Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Viruses, but not bacteria, tied to mental decline

    Past infection by multiple common viruses may contribute to cognitive decline in some elderly people.

    By Ben Harder
  2. Health & Medicine

    Drug reduces risks for dialysis patients

    Kidney-dialysis patients getting the vitamin D drug paricalcitol survive longer than those getting a similar medication called calcitriol.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    Predicting Prostate Cancer’s Moves

    To guide treatment decisions in individual cases of prostate cancer, medical researchers are using gene-expression profiling and other novel techniques to develop better predictive markers of how a given tumor will behave.

    By Ben Harder
  4. Health & Medicine

    Brawny Brains: Creatine pills may aid memory and cognition

    The popular muscle-building supplement creatine can boost performance on mental tests.

    By Ben Harder
  5. Health & Medicine

    Switching Off Pain: Modeling relief on the action of marijuana

    A new drug, tested in rats, blocks pain caused when the nervous system goes awry without producing unwanted side effects.

    By Sorcha McDonagh
  6. Health & Medicine

    Blood Sugar Fix

    A new class of experimental drugs that mimic the actions of the hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 shows benefits against type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes.

    By Nathan Seppa
  7. Health & Medicine

    Virus Shield: Ebola vaccine works fast in monkey test

    Tests on monkeys show that an experimental vaccine can build immunity against Ebola virus within a month, suggesting the vaccine might help contain outbreaks of the deadly pathogen.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    Blood-cell transplants slow kidney cancer

    A new transplant technique that uses blood transfusions from a sibling combined with decreasing doses of immune-suppressing drugs enables some patients to fight off advanced kidney cancer.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Clot buster attached to red blood cells avoids complications

    Attaching a clot-busting drug to red blood cells limits the drug's side effects, a study in animals shows.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    Transplant Hope: New thymus tissue jump-starts immune system in babies

    A thymus tissue transplant enables babies born with DiGeorge syndrome to develop functional immune systems.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Anthrax toxin curbs immune cells

    A toxin produced by the anthrax bacterium suppresses cells that launch the body's immune response.

    By John Travis
  12. Health & Medicine

    Intestinal Fortitude: Treatment for colitis shows early success

    Given as a drug, a protein fragment called epidermal growth factor induces remission in people with ulcerative colitis, apparently by healing intestinal lesions.

    By Nathan Seppa