A cooler summer across much of the country might mean fewer beach days, but it’s not all bad news. With West Nile virus continuing to infect people nationwide, a colder first half of 2014 could mean fewer mosquitoes in the second half. As of August 5, few northern states have reported cases of human West Nile infection. In total,18 states have had human cases, mainly in the South, with many more expected as the season progresses. But unlike recent years,...

Tick bites are especially common in the summer -- and they can transmit some dangerous and even deadly conditions like Lyme disease. But here's one you might not have heard about -- a tick bite that causes an allergy to red meat. The culprit is called the Lone Star tick after the state of Texas. Researchers have begun noticing more and more cases recently as the bug has spread from the Southwest to the Midwest and East Coast. Doctors say...

Feel Better This Summer (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) Heat can kill more than just your energy. Between 2006 and 2010, 3,332 people died because of sizzling temperatures, according to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (MORE: Which Weather is the Deadliest?) Heat exhaustion is the most common symptom of too much time in heat and humidity, affecting seniors, children and athletes most often. Even when humidity isn't dangerous, it can be just plain uncomfortable --...

Climate change could make your cup of joe taste like dirt — literally. Here's how: the globe's record-high temps and droughts are making it harder than ever to grow coffee. Fungal diseases compound the problem. In Brazil, for example, only 45 million bags of coffee will be produced this year, instead of the usual 55 million. That's a drop of 42 billion cups of coffee, researchers from the State University of Londrina in Brazil said in a press release. To...

Where you live determines a lot more than the weather outside your window. It can also predict how happy you are with your life, and the opportunities around you. Of course, residents of Hawaii, a state known for its surf, sand and stunning vistas, are among some of the happiest in the United States, according to a new ranking from researchers at Harvard University and the University of British Columbia, published as a working paper by theNational Bureau of Economic...

Zyrees Oliver collapsed after a summer football practice, WSB-TV in Atlanta reported. He died six days later. Oliver reportedly drank four gallons of fluid during and shortly after practice because he felt dehydrated. Afterward, he went home, where he later collapsed. He was taken off life support after doctors told his family he would never recover. “You think with dehydration, the more water you give, the better you're making it. No, not in all cases, it does the opposite,” his...

If children spend their summers inside playing video games and not outside getting exercise, a controversial PSA from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta appears to be placing the blame on the parents. The video shows an overweight 32-year-old man after having a heart attack. His life begins to flash before his eyes, showing a series of poor diet and exercise choices all the way back to early childhood. The video ends on the screen: “Your child’s future doesn’t have to look...

MSF medical workers put on protective clothing at an MSF Ebola treatment facility in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, on August 15, 2014. (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) The Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to spread, and it could be even worse than previous reports have suggested. Medical staff at the outbreak sites say the number of reported cases and deaths have “vastly underestimated the magnitude of the outbreak,” according to the World Health Organization. (MORE: What You Need to Know About...

Michelle Remkus, R.D., shot a series of 100-calorie portions to demonstrate how healthy choices look. Click through to see how your choices stack up. (Photos courtesy of Michelle Remkus) Was your summer a little too full of backyard barbecues and parties? If you overindulged during the warmest months of the year, it might be time to clean up your diet. Luckily, there are easy — and tasty — ways to incorporate good nutrition into your life, Michelle Remkus, R.D., told...

Blistering hot summer weather and drought can spike the incidence of mosquito-borne diseases, experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe, though they’re not entirely sure why. In 2012, a hot summer caused a spike in insect illness: It was the deadliest year for West Nile on record, and a new tick-borne infection, Heartland Fever, was identified in Missouri. (MORE: What Bit Me? Identifying Bugs and Their Bites) Year after year, mosquitos are the deadliest insect in...

Recently, Elise Graham, 24, believed she was going to die. "It hit a point where I became at peace with it," she told weather.com. "[My health] was completely out of my control." Now, Graham knows through a clinical diagnosis that she has chronic Lyme, a controversial syndrome believed to be a more progressed version of the better known tick-borne disease. Currently, there are more than 30,000 cases of Lyme reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention every...

(Thinkstock/Steve Mason) Colder temperatures don't just mean winter is on the way; they also herald the beginning of the annual heart attack season, when deaths from heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure spike. And the urban legend about having a heart attack while shoveling snow? True, according to the American Heart Association. Here's why:Cold weather causes your blood vessels to constrict, raising blood pressure and exacerbating any preexisting heart problems, according to the AHA. The physical inactivity that comes...