Conditions & Diseases, VOY-ZOO
Whether we like it or not, living things are susceptible to any number of illnesses and conditions that can threaten or harm the health of those afflicted. Bacteria, viruses, and other microbiological agents are obvious challenges to health. Human disease may be acute, chronic, malignant, or benign, and it is usually indicated by signs and symptoms such as fever or vomiting. Additionally, diseases may be communicable (contagious) or noncommunicable; of the latter, the four major types identified by the World Health Organization are cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes mellitus.
Conditions & Diseases Encyclopedia Articles By Title
voyeurism
voyeurism, human sexual behaviour involving achievement of sexual arousal through viewing the sexual activities......
vulvitis
vulvitis, inflammation and infection of the vulvaâthe external genitalia of the female. The external organs of......
wart
wart, a well-defined growth of varying shape and size on the skin surface caused by a virus, most commonly one......
Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome
Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome, a rare type of septicemia (blood poisoning) of rapid and severe onset, marked......
West Nile virus
West Nile virus, virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae, related to viruses that can cause yellow fever and......
What are the five ways infectious diseases can be spread?
There are five primary ways in which infectious diseases can be spread: direct contact, contact with fomites (inanimate......
What Are the Symptoms of a Stroke?
The onset of stroke can manifest in different ways. In many instances, the affected person may experience sudden......
What causes allergies?
Allergic reactions are caused by substances known as allergens. These substances can be found in a variety of sources......
What Causes Brain Freeze?
Brain freeze, also known as cold-stimulus headache or sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia, is a phenomenon triggered......
What Is a Second Wave of a Pandemic, and Could It Happen for COVID-19?
This article was originally published May 15, 2020, and updated October 15, 2020. When a global outbreak of disease......
What Is a Superspreader Event?
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused various scientific terms to become a part of everyday vocabulary, among them the......
What Is the Difference Between Cardiac Arrest and Heart Attack?
Cardiac arrest is an electrical malfunction in which the heartâs rhythm suddenly fails, and it stops beating without......
What Is the Difference Between Dependence and Addiction?
Dependence is primarily a physiological state in which the body adapts to the presence of a substance. Addiction,......
What Is the Difference Between Influenza and COVID-19?
Influenza and the coronavirus disease COVID-19 appear to be very similar. After all, both are respiratory diseases,......
What is the most venomous jellyfish?
The Australian box jellyfish, scientifically named Chironex fleckeri, is widely considered the worldâs most venomous......
What You Need to Know About Cyclosporiasis
In July 2026 a large multistate outbreak in the United States thrust an obscure intestinal illness known as cyclosporiasis......
Whatâs the Difference Between a Psychopath and a Sociopath? And How Do Both Differ from Narcissists?
Psychopath and sociopath are often used interchangeably in common speech to describe a person who is pathologically......
Whatâs the Difference Between HIV and AIDS?
In the 1980s, a condition called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, known more widely as AIDS, began to show itself......
Whatâs the Difference Between Venomous and Poisonous?
When people talk about dangerous snakes like black mambas and cobras, at least one person in the conversation will......
When Was the Last Pandemic?
This article was originally published on March 19, 2020. The last major global outbreak of disease before the COVID-19......
whiplash
whiplash, injury to the cervical spine and its soft tissues caused by forceful flexion or extension of the neck,......
white nose syndrome
white nose syndrome, disease affecting hibernating bats in North America that is caused by the growth of a white......
Who Can Declare a Pandemic and What Criteria Are Required for an Outbreak to Be Called a Pandemic?
This article was originally published on March 18, 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for......
whooping cough
whooping cough, acute, highly communicable respiratory disease characterized in its typical form by paroxysms of......
Why Are Cruise Ships Prone to Outbreaks?
Cruise ships are especially vulnerable to disease outbreaks because they function as densely populated floating......
Why are fish high in mercury?
Fish can have high levels of mercury in their tissues owing to bioaccumulation, in which mercury that is released......
Why Are Iguanas Falling from Trees in Florida?
American songwriters Arthur Johnston and Johnny Burke penned the standard âPennies from Heavenâ in 1936, and it......
Why Are Lilies Toxic to Cats?
Lilies can be described in many waysâfragrant, colorful, strikingâbut deadly is rarely the first word that comes......
Why are mosquitoes attracted to certain people?
Mosquitoes that feed on human blood are attracted to certain people more than others due to a combination of factors......
Why Are People Afraid of Clowns?
Coulrophobia is no laughing matter. This irrational fear of clowns can cause panic and nausea. Although itâs a......
Why are people afraid of snakes?
People are often afraid of snakes because of a combination of factorsâranging from the fear of venomous bites to......
Why are people afraid of spiders?
People are often afraid of spiders, unsettled by the animalsâ many legs and eyes, their sometimes rapid and unpredictable......
Why are there different blood types?
Different blood groups are the result of genetic variations that determine the presence or absence of specific......
Why do humans need water?
Water makes up more than half the body weight of adult humans. That value is 75 percent for babies. As an essential......
Why Does Drinking Give You a Hangover?
While we seem to know a lot about alcoholic beverages and their consumption, scientific research on hangovers is......
Why Is It Important to Know the Incubation Period of a Disease?
This article was originally published on March 19, 2020. Knowing the incubation period of an infectious diseaseâthe......
Wilson disease
Wilson disease, a rare hereditary disorder characterized by abnormal copper transport that results in the accumulation......
Wollstein, Martha
Martha Wollstein was an American physician and investigator in pediatric pathology. Wollstein graduated from the......
workaholism
workaholism, compulsive desire to work. Workaholism is defined in various ways. In general, however, it is characterized......
wound
wound, a break in the continuity of any bodily tissue due to violence, where violence is understood to encompass......
xanthinuria
xanthinuria, rare inherited disorder of purine metabolism that results from a deficiency in the enzyme xanthine......
xenophobia
xenophobia, fear and contempt of strangers or foreigners or of anything designated as foreign, or a conviction......
xeroderma pigmentosum
xeroderma pigmentosum, rare, recessively inherited skin condition in which resistance to sunlight and other radiation......
XYY-trisomy
XYY-trisomy, relatively common human sex chromosome anomaly in which a male has two Y chromosomes rather than one.......
yaws
yaws, contagious disease occurring in moist tropical regions throughout the world. It is caused by a spirochete,......
yellow fever
yellow fever, acute infectious disease, one of the great epidemic diseases of the tropical world, though it sometimes......
yersiniosis
yersiniosis, acute gastrointestinal infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica and characterized......
Zellweger syndrome
Zellweger syndrome, congenital disorder characterized by complete absence or reduction in the number of peroxisomes......
Zika at the Rio Olympics: Is the Risk Real?
In January 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Zika virus a Public Health Emergency of International......
Zika fever
Zika fever, infectious mosquito-borne illness, typically mild in humans but capable in utero of causing brain anomalies......
zoonotic disease
zoonotic disease, any of a group of diseases that can be transmitted to humans by nonhuman vertebrate animals,......
zoophilia
zoophilia, sexual attraction of a human toward a nonhuman animal, which may involve the experience of sexual fantasies......