Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Not So Sweet: Cancers in rats that consumed aspartame

    A large, new study in rats suggests that the artificial sweetener aspartame may be a carcinogen, but critics question the finding's validity.

    By Ben Harder
  2. Health & Medicine

    Alzheimer’s drug shows staying power

    The drug memantine slowed mental decline in people with moderate-to-advanced Alzheimer's disease in a 12-month trial, the longest test of the drug to date.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    Of taters and tots

    For each serving of french fries that a preschool girl typically consumed per week, her adult risk of developing breast cancer climbed.

    By Janet Raloff
  4. Health & Medicine

    Flora Horror

    A diarrhea-causing bacterium has developed new resistance to a widely used class of antibiotics and has recently become more transmissible and more deadly.

    By Ben Harder
  5. Health & Medicine

    Low-Fat Diet Falls Short: It’s not enough to stop cancers, heart disease

    Reducing fat consumption after menopause offers women little if any protection against breast cancer, colorectal cancer, or heart disease, according to reports from a massive, 8-year trial.

    By Ben Harder
  6. Health & Medicine

    Mouth cancer data faked, journal says

    A study by a Norwegian researcher claiming that anti-inflammatory drugs reduce the risk of mouth cancer in smokers was based on faked data.

    By Nathan Seppa
  7. Health & Medicine

    Newborn head size linked to cancer risk

    Healthy newborns with big heads face an increased risk of brain cancer.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    Protecting People from a Terrifying Toxin: Vaccine stimulates immune response against ricin

    In its first test in people, a vaccine against the toxin ricin appears safe and generates antibodies that are expected to be protective against the potential bioterrorism agent.

    By Ben Harder
  9. Health & Medicine

    Self Help: Stem cells rescue lupus patients

    By rebuilding a patient's immune system using his or her own stem cells, doctors can reverse of the course of lupus in severely ill patients.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    Rotavirus vaccines pass big safety tests

    The largest industry-funded medical trials in history have found that two new vaccines are both safe and effective against life-threatening childhood diarrhea caused by rotavirus.

    By Ben Harder
  11. Health & Medicine

    Tumor’s border cells told to leave

    Cells on a tumor's outer layer that touch healthy tissue receive a chemical signal that sends them wandering away.

    By Christen Brownlee
  12. Health & Medicine

    Diabetes most often begins in March

    A person's likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes varies seasonally and is about 50 percent higher in March than in August.

    By Ben Harder