All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- Health & Medicine
Making Bone: Novel form of vitamin D builds up rat skeleton
A newly synthesized form of Vitamin D induces bone-making cells to capture calcium and fortify bone mass in rats, suggesting it might work against osteoporosis in people.
- Health & Medicine
Inducing eye-tumor cells to self-destruct
By restarting the subdued self-destruct signal in cancer cells, researchers studying eye cancers have found a way to stop these cancers in cell cultures and in a rabbit model.
- Health & Medicine
Move your head, hurt your golf game
Right-handed golfers using a conventional grip move their head and eyes more during putts than they do when using a cross-handed or one-handed grip, suggesting these alternative grips might work better.
- Health & Medicine
Making the optic nerve sprout anew
A compound made during inflammation, a natural reaction to injury, can induce optic nerve regeneration in a lab-dish concoction including rat retinal ganglion cells.
- Health & Medicine
Catching macular degeneration early
Scientists have developed a test that uses the eye's ability to adapt to darkness as a test for age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in elderly people.
- Health & Medicine
Into the Tank: Pressurized oxygen is best at countering carbon monoxide exposure
Oxygen treatment for serious carbon monoxide poisoning prevents long-term brain damage best if delivered as pressurized gas.
- Health & Medicine
Are varsity athletes prone to ALS?
A survey of patients treated for neurological problems reveals that those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) are more likely to have been varsity athletes and remained slim all their lives.
- Health & Medicine
Surgery beats splints for wrist syndrome
Surgery proves better than nighttime splints for relieving the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Health & Medicine
Sideways Glance: Training helps people circumvent failing sight
Researchers have developed a rehabilitation regime that may enable many elderly people with age-related macular degeneration to improve their vision.
- Health & Medicine
Acetaminophen in Action: Effect on an enzyme may stop pain, lower fever
The discovery of an enzyme scientists are calling cyclooxygenase-3, which is disabled by acetaminophen, might explain why this drug can stop pain and fever but not inflammation.
- Health & Medicine
Herbal cancer remedy is chock full of drugs
An herbal remedy that had been popular among prostate cancer patients was tainted with three synthetic drugs.
- Health & Medicine
Smoking Gun? Mouse tests link nicotine to crib death
Nicotine may impair a molecule that's necessary for arousing people and other animals from sleep, an effect that could account for the heightened risk of sudden infant death syndrome in babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy.
