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Get classroom materials and activities to help kids learn about bones, joints, muscles, and skin. This NIH website is meant for teachers and students in grades four through six. But everyone can benefit from learning more about these essential body parts.

Genomics is the study of all of the genes and DNA in a person or living thing. Learning about how your genome works can help you better understand your own health. Discover the world of genomics with this NIH resource. Teachers, students, and others can get fact sheets, infographics, and other educational tools.

A cancer diagnosis can be scary. Some cancers can be cured if caught early. Treatments like surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy can destroy many early-stage cancers. But cancer can be difficult to treat when caught later on, after it spreads. Cancer cells are sneaky and stubborn. They are hard to stop from growing and spreading. Cancer cells can also break away from their original location and…, Adapting to New Locations, Cancer cells can spread to almost any part of the body. The liver, lung, and bones are the most common places. Different types of cancer tend to spread to certain locations. For instance, pancreatic and colon cancer commonly spread to the liver. Breast cancer and a type of skin cancer called melanoma can spread to the brain. Metastatic cancer is considered to be the same type of cancer as the…, Revving Up Defenses, In recent decades, scientists have uncovered new ways to use the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. This is called immunotherapy. One type, called immune checkpoint inhibitors, is now widely used. It can extend the lives of many patients with metastatic cancer. “Tumor cells are good at hiding from the immune system. They do this by displaying proteins that send the signal: ‘Do not attack…, Coping With Metastatic Cancer, “A diagnosis of metastatic cancer can be overwhelming,” Nadeau says. “But treatment options continue to improve. There are reasons to be hopeful.” The goal of treating metastatic cancer is usually to stop or control its growth to extend the person’s lifespan. Other treatments are designed to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life. This type of treatment is called palliative care. It can be…

Speaking, singing, and making other sounds require many parts of your body to work together. Your brain thinks of ideas. Your lungs move air in and out. Your vocal cords vibrate. Your mouth and nose help shape sound. “Our whole body participates in the production of voice, speech, and breathing. So we can get a lot of information about our health from them,” says Dr. Yael Bensoussan, a voice…, [qtip:dementia|Loss of thinking, memory, and reasoning skills that seriously affects your ability to carry out daily activities.], , lung problems, and even cancer. Measuring voice, speech, and breathing patterns could help diagnose health problems. Researchers are testing ways to use apps and other tools to let people measure such information at home. For example, a recent study showed that a computer program could identify patients with Parkinson’s disease by their breathing patterns during sleep. “Voice, speech, and…

Psoriasis is a long-lasting skin disease. Patches of skin become scaly and inflamed. Psoriasis usually affects the scalp, elbows, and knees. But it can also appear on other parts of the body. Anyone can develop psoriasis. It arises when the body’s disease defense system becomes overactive. This triggers skin cells to multiply too fast. Symptoms can vary based on the type of psoriasis. Some people…

Peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergies. It often begins in childhood and usually lasts for life. Symptoms include hives, lip swelling, and trouble breathing. It can even be deadly. Several years ago, an NIH-funded study found that kids who began eating foods with peanuts as infants were less likely to become allergic to them. By age 5, their risk of peanut allergy had dropped by…

What you eat matters. Many studies have shown that the types of food you eat affect your health. But what about the timing? Scientists are just beginning to understand that when you eat may also make a difference. Throughout history, people have experienced periods when food was either scarce or completely lacking, says Dr. Valter Longo, an NIH-funded longevity researcher at the University of…, Going Without Food, Fasting diets mainly focus on the timing of when you can eat. There are many different fasting diets, sometimes called “intermittent fasting.” In time-restricted feeding, you eat every day but only during a limited number of hours. So, you may only eat between a six- to eight-hour window each day. For example, you might eat breakfast and lunch, but skip dinner. In alternate-day fasting, you eat…, Body Changes, For many people, the main reason to try fasting is to lose weight. Currently, most people try to lose weight by restricting how many calories they eat each day. “That doesn’t work for everyone,” Catenacci explains. “It takes a lot of focus. It takes a lot of math, and a lot of willpower.” One of Catenacci’s studies showed that, over a two-month period, adults who were overweight or obese were…, Should You Fast?, Fasting may bring health benefits, but Longo cautions that there’s still a lot we don’t know. For some, fasting may cause problems. For example, studies have found that people who regularly fast more than 16 or 18 hours a day have a higher risk of gallstones. They’re also more likely to need surgery to remove the gallbladder. Eating for 12 hours and then fasting for 12 hours is likely safe for…

Chances are, you know someone who has diabetes. It might even be you. Diabetes is one of the most common disorders in the U.S. It affects about 1 in 9 Americans. Diabetes raises your risk for serious health problems. It can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and heart, and it is linked to some types of cancer. Now, what if you learned that there’s a low-cost, scientifically proven way to greatly…, Are You at Risk?, Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Glucose is your body’s main source of energy. Normally, a, [qtip:hormone|A substance produced in one part of the body to signal another part to react a certain way.], made by the pancreas called insulin helps glucose get into your cells to be used for energy. If you have diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or use insulin properly. Glucose then stays in your blood and doesn’t reach your cells. Anyone can get type 2 diabetes, even children. But certain factors can raise your risk. You’re more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are at least 35…, A Role for Medications, Although making healthy lifestyle changes has proven effective for preventing diabetes, it doesn’t work for everyone. For those people, medications may help. NIH’s DPP study looked at whether the diabetes drug metformin might also prevent or delay diabetes onset. It found that the drug could reduce the risk of developing diabetes by about 30%. For some patients, a combination of metformin and…, Healthy Changes That Last, “Making lifestyle changes is hard. So it’s important to get the support you need to make the changes last,” says Dr. Joshua J. Joseph, a physician and diabetes researcher at Ohio State University. “You can get that support through programs like the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) .” NDPP is based on the findings of NIH’s DPP study. It aims to help people make long-term lifestyle…

Many people get the “winter blues,” a mild sadness as the days get colder and shorter. But some people experience clinical depression with the seasons. This is called seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Symptoms of SAD usually start in the late fall or early winter. Episodes generally last around five months, easing up when the next season comes. Some people experience SAD in the summer. This is…

Obesity affects about 1 in 5 kids in the U.S. It’s a growing concern. Carrying extra weight can raise a child’s risk of future health problems. Some research has found that living in a neighborhood without grocery stores and healthy food options may raise the risk for obesity. A new study looked at how limited food options at a young age affects future health. Scientists analyzed data from more…