Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Boldly into the breech controversy

    Addressing a long-simmering controversy, a large new study has shown that in pregnancies where the baby has positioned itself to emerge feet or buttocks first, the delivery safest for the mother and child is a planned cesarean section rather than a vaginal birth.

    By Damaris Christensen
  2. Health & Medicine

    A vaccine to help ex-smokers

    By generating antibodies that neutralize nicotine, a vaccine could keep ex-smokers from getting the nicotine high that drives many of them back to their bad habit.

    By John Travis
  3. Health & Medicine

    Caffeine may ward off Parkinson’s

    Scientists may have found an explanation for why coffee drinking prevents Parkinson's disease.

    By John Travis
  4. Health & Medicine

    Sputum Test May Predict Lung Cancer

    By zeroing in on aberrations in two cancer-fighting genes, researchers have found a marker for cancer risk that could help doctors screen people for signs of lung cancer early enough for treatment to be effective.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Old-fashioned circumcision can spread herpes

    Boys whose ritual circumcisions involve an ancient, and now rare, practice may acquire herpes during the operation.

    By Ben Harder
  6. Health & Medicine

    Severe sweating treated with Botox

    A new treatment has been approved for excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis, which is surprisingly common.

    By Ben Harder
  7. Health & Medicine

    What’s the Beef?

    Beef certified as Angus may not always be as tender as consumers expect.

    By Janet Raloff
  8. Health & Medicine

    HIV drugs may stop cervical disease

    A drug combination given to people with HIV, the AIDS virus, helps knock out precancerous cervical lesions in some women.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Got Diabetes? Try Ditching Caffeine

    New studies indicate that caffeine impairs the body's ability to use insulin and regulate blood sugar—potentially serious problems for people with diabetes.

    By Janet Raloff
  10. Health & Medicine

    Swallowed a Fly: Insects may spread foodborne microbe to chickens

    Flies sucked through the ventilation ports of industrial chicken coops may spread the pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, which can ultimately sicken people who eat undercooked chicken.

    By Ben Harder
  11. Health & Medicine

    Gene Delivery: Mouse study shows new therapy may reverse muscular dystrophy

    A single defective gene causes muscular dystrophy, and researchers have now found a way to deliver a working copy of that gene to the entire muscular system in mice.

    By Carrie Lock
  12. Health & Medicine

    Stopping Alzheimer’s: Antibody thwarts disease in mice

    Antibodies against amyloid protein, which gums up the brains of Alzheimer's patients, reverse a form of the disease in mice.

    By Nathan Seppa