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Tuberculosis is a dangerous bacterial infection of the lungs. Moyo Studio/E+ via Getty Images ~~~~~ Before SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spread across the world in 2020, tuberculosis was responsible for more deaths globally than any other infectious disease. But thanks to targeted public health efforts in the U.S. and globally, tuberculosis cases had been steadily falling for...

As the nation’s top health official and leader of one of the federal government’s largest departments, the secretary of Health and Human Services makes life-or-death decisions every day that affect millions of Americans. But not all important work is serious. One former HHS secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, recalled a highlight of her tenure: recording a public service message with “Sesame Street.”...

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. In the suburbs of Maryland, Dr. Jeffery Dormu’s presence is hard to miss. He’s a regular on the local TV station, which has featured him and his practice five times over the past five years. And he smiles down from an electronic billboard outside a...

Neuroscientists think a cluster of cells in the brain that stimulate appetite could be a target for eating disorder therapies Maybe it starts with a low-energy feeling, or maybe you’re getting a little cranky. You might have a headache or difficulty concentrating. Your brain is sending you a message: You’re hungry. Find food. Studies in mice have pinpointed a cluster of cells called AgRP neurons...

About 10% of COVID-19 patients will experience continuing symptoms for 12 weeks or more following diagnosis. Maria Korneeva/Moment via Getty Images ~~~~~~~~~~ A patient of mine, once a marathon runner, now gets tired just walking around the block. She developed COVID-19 during the 2020 Christmas holiday and saw me during the summer of 2021. Previously, her primary care doctor had recommended a...

Genetic conditions like Dravet syndrome, which causes severe childhood epilepsy, are hard to tackle with traditional gene therapy. New approaches in the works include using antisense therapy to boost mRNA splicing. The seizures started when Samantha Gundel was just four months old. By her first birthday, she was taking a cocktail of three different anticonvulsant medicines. A vicious cycle of...