Also called: Otitis media
Ear infections are the most common illnesses in babies and young children. Most often, the infection affects the middle ear and is called otitis media. The tubes inside the ears become clogged with fluid and mucus. This can affect hearing, because sound cannot get through all that fluid.
Read more to view related video clips
Also called: MS
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a nervous system disease that affects your brain and spinal cord. It damages the myelin sheath, the material that surrounds and protects your nerve cells. This damage slows down or blocks messages between your brain and your body, leading to the symptoms of MS. They can include
Read more to view related video clips
Antioxidants are substances that may protect your cells against the effects of free radicals. Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food, or by environmental exposures like tobacco smoke and radiation. Free radicals can damage cells, and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases.
Read more to view related video clips
Also called: Blow, C, Coke, Crack, Flake, Snow
Cocaine is a powerful drug that stimulates the brain. People who use it can form a strong addiction. They may have to use more and more of the drug to get high. It’s sold on the street as a fine, white powder. There are two forms of cocaine: hydrochloride salt and freebase. The salt dissolves in water. People can take it in a vein or in the nose. The freebase form can be smoked. Crack is the street name of a smokable form of cocaine.
Read more to view related video clips
A heart transplant removes a damaged or diseased heart and replaces it with a healthy one. The healthy heart comes from a donor who has died. It is the last resort for people with heart failure when all other treatments have failed. Heart transplants are now the third most common organ transplant operation in the U.S.
Read more to view related video clips
Whether you call it by its slang name, “sawing logs,” or its medical name, “stertor,” snoring is common. You snore when something blocks the flow of air through your mouth and nose. The sound is caused by tissues at the top of your airway that strike each other and vibrate. Many adults snore, especially men. Snoring may increase with age.
Read more to view related video clips
The brain is the control center of the body. It controls thoughts, memory, speech and movement. It regulates the function of many organs. When the brain is healthy, it works quickly and automatically. However, when problems occur, the results can be devastating.
Read more to view related video clips
Your ear has three main parts: outer, middle and inner. You use all of them in hearing. Sound waves come in through your outer ear. They reach your middle ear, where they make your eardrum vibrate. The vibrations are transmitted through three tiny bones, called ossicles, in your middle ear. The vibrations travel to your inner ear, a snail-shaped organ. The inner ear makes the nerve impulses that are sent to the brain. Your brain recognizes them as sounds. The inner ear also controls balance.
Read more to view related video clips
Also called: Plasma-cell myeloma
Multiple myeloma is a cancer that begins in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. These cells are part of your immune system, which helps protect the body from germs and other harmful substances. In time, myeloma cells collect in the bone marrow and in the solid parts of bone.
Read more to view related video clips
Also called: Communicable diseases
Infectious diseases kill more people worldwide than any other single cause. Infectious diseases are caused by germs. Germs are tiny living things that are found everywhere – in air, soil and water. You can get infected by touching, eating, drinking or breathing something that contains a germ. Germs can also spread through animal and insect bites, kissing and sexual contact. Vaccines, proper hand washing and medicines can help prevent infections.
Read more to view related video clips