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Some babies have a yellowish tint to their skin or the whites of their eyes right after birth. This is called jaundice. It can happen to adults, too. For adults, it can be a sign of a serious health condition. Your liver helps rid your body of natural waste products and other harmful substances. If something interferes with this process, toxic compounds can build up in your body. Jaundice happens…

Experts suggest that children ages 6 to 12 get at least nine hours of sleep each day. But many don’t get that much. A new NIH-funded study shows that getting enough sleep may be especially important for preteen brains. Researchers identified more than 4,000 children, ages 9 or 10, who got at least nine hours of sleep per day, according to their parents. This group was compared to a similar number…

It’s normal to feel sad, down, or low at times. But these feelings can sometimes linger. They can get worse, too, eventually making it hard to do basic daily tasks. If you’ve had a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in most activities for at least two weeks, you may be experiencing depression. Depression is a serious disorder. “It’s not something that you can just ‘push through,’ or…, Treatment Options, Depression can look different for different people. But there are some common symptoms (see the Wise Choices box). If you think you may be depressed, talk with your health care provider. Some infections or medical conditions can cause similar symptoms. Your provider can perform a physical exam and blood tests to look for possible causes. If you have mild depression, your provider may recommend…, Persistent Depression, For certain people, depression persists despite counseling and medication. This is called treatment-resistant depression. Brain stimulation therapies may help some people with treatment-resistant depression. These use electricity or magnets to directly change brain activity. For people who don’t feel better after trying at least two standard drugs, a drug called ketamine may be an option.…, Testing New Therapies, Researchers have also been working on new types of talk therapy for depression. Craske’s team is testing a type of therapy designed to help people focus on joy, excitement, and other positive moods. “Standard treatments are better at reducing negative emotions than increasing positive emotions,” she says. But people with depression often have the most trouble feeling positive things. “We’re…

Exhaustion seems to be on the rise. Fatigue is one of the symptoms most often reported by people with COVID-19, and their tiredness can linger. Add this to the many other causes of fatigue that existed before the pandemic—such as lack of sleep, mental health concerns, and health conditions like [qtip:anemia|A condition caused by low levels of red blood cells or hemoglobin in the blood. It can…

Getting enough physical activity is vital for your health at any age. Guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes (or two and a half hours) of moderate exercise each week. But does it matter what types of activities you do? A team of researchers asked this question about older adults. They looked at data from more than 250,000 participants in a national survey. People answered…

Ear infections are a common reason for bringing kids to see a health care provider. The infections can strike at any age, but children are much more likely to get them than adults. In fact, five out of six children will have at least one ear infection by the time they’re 3 years old. Ear infections are usually caused by bacteria, or sometimes a virus. They often arise after a sore throat, cold,…

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a serious [qtip:respiratory disease|A type of disease that affects body parts that help you breathe, including your nose, throat, and lungs.] that easily spreads between people. It can cause rapid and strong coughing fits that may be followed by a “whooping” sound as the person tries to breathe in. Pertussis can affect people of all ages. But babies…

Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body has trouble controlling blood glucose, also called blood sugar. High blood glucose levels can cause problems throughout the body. It can lead to nerve damage, heart disease, and other concerns. Health care professionals often recommend a healthy diet, exercise, and a drug called metformin as an early approach to treating type 2 diabetes. A second drug is…

Breathe in and out. We all know how important it is to keep our lungs healthy and our breathing smooth. The health of our lungs depends in large part on our surroundings. Researchers are studying how we can protect lung health by improving our environment and lifestyle choices. NIH funds research to understand how genes and the environment affect lung disease. The studies are looking for new ways…

Every day while you eat, sleep, work, and play, battles are being fought throughout your body. You rarely feel it. But bacteria, viruses, and other microbes are constantly invading from the outside world. Your body has a defense system for such invaders. It’s called the immune system. Your immune system is made up of trillions of cells and proteins. These are found in your blood and every organ…, Building Your Defenses, You’re not born with a fully equipped immune system. Fetuses can produce some immune protection. But before birth, “the vast majority of protection against infection comes from the mother,” explains Dr. Whitney Harrington, who studies immune system development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Germ-fighting molecules made by the immune system, called antibodies, are transferred to the…, Protection as You Age, By the time you’ve reached young adulthood, you’ve been exposed to many germs. So your immune system is likely to have a strong response to many infections you encounter. Vaccines further strengthen your defenses. Vaccines expose your immune system to dead or weakened germs, or just pieces of them. That helps your immune cells learn how to fight these threats and remember them without you getting…, Making Better Defenses, Researchers are still learning how to improve immune responses and vaccines. Some microbes are very good at hiding from the immune system. Many avoid detection by mutating, or changing, so that previously exposed immune cells can no longer recognize them. Dr. Shane Crotty at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology and his team are trying to take advantage of the body’s way of keeping up with these…