Sepsis is the leading cause of death in hospitals

Drug-resistant staph infection is one of the deadliest superbugs

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)—the superbug version of staph infection—is responsible for more deaths than any other superbug, killing more than 120,000 people globally each year. The bug is leading cause of hospital infections, and is harmless on the skin but causes severe symptoms once inside the body.

Pneumonia was once a leading killer before penicillin treatments

In the early 20th century, pneumonia was a top cause of death worldwide, often fatal without effective treatment. Penicillin turned a once deadly infection into one of the most treatable bacterial diseases.

1 in 6 Americans get food poisoning each year

The US federal government estimates there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness in the country annually, resulting in as many as 3,000 deaths and 128,000 hospitalizations. Food poisoning puts those with weakened immune systems, the elderly, pregnant people, and young children at particularly high risk. This chart of common disease-causing pathogens highlights common threats and details about them, including likely food sources.

America's top causes of death are heart disease, cancer, accidents, and stroke

Heart disease killed more than 680,000 people in 2023 and cancer killed around 613,000 people that year. Both causes of death are far above the next leading cause of death—accidents, which numbered around 223,000. Provisional data for 2024 indicates the leading causes of death remained the same.

People with schizophrenia typically die 9 years earlier than the general population

The syndrome, which affects roughly 1 in 233 adults, is often associated with other serious health issues, including cardiovascular, metabolic, and infectious diseases, which may contribute to early deaths. The side effects of long-term antipsychotic medications also may influence the mortality timing—weight gain, for example, is a common side effect of the drugs and can contribute to cardiovascular issues.

Brain death is very rare—only 2% of hospital patients have brain death in the US

A peer-reviewed analysis examining US hospital billing code data from 2012 to 2016 concluded that the incidence of brain death is about 2% in the country. There was no available information indicating what proportion of those patients underwent organ donation.

How Alzheimer’s disease becomes fatal

Despite more than 100,000 people with Alzheimer's dying each year, the specific cause of death is not the disease itself. Often, secondary diseases arise from complications with the disease, including pneumonia, severe falls, malnutrition, or infection. Read more about the range of complications caused by Alzheimer’s here.

Hospitals have been adding weapon detection systems to emergency rooms in response to violence

Healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience violence at work than employees in other industries, according to pre-pandemic federal data. Yet, despite growing awareness of these threats, fewer than one in three hospitals have installed metal detectors.

Necrosis is the unplanned death of cells and the tissue they comprise

If cells die prematurely due to a lack of blood flow, injury, or disease, they and their organelles can swell, leading to rupture of the surrounding cell membrane. This releases the cell's contents into the surrounding tissue, causing inflammation and damage to neighboring cells.

Measles symptoms range from fever to pneumonia and encephalitis

While less common, most measles-related deaths come from secondary conditions such as pneumonia (one to six cases per 100 patients) and encephalitis (one case per 1,000 patients). Blindness, which is rare, may arise from corneal ulceration.

Short-term cortisol spikes can boost the immune system

Elevated acute levels can enhance the immune system's ability to fight off infection or respond to injury. Chronic heightened cortisol levels, however, can lead to inflammation that harms cells and tissues over time.

Two-thirds of soldier deaths during the war were due to disease

Roughly two-thirds of all Civil War deaths resulted from disease rather than battle. Poor sanitation, contaminated water, and limited medical knowledge made camps breeding grounds for dysentery, typhoid, and other deadly infections.

In 2012, a virus that causes HFMD may have killed dozens of kids in Asia

More than 50 young children in Cambodia died in spring 2012 for unknown reasons, but laboratory testing of samples available from a limited number of those children came back positive for Enterovirus 71. That virus, which can cause HFMD, is known to cause severe complications among some people who contract the disease. But health officials concluded that poor baseline health and then incorrect treatment using steroids helped exacerbate their condition, helping lead to the deaths.

Watch what the Ebola virus does inside the body in order to spread and survive

Once infected, the virus targets the body's immune cells, spreading the infection throughout the body. Patients exhibit severe flu-like symptoms. Ebola then targets the liver, which produces proteins that help blood clot, and the adrenal glands, which control blood pressure. The immune system may overreact to the viral invasion, releasing a cytokine storm that can result in shock, multiple organ failure, and death.

