Mental Floss

DISEASE

Going on “fart walks” can alleviate digestion issues.

“Fart walks” could be the answer to your gastrointestinal woes.

The endangered species faces another obstacle.

Researchers recently found that polar bears are facing higher exposure to certain bacteria and viruses.

A raccoon being less than cute.

Where there is one hungry raccoon, there are likely dozens, as one unfortunate woman found out.

Scurvy decimated sailors, explorers, and regular citizens for centuries before a cure for the vitamin deficiency was discovered.

A case study of a man in Australia is highlighting the return of a disease associated with Elizabethan sailors and polar explorers.

Get a better sense of how illnesses have shaped history in these gripping reads.

Get a better sense of how illnesses have shaped history with these gripping reads about history’s most notorious diseases.

Apple cider can be dangerous.

Fresh apple cider is delicious. It’s also potentially teeming with bacteria.

Don’t expect 120th birthdays to become the norm anytime soon.

Barring some dramatic medical advancements, living into your eighties remains the best-case scenario.

It’s never too late to quit.

Science reinforces that it’s never too late to stop smoking.

Old age may precede dying, but it doesn’t directly cause it.

Can an octogenarian really just collapse from the wear and tear of life?

Little brown bats like this one are at risk from white nose syndrome.

The deadly fungus has decimated bat populations across North America. But recently, scientists have found reasons to hope their efforts to save bats are working.

Legionella in a Petri dish under UV light.

The unusual respiratory illness was named for a 1976 outbreak among attendees of an American Legion conference.

Shiitake mushrooms (left) are edible, while fly agaric (right) is extremely toxic, causing serious symptoms like dizziness, confusion, and hallucinations.

The definitions of toadstools and mushrooms are a bit intertwined.

A health care worker prepares to deliver an mpox vaccine during the 2022 outbreak.

All of the WHO's declarations of emergency since 2007 have been for viral diseases, including the most recent one for mpox.

A scanning electron micrograph of ‘Mycobacterium tuberculosis’ particles (colorized red), the bacterium that causes TB.

Ailments as diverse as tooth decay and malaria have caused suffering for thousands, even millions, of years—and they’re not done with us yet.

Eating seafood is getting riskier.

Mercury in seafood is another growing concern thanks to global warming.

Transorbital lobotomies have now entered the chat.

These gory yet fascinating reads delve into the weirdest chapters of medical history, from the dancing plague of 1518 to the bizarre saga of Typhoid Mary.

Don't crack open a cold coffee before you check the label.

The word to look for on the label is ‘Snapchill.’

Figure it out, stat!

Figure it out, stat!

A Rocky Mountain wood tick.

American dog ticks, blacklegged ticks, and Lone Star ticks can all spread devastating diseases. Here's a map of where these ticks live.

This tick probably couldn’t wait to dig into this person’s skin.

There are several precautions you can take to keep ticks at bay this summer.

The vast majority of tonsillectomies are performed on children.

The surgical extraction of the tonsils was a hallmark of a 1950s childhood, but now the operation is not nearly as common.

A lock of Ludwig van Beethoven's hair in the collection of San José State University.

Researchers speculate that ingesting lead may have contributed to the famous composer’s hearing loss and other unexplained ailments.

Don't fear the reaper.

Corpses are less scary than you think.

Fifteenth-century woodcut of a young woman who represents syphilis with the skeletons of dead lovers behind her bed.

Ailments have gone by various names over the centuries. How many of these can you guess correctly?