Nathan Seppa
Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)
 
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All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicinePreventive drugs protect childrenPreventive treatment with inexpensive drugs decreases rainy-season cases of malaria in Senegal. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineUmbilical Bounty: Cord blood shows value against leukemiaUmbilical cord blood transplants offer a viable treatment alternative for leukemia patients who don't have a matching bone marrow donor. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineDrugs counteract irritable bowel syndromeAntibiotics can knock out bacteria overload in the small intestine, temporarily reversing irritable bowel syndrome. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineProblems for Preemies: Early birth is linked to insulin overproductionChildren born prematurely are more likely than their full-term counterparts to develop insulin resistance, a marker for diabetes. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineTrials affirm value of drugThe drug STI-571, previously shown to work against chronic myelogenous leukemia, also helps patients who have slipped into an acute, highly lethal form of this cancer. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineOld and new drugs may fight myelomaIn some people with a bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma, treatment with thalidomide or PS-341, which induces programmed cell death, may improve their chances of survival. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineAntibiotics, vitamins stall stomach cancerA 6-year study shows that vitamin C, beta-carotene, and antibiotics can reverse premalignant conditions that could otherwise lead to stomach cancer. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineStaph receptor as drug targetA receptor molecule on the surface of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus might present an exploitable weak spot in the microbe's defenses. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineA vaccine for cervical cancerA vaccine against human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer, has proved 94 percent effective in preventing the virus from infecting women. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineMarker signals esophageal cancerSilencing of the gene that encodes the cancer-suppressing protein APC is common in people with esophageal cancer, suggesting that physicians might use this genetic abnormality as a marker for the disease. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineIs penicillin-allergy rate overstated?A study finds that 20 of 21 people who reported having a penicillin allergy when filling out paperwork during a hospital visit in fact don't have one, suggesting that the prevalence of this allergy is overstated. 
- 			 Health & Medicine Health & MedicineMalaria vaccine shows promise in MozambiqueAn experimental malaria vaccine tested on children in Mozambique provides some protection against the potentially life-threatening disease.