Overmedication has put type 2 diabetics at risk of low blood sugar

Type 2 diabetics in the US risk dying from low blood sugar, an epidemic traced to a decades-old, multi-million-dollar drug industry campaign encouraging an average blood sugar level below 7%. Contemporary research correlated such levels with reduced risk of eye, nerve, and kidney damage and increased hypoglycemia risk.

Leprosy doesn't cause fingers or toes to fall off

The nerve damage that results from infection sometimes causes loss of feeling in extremities so injuries like cuts or burns may be missed. In such cases, resulting infections can lead to digit loss. Fingers or toes can also appear to shorten with this disease because nerve damage can sometimes make muscles in fingers and toes so weak that they're reabsorbed by the body.

Extreme grief elevates cardiovascular risk and lowers immune system function

A 2014 analysis of cardiovascular risk and bereavement after a lost partner found that grief elevates the risk of stroke and heart attack for the 30 days following death of a partner and the risk then attenuates after that.

Scleroderma, which causes skin to harden and scar, has no FDA-approved treatment

It's an autoimmune disease that disproportionately causes worse complications in African American people for unknown reasons. It causes the body to overproduce collagen after the immune system attacks the body's own connective tissue, leading to excess collagen deposits and restricted blood circulation as small blood vessels are damaged. It can damage various organs, including the lungs.

Inflammaging is chronic low-level inflammation as we age, and it may be a key disease driver

The term refers to the idea that largely invisible but consistent low-level inflammation as humans age fuels chronic diseases and cellular aging. Inflammaging, this article says, is due to lifestyle factors like poor sleep, low levels of activity, and poor diet, acting in concert to cause cellular damage and trigger inflammation.

One person dies from opioids every 7 to 8 minutes

This collection of infographics by the National Institute for Health Care Management helps put the crisis into perspective. The opioid epidemic has had three waves. Opioid-related deaths increasingly involve synthetic versions of the drug class, contributing to 83 percent of all opioid-related deaths in 2020. Use these infographics to learn more about the crisis.

Why Friday surgeries are (likely) riskier

Scheduling surgery on a Friday may lead to more complications—up to 5% more often—compared to surgeries performed after the weekend. The research was conducted by a team from the United States and Canada and analyzed data from over 450,000 patients who underwent common surgeries in Ontario between 2007 and 2019. Check out their findings here.

Ebola infects and disables immune cells, triggering a cascade of events that leads to small blood clots throughout the body, weakening blood vessels and interrupting blood flow to key organs.

Mosquito-borne illnesses have killed captive orcas at SeaWorld

After two SeaWorld orcas died from viruses carried by mosquitoes, scientists warn that mosquito-borne illnesses may be a bigger threat to these captive animals than previously known. Captive orcas spend a lot of time stationary, close to the surface, unlike their wild counterparts. Researchers saw mosquitoes landing on the animals' backs, heads, and dorsal fins, supping on their blood.

Private equity's expansion into healthcare has been criticized for raising patient medical costs

Between 2000 and 2018, PE's total investment in healthcare ballooned from $5B to $100B. While healthcare systems originally began consolidating as a solution to navigating complex regulations (and to make working with insurance companies easier), research suggests that private equity has both increased patient costs and decreased the quality of care in hospitals and doctors' offices.

How heatstroke—from overexertion or extreme heat—affects the body

When core body temperature soars to 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher and remains there for about 30 minutes, it sets off a cascade of problems in the body. Proteins and cell membranes can degrade and begin to leak, potentially leading to liver damage, blood clots, GI tract damage, and organ failure, among other issues.

Annual flu shots remain the best defense against influenza

Flu vaccination typically reduces the risk of medical visits by 30 to 60% and lowers hospitalization rates by around 40%. Between 2023 and 2024, in the US alone, vaccines prevented an estimated 120,000 hospitalizations and nearly 7,900 deaths.

11 people died from firework injuries in the US in 2024.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Poison ivy's rash-causing compound is found in the plant's roots, stem, and leaves—so coming into contact with any part of the plant can lead to rashes for the 85% of people who are allergic to it.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.