Nathan Seppa

Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)

All Stories by Nathan Seppa

  1. Health & Medicine

    Arthritis drug succeeds vs. psoriasis

    People with the skin disorder psoriasis respond well to infliximab, a drug normally given to arthritis patients.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Insulin shots fail to prevent diabetes

    Insulin injections failed to prevent type I, or juvenile-onset, diabetes from developing in children and young adults predisposed to the disease.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Does lack of sleep lead to diabetes?

    Lack of sleep makes healthy adults somewhat resistant to the effects of the hormone insulin, suggesting it could predispose people toward type II, or adult-onset, diabetes.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Nicotine spurs vessel growth, maybe cancer

    Test-tube and mouse experiments show that nicotine induces angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Glucose control spares arteries in diabetes

    Very strict control of blood glucose concentrations helps limit atherosclerosis formation in people with type I, or juvenile-onset, diabetes.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Leukemia overpowers drug in two ways

    Researchers discover why the anticancer drug Gleevec, also called STI-571, helps many patients who have chronic myelogenous leukemia but not those who have entered the crisis stage of the disease.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Soy estrogens: Too much of a good thing?

    Two studies of female mice suggest that genistein, an estrogen analog found in soy, could contribute to cancer risk.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Genetically altered cells ease hemophilia

    A gene therapy using skin cells that are genetically modified to make clotting proteins, multiplied in a lab, and reinjected into a person eases some bleeding in patients with severe hemophilia.

  9. Health & Medicine

    New guidelines would cut cholesterol

    The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has developed new guidelines for physicians that could triple the number of people taking cholesterol-lowering medication.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Angiostatin testing in people begins

    Angiostatin, a drug that cured cancer in mice, appears safe to use in preliminary tests on people with cancer.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Malaria prevention works in Tanzania

    Giving infants intermittent doses of antimalarial drugs during their first year prevents serious illness in most cases and doesn't leave them susceptible to harsh disease in their second year.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Does breast-feeding accelerate AIDS?

    A study of HIV-infected mothers in Kenya suggests that breast-feeding places them at a health risk.