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Common illnesses & Prevention news

AI repurposes routine chest X-rays to catch silent bone loss before fracture

Osteoporosis is a silent disease where bone loss develops gradually before fractures occur. Current clinical screening recommendations mainly focus on older women and selected high-risk groups, leaving some men, younger adults, ...

Why some chikungunya virus infections may turn chronic

Chikungunya virus, which is transmitted to people by infected Aedes mosquitoes and characterized by high fever and intense joint swelling and pain, has made a resurgence in many countries around the world in recent years.

What tick tests can—and can't—tell you

It's quick to spot a tick, but harder to know if that tick carries Lyme disease. Emergency room visits for tick bites provide important data for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but doctors often cannot immediately ...

Uganda records two new Ebola cases: health ministry

Uganda confirmed two new Ebola cases on Friday, bringing the total to nine—including one fatality—since the outbreak was declared on May 15 in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

WHO chief in Ebola-hit DR Congo which sees first recovery

The UN health chief was on Friday in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where authorities are struggling to contain the spread of a deadly Ebola outbreak but the recovery of a patient, the first since the crisis began, was ...

Early action on bad cholesterol delays heart disease

Taking steps to lower levels of harmful LDL cholesterol at a much earlier stage than current medical practice indicates could be a far more effective way to reduce the risk of future heart attacks and strokes, according to ...

App helps remove vaccine barriers for families

Vaccines help the immune system to recognize and fight many types of diseases, from viral illnesses like COVID-19 to bacterial infections like tetanus. In 2024, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...

Chronic leukemia treatment may affect immunity long-term

Treatment with so-called BTK inhibitors has improved the prognosis for people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). At the same time, these drugs affect the immune system and may cause side effects over time, according ...

Pulse oximeter bias linked to gaps in care for Black patients

Pulse oximeter devices routinely overestimate blood oxygen levels in darker-skinned patients—a racial bias that can trigger downstream health harms for Black individuals, compounding well beyond any single inaccurate reading.

Sweden hits smoke-free goal of under 5% daily smokers

Sweden met its target of becoming smoke-free in 2025 with less than 5% of the population smoking cigarettes daily, though a quarter of the population still used nicotine daily in some form, such as vapes and snus, a report ...