Nathan Seppa
Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)
 
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All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineBad Combo? Some antidepressants may hamper breast cancer drugCertain widely used antidepressants and a woman's own genes might diminish the effect of tamoxifen, a frontline breast cancer drug. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineOne-Two Punch: Vaccine fights herpes with antibodies, T cellsAn experimental vaccine against genital herpes shows promise in animal tests. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineExpanding the therapeutic arsenalTwo experimental drugs can send chronic myeloid leukemia into remission in patients who don't benefit from the best currently available drugs. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineDrug counters severe platelet shortageAn experimental drug called AMG531 revs up production of platelets in people with severe shortages of these clotting agents. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineViagra eases lung pressure in patientsViagra eases increased blood pressure in the lungs, a condition that affects about one-third of adults with sickle-cell disease. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineTaking on a lethal blood cancerA drug called bortezomib can induce remission of an aggressive kind of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineBirth Dilemma: Doctors weigh pros and cons of cesareansWomen attempting a vaginal birth after a cesarean delivery have more uterine ruptures and other complications than do women undergoing a second cesarean section. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineTB vaccine gets a needed boostAn experimental vaccine against tuberculosis imparts significant immunity, but only in people who have previously received the existing bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine for TB. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineAntioxidant Booster: Protein curbs lung damage caused by smokeA protein called Nrf2 defends against emphysema by activating dozens of genes that combat free radicals and toxic pollutants, a study in mice suggests. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineExtensive test shows cholera vaccine worksA vaccine for cholera has proved up to 81 percent effective in a large-scale public health trial in Mozambique. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineSoldiers in Iraq coming down with parasitic diseaseHundreds of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have contracted leishmaniasis, a parasite-borne disease that attacks the skin. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineProbing a parasite for vulnerabilityResearchers have discovered an enzyme that is indispensable to the parasite that causes sleeping sickness, and disabling that enzyme could offer a novel treatment strategy for the disease.