Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Cord Blood to the Rescue: Infusions help babies with Hurler’s syndrome

    Umbilical cord blood transplants boost overall health and survival in patients with the rare hereditary condition called Hurler's syndrome.

    By Nathan Seppa
  2. Health & Medicine

    Ironing Out Some Mental Limitations

    Iron deficiency can subtly compromise how well a person performs multiple challenging tasks simultaneously.

    By Janet Raloff
  3. Health & Medicine

    Humidity may affect LASIK surgery

    High humidity can boost the chances of needing follow-up surgery after LASIK surgery for nearsightedness.

    By Nathan Seppa
  4. Health & Medicine

    Delaying Dementia

    The limited success of attempts to treat Alzheimer's disease with several compounds that appear able to prevent the disorder suggests that the window for derailing the development of the illness may close years before cognitive decline becomes evident.

    By Ben Harder
  5. Health & Medicine

    Unsettling Association: Dental X rays linked to low-birth-weight babies

    Getting dental X rays while pregnant might increase a woman's risk of giving birth to a low-birth-weight baby.

    By Nathan Seppa
  6. Health & Medicine

    Tea Yields Prostate Benefits

    Tea drinking appears to seed the body with compounds that retard the growth of prostate cancer.

    By Janet Raloff
  7. Health & Medicine

    Exercise boosts sugar’s taste

    Studies in runners and in animals indicate that exercise increases an individual's sensitivity to sweetness.

    By Janet Raloff
  8. Health & Medicine

    Proteins mark ALS

    Scientists reported finding what appears to be the first diagnostic test for Lou Gehrig's disease, potentially shaving a year off of when targeted treatment for the disease can begin.

    By Janet Raloff
  9. Health & Medicine

    Experimental drug boosts HDL counts

    An experimental drug can dramatically increase blood concentrations of high-density lipoprotein, the beneficial cholesterol.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    CT scan no match for colonoscopy

    Colonoscopy is better at detecting potentially dangerous colon polyps than computed tomography scanning is.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Coffee, Spices, Wine

    Several dietary agents, including coffee, wine, and cinnamon, appear to restore some of the body's responsiveness to insulin, potentially slowing diabetes' onset or ravages.

    By Janet Raloff
  12. Health & Medicine

    Firms vie to treat genetic disease

    Successful treatment of Fabry's disease—a rare, fatal genetic condition—prompts a law suit.

    By John Travis