Educational Science

Shingles infection causes man's bladder to burst in rare case

A man who developed a shingles infection around the base of his spine suffered from an unusual complication: His bladder ruptured. According to a report of the case, published earlier this year in the journal Infection and Drug Resistance, the 77-year-old patient had been taking antiviral and pain-relieving medications for...

A man went to the doctor about a cough. It turns out, he had a 6-inch mass in his chest.

An otherwise healthy man developed a worrisome cough that persisted for three weeks without any other symptoms. It turns out, the cough was triggered by a nearly 7-inch-long (17.2 centimeters) mass pushing against his right lung. According to a description of the case, published Oct. 30 in the Journal of...

Scientists have uncovered a mysterious network of brain connections that is linked to several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This shared brain circuitry could help reveal why many patients who are diagnosed with one psychiatric illness also meet the criteria for a second. Half of the...

A vibrating pill could help treat obesity, pig study finds

When you scarf down a massive dinner, your stomach will stretch to fit each morsel, activating receptors that ping the brain to let it know when you are full. A group of engineers has developed a vibrating pill that could help trigger that filled-up sensation sooner, which may one day...

Your native language may shape the wiring of your brain

A person's native language may shape how their brain builds connections between different hubs of information processing, a new brain scan study reveals. The observed differences in these language network structures were related to linguistic characteristics in the native languages of the study participants: German and Arabic. So the difference...

FDA approved a 1st-of-its-kind treatment made from human poop. What does it do?

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a treatment that's made using donated human poop, the agency announced Wednesday (Nov. 30). The treatment, called Rebyota, contains gut bacteria collected from the stool of healthy human donors and is approved for the prevention of a potentially...

If the brain doesn't feel pain, why do headaches hurt?

Headaches are extremely common and they can take many forms, ranging from mild to debilitating and lasting minutes to days. When your cranium is in pain, it's easy to think your brain tissue itself must be hurting. But that's not likely. Ironically, the brain senses pain throughout the body, but...

Woman who spontaneously vomited up to 30 times a day likely had rogue antibodies

A young woman experienced spontaneous vomiting attacks during which she would sometimes retch more than 30 times a day and heave up to 1.6 gallons (6 liters) over the full course of an episode. It turns out, the symptoms likely stem from an underlying autoimmune disorder. According to a report...

This year's flu shots are a 'very good match' to circulating strains, health officials say

This year's flu shots appear to be a very good match to the circulating influenza strains, health officials say. However, even though flu season got off to an unusually early start, vaccination rates, especially among adults, are lagging those seen this time last year. I can tell you firsthand: This...

'Flow state' uncovered: We finally know what happens in the brain when you're 'in the zone'

Many people know the feeling of being in the zone: As they're fully immersed in a task, the background noise of the world fades and they may not notice time passing. Gymnasts may enter this all-consuming mental state as they're refining a floor routine, an artist might find the zone...