[Introduction] W. Keith Hoots, M.D., is the director of the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources at NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The division’s Sickle Cell branchRead More
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What is it? Sickle cell disease is a group of red blood cell disorders passed by genes from parents to their children. People with the disease have abnormal hemoglobin, aRead More
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Deidra Flowers-Williams realized in elementary school that she couldn’t do the same things as other kids her age. She was diagnosed with sickle cell disease before she was 6 monthsRead More
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[Introduction] NIH’s Clinical Center is divided into two parts. One side is a hospital for patients. The other side includes offices and labs where researchers like John Tisdale, M.D., andRead More
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[Introduction] Gum (or periodontal) disease is one of the leading threats to dental health. It’s typically caused by poor brushing and flossing habits that allow plaque—a sticky film of bacteria—toRead More
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[Introduction] Winter and early spring typically bring colds, the flu, and allergies—though they can occur at any time of the year. Determining what you have can be challenging. All threeRead More
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Potassium is a mineral in your body that helps your nerves and muscles work. A recent study provides early evidence that increased potassium may help prevent hardening of the arteries,Read More
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When the pain from sickle cell disease became too much, Kirti Dasu often went to the nearest hospital emergency room. Those days are gone. Today the 29-year-old Syracuse University studentRead More
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“What’s that you said?” Perhaps you’ve heard yourself say those words more often than you’d like to admit. Or maybe you, a family member, or a friend is consistently turningRead More
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When Sylvia Granados-Maready was born, she was diagnosed with asthma. To this day, Sylvia lives with asthma without letting it define her. “All my life, I’ve had asthma,” she said.Read More
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Jeff Long, Ph.D., can hardly remember a time when he didn’t suffer from serious asthma. Jeff, who is now in his 50s, started experiencing symptoms when he was just aRead More
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With so many pollutants indoors and outdoors, determining what triggers asthma in children is not easy. Now, NIH-supported researchers are developing technology to help identify those triggers more easily. NewRead More
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Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), approximately 15 percent of patients with breast cancer have tumors thatRead More
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Colds seem harder to escape as the temperature drops and people spend more time indoors. They are also not well understood by doctors and scientists. Recently though, NIH-supported research foundRead More
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Stephen Ferranti knew he had to address his hearing loss issues when he realized it could affect his job. As a product strategy manager in his mid 50s working for aRead More
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Lise Hamlin was born with hearing loss in one ear, though she was able to communicate adequately for 30 years. That changed overnight. One morning, when she was in herRead More
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Opioid misuse and addiction is a major public health crisis. Opioids, sometimes called narcotics, are a type of drug. They include strong prescription pain relievers and the illegal drug heroin.Read More
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A team of scientists has identified an enzyme that promotes weight gain and the loss of exercise capacity starting in midlife. Enzymes increase the rate of chemical reactions. Through animalRead More
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Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are conditions that can affect people as they get older. If you’re wondering about the differences between them, read our summary below with information from MedlinePlusRead More
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From 2015 to 2016, the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus a world health crisis. The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has been leading theRead More
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Food allergies are often misunderstood. “This disease is common, and it has a dramatic impact not only on the lives of people who have the allergy but on the livesRead More
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Food allergies affect 5 percent of children and 4 percent of adults in the U.S. The number of people with food allergies is rising without a known cause. What isRead More
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[Introduction] Not seeing clearly? Cataracts might be the problem. Like a camera, your eyes rely on a lens—the clear part of the eye that helps to focus light, or anRead More
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[Introduction] Advances in genetic knowledge are providing the keys to unlock new treatments. NIH-supported researcher James T. Elder, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Dermatology at the University of Michigan,Read More
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Bruce Davidson always enjoyed the outdoors. He owned and operated a landscape contracting business in the early 2000s in Boxborough, Massachusetts. It was this job and location that put himRead More
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