actually Work

Yet we still spend billions of dollars on it per year.

7 Facts About Your Knees

3. You can walk without a kneecap.

Yym1997 via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

Pollution Can Give You High Blood Pressure

Prolonged exposure to dirty air can lead to an increased risk of hypertension.

INeverCry via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

New Vaccines May Prevent Fatal Opioid Overdoses

New hope for a pervasive problem.

A young girl receives an eye test in Hyderabad. Image credit: NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images

Doctors in India Are Using AI to Combat Blindness

Machine learning is being used to better understand the spread of blindness and predict the success rates of eye surgeries.

John Tann via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 2.0

15 Fascinating Facts About Fruit Flies

Drosophila melanogaster may seem like nothing more than a nuisance when your fruit gets too ripe, but medical research owes a great deal to this tiny little menace.

10 Stubbed Facts About Your Big Toe

9. Surgeons can make thumbs out of big toes.

Scientists Find Potential Diabetes Drug in Platypus Venom

A long-lasting chemical compound in the venom of platypuses and echidnas helps regulate blood sugar.

We're So Close to Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease—But There's Been a Setback

Thirty years ago, there were 3.5 million Guinea worm infections per year. In 2016, there have been 19.

REBECCA O'CONNELL // WELLCOME IMAGES (HIPPOCRATES), ISTOCK (BACKGROUND)

10 Tips for Recovering From Illnesses From Hippocrates

Pick the right wine, or you might get farts.

This Visual Prosthetic Helps the Blind See Again

New visual prostheses can help people with progressive retinal degeneration restore visual signals to their brain.

An Antioxidant Found in Wine May Help Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Resveratrol, a humble antioxidant found in grapes, nuts, and berries, can significantly reduce the hormones that create hormone imbalances in women with PCOS, and improve insulin sensitivity.

Did We Miss a Quarter of the Ebola Infections?

A new paper lends further support to the idea that a significant number of individuals can become infected with Ebola but not show symptoms.

Scientists Make Antibiotics from Bacteria Found in the Human Body

The new drugs may even be able to help treat MRSA—a condition that, by definition, is resistant to antibiotics.

Good News: Low-Cost Mosquito Nets Continue to Prevent Malaria

A report from the World Health Organization finds that treated bed nets stop malaria transmission even among pesticide-resistant mosquitoes.

This Star-Shaped Pill Could Revolutionize the Way We Take Medicine

The pill is capsule-shaped when swallowed, then expands in the stomach to deliver an entire course of treatment over several weeks.

You are getting dangerously close to this Gila monster.

12 Fascinating Facts About Gila Monsters

Meet the Gila monster, the largest native lizard in the United States. But watch out for its venomous bites.

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