The 50 million people currently living with dementia make up about 0.7% of the population. By 2050, the proportion of people living with dementia is predicted to double, up to about 1.4% of the population. That ratio translates to some 131.5 million people worldwide.
Humans are evolutionary oddballs. Unlike the vast majority of mammals on the planet, humans with ovaries can live decades after no longer being able to give birth. This means we go through menopause. Most other mammals stay fertile until the tail ends of their lives, which are also usually much shorter than ours.
In the mid-1800s, physicians gathered around a man who was being treated for cholera in the city of Puducherry on the southeastern coast of India. At the time, no one understood it was a bacterial disease, so doctors were essentially guessing when they treated patients. In this case, they tried a paste made of lemon juice, rust, and potassium aluminum sulfate (today known as alum and used in pickling vegetables) rubbed all over the patient’s eyes.
The prevalence of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is growing in the US.
It’s hard to figure out exactly how prevalent recreational drug use is in the US. People aren’t particularly forthcoming with their habits when they’re illegal. Although there are estimates that use surveys, prescription monitoring, and hospital records, experts have long suspected that these methods lowball drug use—but are unable to say by how much.
Many recent headlines have shouted that new research links low-carb diets to an earlier death—and they’re all misleading.
The idea that there was ice on the Moon tantalized astronomers for years, even before NASA’s Apollo mission to send astronauts to the lunar surface began. When the NASA spacecraft Clementine brought sent back data that hinted at the possibility that there was ice on the surface of the Moon in 1994, it stirred excitement once again. The trouble was, the measurements recorded weren’t definitive.
We Homo sapiens have done pretty well for ourselves. We’ve built entire civilizations, harnessing the resources of our planet to make suitable homes for ourselves in parts of the world that seemed inhospitable. We’ve figured out how to fight off infections and overcome many inherited illnesses. We can visit nearly any part of the world with relative ease, and are even beginning to explore the universe outside Earth’s cozy atmosphere. We’ve made it to the top of the food chain.
On Thursday (Aug. 16), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a generic version of the EpiPen, a life-saving tool that stops severe allergic reactions with an injected dose of epinephrine, the hormone also known as adrenaline.
Pregnancy changes a woman’s body and brain in ways scientists are still working to understand.
There are several apps that promise to track periods, and presumably fertility, but only one in the US is permitted to actually advertise itself as birth control.
A single virus sneaks into a cell, takes over the cell’s equipment, and reproduces itself billions of times. Then, these copies explode through the cell wall, killing it on their way to infect others. After a number of cycles, the owner of those cells starts to feel sick.
Women don’t have it easy in the medical field. In the US, there are about half as many of them working, compared to male doctors, for an average of $105,000 less annually. They are excellent physicians, though. Already, female doctors have been shown to have fewer elderly patients die under their care. They provide better treatment for type II diabetes, and speak more candidly and comprehensively to their patients about behaviors that may affect their health.
It’s probably a good thing McDonald’s isn’t known for its salads.
At the moment, I am about 245 miles (394 km) from the majority of my coworkers in New York. I’m almost 3,000 miles (5,000 km) away from my direct supervisor in San Francisco, and more than 3,600 miles (5,700 km) away from one of my favorite teammates in London. But, thanks to the internet, I never feel that far away.
Every year, lung transplants help thousands of patients stay alive, but the system is far from perfect. The average wait time for a new lung is three to six months and can sometimes be years.
Late on July 31, US president Donald Trump stated that he would nominate meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier as the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). This office is the highest scientific position in the White House, and for more than twice as long (paywall) as any other president, Trump had gone without appointing one.
No vagina ever needs to be “rejuvenated”—and the increasingly popular procedure known as “vaginal rejuvenation” can even be a dangerous.
This week, our neighboring planet Mars will be the closest it’s been to Earth in 15 years—making it super easy to see from the night sky.
The moon gloriously graces the Earth with an appearance every night, yet it’s only natural to get a little feverish about once-in-a-lifetime events like longest lunar eclipse of this century.
It’s human nature to fear the unknown, and at the start of World War II, a lot was up in the air.
The pharmaceutical industry has not won FDA approval for a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease since 2003. But for the first time in more than a decade, there may be hope on the horizon.
Researchers in Italy have announced what they hope is a major discovery: A body of salty water may lurk beneath the surface of Mars, just off to the side of one of the red planet’s massive ice caps.
A woman’s reproductive history may influence her risk for dementia later in life, new research suggests.
