Conditions & Diseases

Measles is a high­ly con­ta­gious viral dis­ease. With 9 out of 10 sus­cep­ti­ble peo­ple exposed to measles devel­op­ing the dis­ease, measles is con­sid­ered one of the most con­ta­gious diseases. 

Mil­lions of Amer­i­cans suf­fer from high blood pres­sure, includ­ing young adults. Lifestyle changes can low­er your risk of oth­er health complications.

Bird flu, a rare but sig­nif­i­cant viral infec­tion, pri­mar­i­ly affects birds but can occa­sion­al­ly affect wild ani­mals, pets, and humans. Explores symp­toms, trans­mis­sion risks, the lat­est vac­cine updates, food safe­ty guid­ance, and pre­ven­tive mea­sures for humans and pets.

Clum­si­ness is not always a rea­son for con­cern. But it can be a sign of cer­tain health con­di­tions. Here are 7 health prob­lems relat­ed to clumsiness.

Accord­ing to the Cen­ter for Dis­ease Con­trol and Pre­ven­tion (CDC), approx­i­mate­ly eight to ten per­cent of the Unit­ed States pop­u­la­tion will become sick with an influen­za (flu) virus each year. Addi­tion­al­ly, the aver­age Amer­i­can will catch between two to three colds per year. A cold and the flu are both caused by viral infec­tions and pro­duce a vari­ety of unpleas­ant symp­toms. Colds often are accom­pa­nied by nasal con­ges­tion and/​or a run­ny nose, sneez­ing, cough­ing and a sore throat. Flu virus­es can cause sim­i­lar symp­toms as well as fatigue, fever, head and body aches, and for some, diar­rhea and vom­it­ing. While there is no cure for either ill­ness, sev­er­al over-the-counter med­ica­tions and home reme­dies may offer symp­tom relief.

When you’re sick, one of the first ques­tions you may ask your­self is, ​“Is it a cold, flu, or COVID-19?” Here are some ways you can differentiate.

You have a sore throat. Is it strep throat or a virus? Learn about the dif­fer­ences, and about the types of infec­tions that can cause a sore throat.

As trees grow bare and the weath­er becomes cool­er, many of us are prepar­ing for a long win­ter ahead. A part of this prepa­ra­tion involves plan­ning for flu sea­son cou­pled with COVID-19. We answer com­mon ques­tions you may have about this year’s flu season. 

The begin­ning of this sum­mer saw the much-antic­i­pat­ed and dread­ed ​“cica­da inva­sion,” an event where two dif­fer­ent types of cicadas — those that emerge every 13 years and those that emerge every 17 years — made their simul­ta­ne­ous appear­ance. While the buzz of cica­da wings and the sight of their emp­ty exoskele­tons has dimin­ished, the effects of this unique phe­nom­e­non are still being felt in Chica­go and its sur­round­ing suburbs.

The ear­ly signs of Parkinson’s dis­ease aren’t always easy to spot. Here are 5 of the ones you might not be as famil­iar with.