MEDICINE

Is There Actually a Doctor in the House?

There's usually a doctor around in the movies, and they save the day. But what about in real life?

10 Case Reports of Cotard’s Delusion

First reported in the 1700s, the mental disorder where people suffer the nihilistic delusion that they are dead or no longer exist, that's also called "Walking Corpse Syndrome" is still a mystery.

8 Historically Terrifying Viruses

We know you’re just itching to know all about some of history’s nastiest viruses and the horrifying diseases they cause in humans.

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The Historical Horror of Childbirth

Childbirth has never been a walk in the park. But thanks to modern medical improvements and societal standards, it's much better than it used to be.

To Great Lengths: 7 Historic Cures for Impotence

We may think of the inability to get or maintain an erection as a problem reserved for the ruggedly handsome 50-year-old millionaires joyously piloting their yachts in the background of Viagra commercials. But there has never been a time or place where me

Champa: The Bear Who Got Brain Surgery

While brain surgery has become a fairly common procedure with humans, it is still very rarely used on animal patients, who have drastically different anatomies than we do.

Meet 9 Recovering Boston Explosion Victims

7 Antiquated Illness Names and Their Meanings

Throughout the ages, people have hung some pretty weird names on what’s ailed them. Here are the monikers of a few of the more strangely-named illnesses, and how we know them today.

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Arthur Eichengrün, Inventor of Aspirin

In 1896, chemist Arthur Eichengrün brought forth a miracle—a pure acetylsalicylic acid with medical applications. This was a few years before Lizzie Magie invented the board game Monopoly, and if only the two knew each other, they might have had a lot to

11 Weird Old-School Plastic Surgery Techniques

Modern plastic surgery encompasses both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, and has a history that goes much further back than our modern movie stars and beauty obsessions.

Anatomy of 14th Century Bubonic Plague Hazmat Suits

The Bubonic Plauge, also known as the Black Death, killed at least 75 million people on three continents. Described as the most lethal epidemic in history, the plague began in China in the 1330s and made its way through Europe from 1346 to 1353. In those

10 Medical Tools You’re Glad Only Exist in Museums

Breathe a sigh of relief that these gadgets are no longer in your M.D.'s arsenal.

Why is a Fake Doctor Called a Quack?

Quack, in the sense of a medical impostor, is a shortening of the old Dutch quacksalver (spelled kwakzalver in the modern Dutch), which originally meant a person who cures with home remedies, and then came to mean one using false cures or knowledge.

Does Drinking Alcohol Really Keep You Warm When It's Cold Out?

Alcohol is a vasodilator. When you have a drink, the volume of blood brought to the skin’s surface increases, making you feel warm.

Can People Really Smell Fear?

Fictional characters, and even real-life folks, often talk about animals and people—particularly snarling dogs and knife-wielding lunatics—being able to “smell fear” on people. No one ever seems to be able to describe just what fear smells like, though.

The Puking Robot That Helps Scientists Study Infectious Noroviruses

Wikimedia Commons Norovirus might be the perfect human pathogen. It hacks our DNA to create new noroviruses, gives us diarrhea, makes us puke so that the virus can spread to new hosts—and it spreads like wildfire. More than 1.1 million people in Britain

Henrietta Lacks' Immortal Cells

Daven Hiskey runs the wildly popular interesting fact website Today I Found Out. To subscribe to his “Daily Knowledge” newsletter, click

Can Bacteria and Viruses Get Sick?

Tis the season to be getting the cold and flu. But is it possible for the bacteria and viruses that infect us so easily to get sick themselves?In 1917, a microbiologist working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris discovered what he described as an invisible

History's Grossest Medical Treatments

The historical medical uses for leeches (some of which are still being practiced today) are pretty well known. But being covered in blood suckers is still nowhere near as gross as many of the medical treatments of the past covered in this great article on

6 Pieces of Folksy Wisdom That Are Actually True

The holidays are here again. That means family, and family means listening to insane, ill-informed debates over every subject imaginable. But just because your relatives are old and probably a little crazy doesn’t mean everything they say is nonsense. Whe

Villagers dancing in a painting by Pieter Breugel the Elder.

The Strange Origins of 5 Historical Manias

Delve into the strange cases of dancing plagues, laughter epidemics, and other bizarre manias throughout history.

How Do Blood Pressure Tests Work, And What Do Those Numbers Mean?

Getting your blood pressure taken is a standard part of most visits to the doctor, but the details might seem mysterious—so read on.What It IsBlood pressure (BP) is the force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of the arteries as it's pumped from th

On The Table With One of History’s Most Infamous Surgeons

Imagine lying on a table in a old-school operating room. Faces stare down on you from the viewing galleries above and your leg throbs with pain from a broken bone and an infection just starting to set in. The door opens and three men in blood-stiffened a

Why Is the Sound of Nails on a Chalkboard So Unpleasant?

The act of scraping nails down a chalkboard creates a sound so awful that most people have an instantaneous reaction: A shiver runs up the spine, and they slap their hands over their ears. Anything to block out that noise! But why do unpleasant sounds af

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