Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
A vaccine for cervical cancer
A vaccine against human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer, has proved 94 percent effective in preventing the virus from infecting women.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Vaccine Stretch: Smaller dose packs punch against flu
A fraction of the standard dose of flu vaccine appears to grant people immunity to influenza if injected into the skin rather than in the muscle of the upper arm.
By David Shiga - Health & Medicine
Uranium, the newest ‘hormone’
Animal experiments indicate that waterborne uranium can mimic the activity of estrogen, a female sex hormone.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Heavy traffic may trigger heart attacks
Exposure to traffic can dramatically increase a person's risk of having a heart attack soon afterward.
- Health & Medicine
Vegetable Soup Fights Cell Damage
A study in which volunteers ate vegetable soup every day for two weeks points to benefits of vitamin C beyond its role as an antioxidant.
- Health & Medicine
Assault on Autism
A shift in scientific thinking about what causes autism is prompting a closer look at potential environmental factors.
- Health & Medicine
Marker signals esophageal cancer
Silencing of the gene that encodes the cancer-suppressing protein APC is common in people with esophageal cancer, suggesting that physicians might use this genetic abnormality as a marker for the disease.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Is penicillin-allergy rate overstated?
A study finds that 20 of 21 people who reported having a penicillin allergy when filling out paperwork during a hospital visit in fact don't have one, suggesting that the prevalence of this allergy is overstated.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Weight Matters, Even in the Womb
Status at birth can foreshadow illnesses decades later.
- Health & Medicine
Persistent Cough: Pertussis rises in young adults and infants
Pertussis, or whooping cough, appears to be rebounding in many age groups, causing long-lasting symptoms in adolescents and adults and threatening the lives of unvaccinated infants.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Nicotine’s Good Side: Substance curbs sepsis in mice
Nicotine halted the progression of severe sepsis in mice, suggesting a new avenue for treating this acute blood infection.
- Health & Medicine
High-fat diets slim down learning
High-fat diets decrease the ability of male rats to learn and remember.