Doctors have been listening to the sounds our bodies make for years. Before the invention of stethoscopes, they simply put their ears to their patients' chests or abdomens. The technical term for this ...

The humble stethoscope carried by physicians and other professionals in the intensive care unit (ICU) is laden with a wide range of bacteria, including bacteria known to cause infections acquired in ...

To hear a patient's heart, doctors used to just put an ear up to a patient's chest and listen. Then, in 1816, things changed. Lore has it that 35-year-old Paris physician Rene Laennec was caring for a ...

Is high-tech imaging replacing rubber tubing and ear buds? Doctors used to just put an ear up to a patient’s chest and listen. Then, in 1816, things changed. Thirty-five-year-old Paris physician Rene ...

Ask Dr. Dennis Niewoehner what brand of stethoscope he uses, and the lung expert is stumped. Stethoscopes can be useful for listening to certain lung symptoms, says Niewoehner, a pulmonologist at the ...

Editor's note: One of the most intriguing stories we ran in 2015 looked at — and listened to — how the invention of the stethoscope changed medicine. We're presenting it again, in case you missed it ...

Dear Doctor: I have a noise problem with my 2001 GMC 2500 heavy-duty pickup with 120,000 miles and the Duramax diesel engine. The noise started about a year ago and it seems to be coming from the ...

Two centuries after its invention, the stethoscope—the very symbol of the medical profession—is facing an uncertain prognosis. It is threatened by hand-held devices that are also pressed against the ...

Which stethoscope is the best? Since the early 19th century, stethoscopes have become an essential part of every physician’s tool kit. These devices allow doctors to hear what’s happening inside the ...

Kidney specialist Steven Peitzman, a professor at Drexel University College of Medicine, says physicians who are now in their 60s and 70s used to get praise if they had the "ear" to hear and interpret ...