Virus

Joyce Hollman

Recipe for recovery: The science in chicken soup

Is chicken soup the best recovery for a cold? A lot of cultures worldwide swear by it and have for thousands of years. Here’s the science behind how chicken soup, done right, can speed up your recovery from colds and flu this winter…

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

What garlic can do for the common cold

Garlic has been used for centuries in various ways to combat infectious diseases. And as the years of interest in garlic have ticked on, modern research has found garlic to be effective against many strains of bacteria. But what about the virus behind the common cold? Let’s see what the research has to say about how it stacks up…

Margaret Cantwell

How to prep to survive flu season

The CDC recommends flu shots by the end of October. But for the last five years of available data, vaccine efficacy hasn’t breached 40 percent, and if you’re over 50, it was even less. Hopes are higher this year, but surviving flu season is best approached from multiple angles…

Tracey G. Ingram, AuD

Two reasons to have your liver tested

If your liver was in trouble, could you tell? Probably not. By the time you or the doctor might, liver disease has often progressed and caused damage. That doesn’t mean you just have to wait and wonder. In fact, there are two major reasons to get your liver tested…

Joyce Hollman

Half a million medical records link viruses to neurodegeneration

For years now, researchers have noticed curious links between a handful of viruses and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. A new look into a staggering number of health records indicates even though the link may not be causal, it warrants serious attention…

Carolyn Gretton

What triggers cold sores to flareup?

Herpes simplex virus-1, the “cold sore” virus, is extremely common. It’s believed to be present in more than half of all Americans. That doesn’t make it any easier to deal with when cold sores flareup. Gaining a better understanding of the virus may…