Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    New sources and uses for stem cells

    Human skin and scalp tissue may provide a source of neural stem cells.

    By John Travis
  2. Health & Medicine

    Vaccine protects monkeys from Ebola virus

    A combination of a DNA vaccine and a vaccine based on a genetically modified common cold virus enables monkeys to resist Ebola virus, the first evidence that an Ebola vaccine works in primates.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    Is Vitamin D Fattening?

    People who don't consume enough calcium may find vitamin D sabotages their weight-control efforts by promoting fat gain.

    By Janet Raloff
  4. Health & Medicine

    Dormant Cancer: Lack of a protein sends tumor cells to bed

    Excess amounts of a protein called Myc triggers cancer in mice, but ratcheting back this supply sends the malignant cells into dormancy.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Fat Fuels PCB Damage: Diet influences toxic effects leading to heart disease

    Certain types of dietary fats can magnify PCB damage to artery cells in a way that sets the stage for cardiovascular disease.

    By Diana Parsell
  6. Health & Medicine

    Drug-resistant staph causes more pneumonia

    A recently discovered variant of Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to some antibiotics became a major cause of severe pneumonia among people who caught the flu last winter.

    By Ben Harder
  7. Health & Medicine

    Kids’ vaccine guards adults too, for now

    Serious infections caused by pneumococcus have decreased in both children and adults since the introduction of a childhood vaccine against seven strains of the bacterium, but other pneumococcus strains are now becoming more prevalent among adults with HIV.

    By Ben Harder
  8. Health & Medicine

    Human antibody halts SARS in hamsters

    Human-derived antibodies can not only prevent infections when given in advance of SARS exposure but also mitigate the symptoms of an infection already in progress.

    By Ben Harder
  9. Health & Medicine

    Vitamin D: What’s Enough?

    Most researchers studying vitamin D agree that many people would benefit from more of the vitamin, but they haven't yet decided just how much.

    By Janet Raloff
  10. Health & Medicine

    Carotid Overhaul: Stents and surgery go neck and neck

    Mesh cylinders called stents work as well as or slightly better than surgery in opening blocked carotid arteries in high-risk patients.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Turmeric component kills cancer cells

    Curcumin, the component of turmeric that makes the spice yellow, shows anticancer effects in lab-dish tests and in experiments on mice.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Honey, Let’s Shrink the Kids

    A new Institute of Medicine report calls for fundamental changes throughout U.S. society to make pediatric-obesity prevention a major national priority, comparable to the campaign against youthful smoking.

    By Janet Raloff