The Midwest — though not the geographical region with the highest obesity rates — experienced the largest increase in obesity rate from 2012 to 2013, a trend that occurred across all regions of the country and contributed to an increase in adult obesity rate that grew to 27.1 percent, according to tracking from Gallup and Healthways. (ABOVE: Do You Live in America’s Fattest State?) The country saw the obesity rate rise nearly a full percentage point from 26.2 percent in...

A mysterious polio-like syndrome hit a cluster of California children, beginning in August 2012, rendering them paralyzed — just two days after the disease’s onset, in most cases. Sixmonths after the illness, the five children who were sickened still had poor limb function, doctors from Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, said in a case report, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 66th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia later this spring. Case report author...

A mysterious giant virus buried for 30,000 years in Siberian permafrost has been resurrected. The virus only infects single-celled organisms and doesn't closely resemble any known pathogens that harm humans. Even so, the new discovery raises the possibility that as the climate warms and exploration expands in long-untouched regions of Siberia, humans could release ancient or eradicated viruses. These could include Neanderthal viruses or even smallpox that have lain dormant in the ice for thousands of years. "There is now...