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Medicine Facts

SARS: Mother Nature Strikes Again!

SARS, short for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, is big news this spring. By the middle of April 2003, over 2000 people had been diagnosed with it in China and Hong Kong, another few hundred in the ... Continue reading

The Plague

Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The bacterium is found mainly in rodents, particularly rats, and in the fleas that feed on them. Other animals and humans ... Continue reading

Prairie dogs sometimes carry plague.

Mad Cow Disease

In 1986, the first case of 'mad cow' disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was found in cattle in Great Britain. Irritable personalities, fearful behavior, and a staggering gait preceded ... Continue reading

The Placebo Effect

To test new drugs, researchers usually divide their subjects into two groups. One group receives the experimental drug. The other receives a placebo or 'sugar pill' that should have no effect on the ... Continue reading

Which of these pills is the real thing?