All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- Health & Medicine
Protein flags colon, prostate cancers
A compound first identified as a possible culprit in Huntington's disease may be an indicator of cancers of the prostate gland and colon.
- Health & Medicine
Stroke Stopper: New vaccine curbs blood vessel damage in lab animals
A vaccine that desensitizes the immune system to a protein inside blood vessels prevents some strokes in laboratory rats.
- Health & Medicine
Flower Power: Corn lily compound stops cancer in mice
A new study in mice suggests that cyclopamine, a plant derivative that causes birth defects in animals, can inhibit medulloblastoma, a brain cancer in children.
- Health & Medicine
Budding Tastes: Higher blood pressure in newborns links to salt preference
Babies who tolerate a salty flavor have higher blood pressure on average than their less tolerant counterparts do.
- Health & Medicine
New Antidote to Botulism: Drug neutralizes toxin in mouse tests
An experimental drug disables deadly botulism toxin much better than current treatment does.
- Health & Medicine
Retina Rescue: Adult stem cells form blood vessels in the eye
Stem cells derived from bone marrow can grow into new blood vessels in the eyes of mice, suggesting a way to treat eye diseases in people.
- Health & Medicine
Heart damage tied to immune reaction
Researchers in Brazil have identified immune proteins that flood the heart tissues of many people with Chagas disease, suggesting a cause of this deadly complication of the parasitic tropical disease.
- Health & Medicine
Gene might contribute to asthma risk
Variations in a gene called ADAM33 may predispose a person to asthma.
- Health & Medicine
Hormone therapy falls out of favor
Several studies now indicate that health risks associated with hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women outweigh its benefits.
- Health & Medicine
Mixed Blessing: Unusual gene helps heart, hurts immunity
People carrying a variant of a gene that encodes an immune protein called toll-like receptor 4 have a weaker defense against infections but appear to be less prone to heart disease.
- Health & Medicine
Study fails to link vasectomy to cancer
Researchers have found that men with prostate cancer are no more likely to have had a vasectomy than healthy men are.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine for All? Math model supports mass smallpox inoculation
Vaccinating an entire city in response to a smallpox terrorist attack would save thousands more lives than would quarantining infected people and vaccinating anyone they contacted.
