Health & Medicine

Almost all of today's guide dogs are Labradors or crosses between Labradors and Golden Retrievers, selected for their health, size, and history working with humans as hunting dogs.

Drug-resistant staph infection is one of the deadliest superbugs, killing more than 120,000 people globally each year.

Protein-degrading drugs harness our cells' normal processes for removing old proteins, but direct them to attack specific proteins in diseased cells.

Scientists are reconstructing ancient smells—including the surprisingly perfumy scent of a 3,500-year-old Egyptian mummy—to help the public experience olfactory aspects of history.

See the surprisingly complex series of steps behind the formation of goose bumps, featuring real skin from a human cadaver. (Warning: graphic content)

The diseases with the greatest potential to spread widely aren't the ones that quickly kill human hosts.

Swapping in artificial sweeteners isn't very helpful for weight loss, and some individuals using these sugar alternatives have gained weight.

Europe approved a combined mRNA influenza-COVID vaccine, but that combined shot was not proposed in the US.

An innovative lollipop pregnancy test is under development, designed to help blind women detect their pregnancies—it produces bumps on the candy when exposed to the pregnancy hormone hCG in saliva.

Penicillin was discovered by accident after a bacteriologist left his lab bench materials out during a summer vacation and mold invaded his petri dishes.

In 2026, the US FDA approved a light-activated gel combined with red light therapy, a nonsurgical treatment option for the most common type of skin cancer.

See how different countries compare over time when it comes to loneliness, disconnection, and overall well-being.

Kangaroos evolved thick knee cartilage to absorb shock, and scientists are studying the animals for potential insights about how to safeguard human knees against arthritis.

There's an official term for the sound your stomach makes before intense diarrhea—borborygmi.

People who 'feel' weather changes in their arthritic joints may be reacting to the drop in barometric pressure.

Claims of falling sperm counts have spawned sci-fi startups, DIY sperm donor clubs, and even group retreats aimed at heading off a 'spermpocalypse.'"

There is no robust evidence that topical or oral collagen peptides provide significant benefits for our skin or enhance healing.

The first successful dog-to-dog blood transfusion predated the first successful human-to-human one by more than 150 years.

If someone is choking, doctors now recommend five sharp back blows before abdominal thrusts.

Anesthesia was routinely withheld from babies undergoing surgery in the 1980s because clinicians believed they were not conscious.

There are two FDA-approved blood tests that may detect early Alzheimer's disease, but people can only use them when they already have symptoms of memory loss.

See which US states allow medical aid in dying and where legislation is pending.

Inhalers dilate the airways and reduce inflammation by delivering a medicated dry powder or a soft mist directly into the lungs.

Lethal injections sometimes use pentobarbital, a sedative drug prescribed at low doses to help treat seizures or insomnia.

Explore these social worker tips on how to support someone grieving miscarriage or infant loss.

A mother linked routine anesthesia to her son's brain damage, identifying a single typo in their family's mitochondrial DNA that caused this rare complication.

Explore state maps of the US death penalty, from where it's still legal to where executions have been carried out.

Plague is naturally occurring in the western US, and the country has an average of seven human cases annually.

Six Flags Magic Mountain settled a wrongful death lawsuit after a 22-year-old suffered massive head and brain damage from its X2 roller coaster.

See the latest wastewater monitoring data for COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV, a detection approach that can track disease spread in a community even when people are not showing symptoms.

We hear because soundwaves are converted into electrochemical signals in our ears.

Some estimates suggest between 85% and 95% of Black women in the US have used a chemical hair relaxer at least once, but these products are increasingly linked to harms including certain cancers and fibroids.

See stevia's history of varied uses, including as a treatment for burns and indigestion.

See the surprising history of LSD (better known as acid)—a substance derived from a parasitic fungus—in this 1440 Originals video.

In the UK, as of April 2027, women and their partners will be entitled to two weeks of unpaid leave after a miscarriage.

Amid a massive measles uptick in 2026, at least 6 babies in central Pennsylvania have been born with congenital measles.

Explore how the field of dentistry has evolved from being considered a carnival sideshow to a respected field of medicine.

The CDC set up a national wastewater surveillance system in September 2020 to monitor for viral fragments in our sewage that would indicate circulating disease.

See a breakdown of US annual cancer deaths and newly diagnosed cases.

Learned helplessness, the feeling that nothing you can do matters, leads people to become passive when they face certain types of situations, and can result in feeling anxious and sad.

Safeguards that social media companies created to protect children on their platforms failed at least half the time on Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, according to recent research.

Unlike America's recommendations, Australian authorities don't encourage routine sunscreen use for darker skin tones—reasoning that melanoma risk is low, and it's better to get UV exposure to help the body naturally produce vitamin D.

Dr. Henry Heimlich, famous for his antichoking technique from the 1970s, was a proponent of controversial and discredited approaches, including infecting cancer and HIV patients with malaria to try to trigger a heightened immune response.

The 9/11 plane crashes, which resulted in the collapse of the Twin Towers, created toxic dust with materials including asbestos, silica, metals, concrete, and glass.

Arthritis affects almost 60 million Americans, with about 1 in 5 US adults developing this type of joint pain as they age.

Neutrogena has released the first US sunscreens containing the new FDA-approved ingredient, bemotrizinol, which is less greasy, longer-lasting, and safer than existing chemical sunscreen products—and it has been widely available in other countries for years.

Watch this 1440 Originals video on specialized residential communities designed to mimic towns or neighborhoods for dementia patients.

Supplement sales soared during the pandemic, a trend that has continued even though some of the products don't work.

Watch this 1440 Originals video on specialized residential communities designed to mimic towns or neighborhoods for dementia patients.

Mental health experts caution against youth sports betting even as people in their 20s represent the fastest-growing group of sports gamblers.