All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- Health & Medicine
Arthritis drug succeeds vs. psoriasis
People with the skin disorder psoriasis respond well to infliximab, a drug normally given to arthritis patients.
- 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.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
Nicotine spurs vessel growth, maybe cancer
Test-tube and mouse experiments show that nicotine induces angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
