Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Body fat linked to late puberty in boys

    Boys can take a lot of ribbing from their peers for not being macho enough. A new study now indicates that it can take longer to begin transforming into a man if a boy starts out fat.

    By
  2. Health & Medicine

    Neurons may function more solo than thought

    Neurons coordinate activity less often than previously thought.

    By
  3. Health & Medicine

    Running barefoot blunts foot’s force

    A new study finds that going shoeless tempers impact but can’t say whether this difference reduces injuries.

    By
  4. Humans

    Cigarettes might be infectious

    Science & Society blog: The tobacco in cigarettes hosts a bacterial bonanza — literally hundreds of different germs, including those responsible for many human illnesses, a new study finds.

    By
  5. Health & Medicine

    Searing the heart for the better

    Electrode-tipped catheter destroys heart tissue to stifle atrial fibrillation, sometimes performing better than meds, study shows.

    By
  6. Health & Medicine

    Millions of women at risk of malaria during pregnancy

    Potential problems include undetected illness and anemia in mothers, stillbirth and low birth weight in newborns,

    By
  7. Life

    MRSA bacterial strain mutates quickly as it spreads

    Antibiotic-resistant microbe's detailed family tree reveals roots of the global infection.

    By
  8. Life

    Protein may be new target for obesity, diabetes therapies

    Molecule regulates flip of a metabolic switch, helps determine how the body uses glucose.

    By
  9. Earth

    BPA is regulated . . . sort of

    Food and Drug Administration officials “say they are powerless to regulate BPA” because of a quirk in their rules, according to a story that ran Sunday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It comes from a reporter who has made an award-winning habit of documenting the politics that have helped make the hormone-mimicking bisphenol-A a chemical of choice for many manufacturers.

    By
  10. Health & Medicine

    Benefits of omega-3 fatty acids tally up

    A study of patients with sepsis and a second in people with heart disease suggest the fish oil compound may aid health.

    By
  11. Health & Medicine

    BPA and babies: Feds acknowledge concerns

    Federal health and research officials outlined new guidance today for parents on the use of plastics made from bisphenol-A, a hard, clear plastic. Their bottom line: Minimize BPA-based products that could make contact with foods or drinks that infants or toddlers might consume — especially hot foods and drinks. But the Food and Drug Administration stopped short of recommending that parents pitch baby bottles and sippy cups made from BPA. Nor did it call for parents to avoid processed infant formulas and baby foods — some of which it acknowledges are contaminated with traces of BPA.

    By
  12. Health & Medicine

    Study supports connection between BPA and heart disease

    U.S. population data reveal possible relationship between cardiovascular risk and plastics chemical.

    By