Health & Medicine

Health & Medicine

Statins Take On the Brain

Cholesterol-lowering drugs may also treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Health & Medicine

HIV-related viruses still cross species line

Various potentially dangerous strains of simian immunodeficiency virus exist in wild primates in Africa and are still being spread among people who hunt the animals for meat.

Health & Medicine

One-Two Drug Punch Trips Up Leukemia

A leukemia cell seals its own fate when researchers trap cancer-causing proteins in its nucleus.

Health & Medicine

‘Bug’ spray cuts risk of ear infection

Spraying “good” bacteria into the nose reduced the incidence of ear infections in children especially prone to such infections.

Health & Medicine

Medicinal Mimicry

While researchers tease out the mechanisms behind the ability of inert pills and sham procedures to trigger health benefits, the ethics of using such placebos in medical research trials is coming under increasing scrutiny.

Health & Medicine

Success clearing clogged arteries

In the past 10 years, angioplasty and other procedures to unblock clogged arteries have steadily improved, probably due to increasing use of wire-mesh tubes called stents to help patients’ arteries stay open.

Health & Medicine

A sticky problem solved

Researchers have identified a protein integral to making blood clot, a finding they hope will lead to better drugs for preventing clots in people at risk of heart attack or stroke.

Health & Medicine

Found: Mutation for deadly nerve disorder

Two research teams have discovered the genetic mutation that causes familial dysautonomia, a lethal hereditary disease that causes nervous system damage.

Health & Medicine

Radiation therapy keeps arteries clear

Two new studies add to the growing evidence that radiation treatment may keep arteries open longer after angioplasty.

Health & Medicine

Dietary stress may compromise bones

Internal conflict about what and how much to eat not only induces production of a stress hormone but also may eventually weaken bones.

Health & Medicine

Raloxifene doesn’t hike breast density

Estrogen-replacement therapy that includes estrogen increases breast-tissue density among postmenopausal women, but the estrogen-replacement drug raloxifene doesn’t.

Health & Medicine

Cocaine link to heart attack bolstered

Regular cocaine use may account for one-fourth of nonfatal heart attacks in people under age 45.