Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Rooting out hidden HIV

    A drug called valproic acid, used in combination with other medications, can ferret out HIV that is lying dormant in cells.

    By Nathan Seppa
  2. Health & Medicine

    Protein fingered in rare psychosis

    A protein is pivotal in bringing on the psychotic attacks that beset people with porphyria, a rare inherited disease.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    When Flu Flies the Coop

    Scientists are tracking the spread of a threatening influenza virus in birds and exploring strategies that could be used to halt a potential outbreak in people before it explodes into a global epidemic.

    By Ben Harder
  4. Health & Medicine

    A New Role for Statin Drugs? Cholesterol fighters may reduce deaths soon after heart attacks

    Statin drugs given within 24 hours of a heart attack improve a patient's chance of surviving.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Dark Side of a Blood Builder: Hormone linked to diabetic blindness

    Erythropoietin, a hormone that orchestrates growth processes, may contribute to eye damage in people with diabetic retinopathy.

    By Nathan Seppa
  6. Health & Medicine

    Stroke site is often not right

    Thousands of strokes in the right half of the brain may go unrecognized because their symptoms are less distinctive than those of left-side strokes.

    By Ben Harder
  7. Health & Medicine

    Targeted Attack

    Scientists are piecing together the details of how mutations in a protein called EGFR can lead to cancer, and they are designing a new class of drugs to stop the protein's destructive behavior.

    By Emily Sohn
  8. Health & Medicine

    The Kindest Cuts Are Underwater

    Fruits and veggies stay fresher longer when they're peeled and sliced underwater, not on the countertop.

    By Janet Raloff
  9. Health & Medicine

    X Ray Excels: Technique brings a new image to medicine

    Recent advances in a technique called phase-contrast x-ray imaging could make it easier for physicians to spot tumors, clogged arteries, and other soft-tissue problems.

    By Naila Moreira
  10. Health & Medicine

    Comb over Chemicals: Tool may rid heads of pesticideproof lice

    Used systematically, special combs may be more effective than insecticidal shampoos at ridding a child's scalp of head lice.

    By Ben Harder
  11. Health & Medicine

    Outwitting TB: Enhanced vaccine protects mice in lab tests

    An enhanced vaccine appears to offer better protection against tuberculosis than the current version does, a study in mice suggests.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Tracking busy genes to get at cancer

    By identifying which genes are overactive in certain breast tumors, researchers have discovered a genetic signature that could help doctors predict if and when a woman's cancer might spread to her lungs.

    By Nathan Seppa