Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineMixed Bag: Islet-cell transplants offer good and bad news
Most people who've received transplanted islet cells for type 1 diabetes still need daily insulin shots, but the transplanted cells curb blood sugar crashes.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineThe Bad Fight: Immune systems harmed 1918 flu patients
The 1918 Spanish flu virus may have launched an intense immune attack that devastated patients' lungs.
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Health & MedicineUV Blocker: Lotion yields protective tan in fair-skinned mice
A lotion that stimulates production of the skin pigment melanin induces a deep tan in specially bred laboratory mice.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineGraveyard Shift: Prostate cancer linked to rotating work schedule
Men who alternate between daytime and nighttime shifts on their jobs have triple the normal rate of prostate cancer, according to a Japanese nationwide study.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineShingles shot’s value is uncertain
The cost-effectiveness of a new vaccine against shingles remains uncertain, making it difficult to assess whether adults should routinely receive the shot.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineProgestin linked to hearing loss in older women
Elderly women who received progestin as part of hormone replacement therapy have poorer hearing than do women who didn't get progestin.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineCalling Death’s Bluff
New methods of assessing a person's risk of sudden death due to a heart arrhythmia may enable doctors to better identify which patients need to receive an implanted defibrillator.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineBabies Motor Better with Breast Milk
Even a few months of breastfeeding appear to confer important motor-coordination benefits on an infant.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineWeapon against MS: Transplant drug limits nerve damage
An immune-suppressing drug called fingolimod slows multiple sclerosis relapses in patients.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineForewarning of preeclampsia
Scientists have found an early warning sign of preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure. Pregnant women with too much of a protein called soluble endoglin in their blood have a heightened risk of preeclampsia, the researchers say. Endoglin normally sits on the surface of blood vessels, where it plays a role in […]
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicinePick Your Antipoison
New research may soon make treating venomous bites and stings less expensive, less risky, and more effective.
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Health & MedicineA New Bible for Eating Well
The Institute of Medicine has just summarized in a new book 5,000 pages of comprehensive nutrition guidelines issued over the past decade.
By Janet Raloff