All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- Health & Medicine
Could this be the end of the monthly period?
Two compounds stop menstruation in monkeys, suggesting that similar drugs might someday enable women to bypass monthly bleeding.
- Health & Medicine
Protein may post lung cancer warning
The protein Ki-67, sometimes present on tissue lining the lungs, may act as a warning sign of lung cancer risk for ex-smokers.
- Health & Medicine
Once a cesarean, always a cesarean?
Expectant mothers who've already given birth by cesarean section put themselves at increased risk of uterine rupture by trying vaginal birth.
- Health & Medicine
Cox-2 shows up in stomach cancers
The inflammatory enzyme Cox-2 is present in stomach tumors, suggesting that drugs that inhibit the enzyme might help supress tumor formation.
- Health & Medicine
New drug fights a chronic leukemia
A genetically engineered drug that fuses an antibody to a toxin attacks cancerous cells in hairy-cell leukemia.
- Health & Medicine
Surgery for epilepsy outshines medication
People with severe epilepsy who undergo brain surgery have markedly fewer disabling seizures during the following year than do those relying on medication.
- Health & Medicine
Synthetic protein may yield malaria vaccine
A molecule patterned after part of the parasite that causes most severe malaria induces a strong immune response in people.
- Health & Medicine
Ebola May Enter Cell via Folate Gate
A cell-surface molecule that normally binds to folate might be targeted by Ebola and Marburg viruses as their entry point to people's cells.
- Health & Medicine
Reptilian drug may help treat diabetes
The synthetic version of exendin-4, a compound in gila monster venom, helps insulin injections control blood sugar in people with type I, or juvenile-onset, diabetes.
- Health & Medicine
Thinking blurs when blood sugar strays
Blood sugar concentrations that are too high or too low can impair thinking and, in the case of low blood sugar, driving ability.
- Health & Medicine
Sticky platelets boost blood clots
Tests for genetic variations of a key protein on platelets, the cell-like blood components that form clots, and their propensity to clump could help physicians determine optimal medication for heart disease patients.
- Health & Medicine
Marijuana may boost heart attack risk
Marijuana seems to heighten the risk of heart attack in some people during the hour after which it is smoked.
