Latest Articles

AFib may cause you to feel like your heart is skipping a beat, fluttering,  pounding, or beating too hard or fast.
July 27, 2023

Atrial fibrillation: What you need to know

Atrial fibrillation is also known as AFib or AF. AFib is the most common type of arrhythmia disorder (when your...

Heart Diseases
NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been spreading the word about atrial fibrillation since being diagnosed with the condition in 2021.
July 20, 2023

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar speaks out about heart health

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a master of rebounds. On the basketball court, the six-time NBA Most Valuable Player’s offense made history....

Cardiovascular Disease, Heart Diseases
Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, Director of NIMHD.
June 22, 2023

Meet the Director: Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., served in the medical and research communities for decades before becoming the second Director of...

Meet the Director, Health Disparities
George F. Koob, Ph.D., is the Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
June 13, 2023

Meet the Director: George F. Koob, Ph.D., National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Even after decades of research in the field, George F. Koob, Ph.D., is still learning new things about alcohol,...

Meet the Director, Alcohol Use Disorder
Rett syndrome can begin as early as 6 months of age, with symptoms being so subtle that parents may not even notice the change in their child’s development.
June 06, 2023

Rett syndrome: an overview of this rare genetic disorder

What is Rett syndrome? Rett syndrome is a rare genetic disorder in which a child’s early growth and development regresses...

Rare Diseases
Richard Engel and his wife Mary lost their son Henry, right, in 2022 to Rett syndrome. Their younger son Theo was born in 2019.
May 30, 2023

Weathering a rare childhood disorder

As a chief foreign correspondent for NBC News over the past 15 years, Richard Engel has covered wars and conflicts around...

Rare Diseases
NIH research explores all aspects of pain.
May 25, 2023

Uncovering a cure: NIH-supported research lays the groundwork for understanding and treating pain

From the lab to the bedside Pain affects millions of Americans. It’s hard to measure, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all...

Pain
Pain happens when your nervous system thinks that a part of your body is injured or in danger of getting injured.
May 23, 2023

“Ouch, that hurts!” The science of pain

Almost all of us have experienced pain of some kind. It’s the most common reason why people seek medical care....

Pain
Listening to music or setting aside alone time can help teens manage stress.
May 18, 2023

Teens and stress: When it’s more than worry

Stress—and sometimes feeling anxious—is a natural and normal experience for everyone, including children and teenagers. But when those feelings last...

Anxiety
Adolescence can be a complicated time, especially for mental health, and some teens want their communities to do more in response.
May 16, 2023

Teens are talking about mental health

The prevalence of mental health issues is hard to measure, but federal data show how widespread the challenges are. The...

Mental Health
Two men, each with a prosthetic arm, sit at a table and play checkers.
May 11, 2023

Prosthetics through the ages

Millions of people in the United States are currently living with limb loss. This number is expected to grow as...

Medical Technology
Dr. Rory Cooper, Director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories  at the University of Pittsburgh.
May 09, 2023

Engineer and athlete Rory Cooper, Ph.D., draws from personal experience to design new technologies for people with disabilities

Rory Cooper, Ph.D., is a Paralympian, Army veteran, world-renowned inventor and engineer, and disability advocate. In 1994, he founded the...

Limb Loss
Dr. Shuai Xie applies her engineering background to study pesticide exposure among farmers and their families.
May 04, 2023

Dr. Shuai Xie is building a bridge between engineering and public health

As a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Shuai Xie, Ph.D., M...

Environmental Health
Music can heal a broken heart, but can it improve your health?
May 02, 2023

Music and health

Music and pain Research suggests that listening to music can help reduce acute and chronic pain. Music-based interventions may also...

Sound Health, Pain
NIDCR researchers studied mice to understand how sound dulls pain.
March 21, 2023

Audio analgesia: How sound blunts pain—at least in mice

An international team of scientists, led in part by investigators from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, studied...

NIH Research, Pain