Public Health & Epidemiology
What is chronic wasting disease? A scientist explains the so called “zombie deer”
There's a fatal prion infection killing deer and elk across North America.
10-second balance test is a powerful predictor of death for older adults
A study finds that older adults who cannot balance on one foot for ten seconds have an 84% higher risk of death than those who can.
How child mortality fell from 40% to 3.7% in 200 years
In 200 years, the mortality rate for children under the age of five (per 1,000 live births) has dropped from 40% to 3.7%.
Why the U.S. leads other wealthy nations in deaths of despair
Deaths of despair are skyrocketing in the U.S., while at the same time, they are falling in other wealthy countries. What are we doing wrong?
How a 1960 traffic stop transformed attitudes on drug addiction
Robinson v. California helped to established a rehabilitative ideal: addiction should be dealt with as a therapeutic matter.
When prairie dogs brought monkeypox to America
This isn't America's first rodeo with monkeypox. In 2003, the virus swept across America thanks to a shipment of exotic animals.
U.S. road deaths far outnumber those in Europe. Why?
Wyoming's roads are nine times deadlier than Ireland's. California's road safety is on par with Romania's.
Statins aren’t overprescribed. Maybe we should put them in our drinking water
A doctor once joked that statins will be added to the water supply. Humor aside, the data shows that statins really are a "wonder drug."
What is monkeypox? A microbiologist explains
What you need to know about this smallpox cousin.
A Spanish teen’s genome may hold the secret to lupus
Researchers believe they have found a single point mutation in an infection-sensing gene that causes the autoimmune disorder.
Genes from over 5,000 stroke patients hint at surprising treatment
Thanks to genetic clues, scientists discovered that an old stroke therapy that had abandoned for decades might just work.
These upcoming cancer vaccines may prevent tumors before they appear
A new wave of preventative cancer vaccines are set to begin trials.
RNA breakthrough offers a potential heart attack cure
The same technology behind the COVID-19 vaccines may enable the first damage-reversing heart attack cure.
The dietary supplement you’re taking could be tainted
A study finds prescription medications and dangerous unlisted ingredients in ordinary supplements.
SIDS: Uncovering the mystery of sudden infant death
SIDS deaths have decreased worldwide, but research has yet to solve this medical mystery.
Drug to treat alcoholism could also safely reduce anxiety
Disulfiram is an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of chronic alcoholism. It might also serve as anti-anxiety medication.
Highway fatality signs may cause more car crashes
Morbid fatality statistics on digital highway signs seem to distract drivers, thus increasing the number of car crashes.
Strange treatment may restore sense of smell after COVID
Shoving platelet-rich plasma up your nose might restore your sense of smell after COVID. But whether it actually works still needs to be sniffed out.
988: A new emergency line for mental health goes live on July 16
Much of the discussion began during the pandemic, which really brought mental health issues to the forefront.
Is iron the Achilles’ heel for cancer?
Cancer cells hoard iron in unusually high quantities. Scientists have discovered how to leverage this to create safer cancer drugs.
Even after lockdowns eased, pandemic depression persisted across social classes
Wealth was a cushion, but even being well-off did not protect people from the harmful effects of pandemic stressors.
Malaria resistance shows that mutations are not always random
Mutations that confer malaria resistance occur more frequently in people who live in regions where the disease is endemic.
Spillback: How often do humans give animals diseases?
COVID-19 and other microbes have shed light on disease spillover from animals to humans, but we can also spillback disease to wildlife.
Is your air as unhealthy as cigarettes? There’s a map for that
The World Air Quality Index shows how clean your city’s air is, in real time.
Clues to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder hidden in the dark genome
The dark genome makes up 98% of human DNA. Scientists are just beginning to understand its role in cognitive disorders.
Is hormonal birth control linked to depression and suicide?
Hormonal birth control for women may elevate the risk of depression and suicide, but so does pregnancy itself.
Poisson distribution: why scientists and media don’t understand clinical trial statistics
The Poisson distribution has everyday applications in science, finance, and insurance. To compare the results of some biomedical studies, more people ought to be familiar with it.
Anencephaly: the babies born without brains
The catastrophic birth defect anencephaly affects about 1 in 4,600 pregnancies in the U.S. It is largely preventable with folic acid supplements.
Syphilis: a disease so nasty that it was named after foreigners and enemies
The most feared sexually transmitted disease (STD) of the last half-millennium was usually named after foreigners, often the French.