Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Mixing Vessel: Air pollution helps cholesterol clog arteries

    When paired with a diet high in fat, breathing polluted air on a regular basis accelerates the accumulation of dangerous plaques in arteries.

    By Ben Harder
  2. Health & Medicine

    Protein predicts sickle-cell danger

    A biological marker of heart trouble can be used to identify sickle-cell anemia patients who are at greatest risk of developing a serious, disease-related complication.

    By Ben Harder
  3. Health & Medicine

    Transfusions harm some heart patients

    Patients who undergo coronary-bypass surgery frequently receive unnecessary blood transfusions as part of their follow-up care.

    By Ben Harder
  4. Health & Medicine

    Old drug, new trick

    The drug rapamycin, now used in transplants, may make chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia more effective.

    By Ben Harder
  5. Health & Medicine

    Molecule marks leukemia cells

    Researchers can now single out malignant cells in the bone marrow of patients with acute myeloid leukemia by using an antibody that latches on to a newfound cell protein.

    By Ben Harder
  6. Health & Medicine

    Rare marrow cells tackle deadly immune reaction

    Researchers have developed a new technique to counter graft-versus-host disease, a common complication of treating blood cancers with marrow-cell transfusions.

    By Ben Harder
  7. Health & Medicine

    Ebola may travel on the wing

    Fruit bats can carry the Ebola virus, suggesting that they may spread it in Africa.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    Breathing Easier with Vitamin D

    Making sure that our bodies have ample vitamin D slows or limits a number of degenerative changes, including diminished lung function.

    By Janet Raloff
  9. Health & Medicine

    Tomorrow’s Clot Stoppers? New anticoagulants show promise

    Two experimental drugs could become alternatives to warfarin and a class of other products that are used widely to protect against potentially fatal blood clots.

    By Ben Harder
  10. Health & Medicine

    Shots often don’t reach muscle

    Standard 3-centimeter needles are too short to penetrate the layer of fat in the buttocks of most women and most obese men, so injected medications aimed at muscle often don't reach their targets.

    By Ben Harder
  11. Health & Medicine

    New software aids virtual colonoscopy

    A computer program helps radiologists spot dangerous growths in the colon without probing inside the body.

    By Ben Harder
  12. Health & Medicine

    Academic Cost of Food Insecurity

    Grade school children who come from households where food supplies are not always adequate exhibit more behavioral problems and poorer reading and math skills than do kids who have ample access to nutritious food.

    By Janet Raloff