Nathan Seppa

Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)

All Stories by Nathan Seppa

  1. Health & Medicine

    Teeth grinding linked to sleep apnea

    Rhythmic grinding of teeth during sleep occurs at least once a week in as many as 8.2 percent of people.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Lyme vaccine works in a curious way

    Antibodies formed in response to the vaccine against Lyme disease kill the bacteria that cause it while they are still in the deer tick that spreads it.

  3. Health & Medicine

    It pays to keep those islet cells

    A patient who has inflammation of the pancreas and needs to have the organ removed can avoid getting diabetes if islet cells are salvaged from the pancreas and reimplanted into the liver.

  4. Health & Medicine

    HIV-related viruses still cross species line

    Various potentially dangerous strains of simian immunodeficiency virus exist in wild primates in Africa and are still being spread among people who hunt the animals for meat.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Found: Mutation for deadly nerve disorder

    Two research teams have discovered the genetic mutation that causes familial dysautonomia, a lethal hereditary disease that causes nervous system damage.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Raloxifene doesn’t hike breast density

    Estrogen-replacement therapy that includes estrogen increases breast-tissue density among postmenopausal women, but the estrogen-replacement drug raloxifene doesn’t.

  7. Protein May Tie Obesity to Diabetes

    A newly discovered protein secreted by fat cells could be the link between obesity and type II diabetes.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Cocaine link to heart attack bolstered

    Regular cocaine use may account for one-fourth of nonfatal heart attacks in people under age 45.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Gene mutation can spur autoimmunity

    A mutation of a gene on the X chromosome can lead to a dangerous autoimmune disorder and type I diabetes.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Protein pair induces nerve repair in mice

    Mice genetically engineered to make two proteins normally active in early nerve development are able to regrow damaged nerve fibers somewhat in their central nervous systems.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Drugs counteract irritable bowel syndrome

    Antibiotics can knock out bacteria overload in the small intestine, temporarily reversing irritable bowel syndrome.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Antibiotics, vitamins stall stomach cancer

    A 6-year study shows that vitamin C, beta-carotene, and antibiotics can reverse premalignant conditions that could otherwise lead to stomach cancer.