Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Strict regimen pays off years later

    Diabetes patients who adhered to a strict program of blood sugar control over nearly 7 years starting in the 1980s are still showing heart benefits.

    By Nathan Seppa
  2. Health & Medicine

    Lethal Emergence: Tracing the rise of dengue fever in the Americas

    Using the genetics of viruses, scientists have tracked a virulent form of dengue virus in Latin America back to its roots in India.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    Soy Greens—The Coming Health Food?

    Soybeans have gained renown for offering a host of health benefits. Not only do diets rich in products made from this legume appear to protect against heart disease and some cancers, but they also help to preserve bones in aging bodies. Yum? Diets augmented with leaves of the soybean plant might help diners control their […]

    By Janet Raloff
  4. Health & Medicine

    Prostate Health

    Many men over age 50 rarely sleep through the night. Instead, they find themselves awake and needing to urinate when, as younger men, this rarely happened. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers an excellent resource on the most common cause of frequent and urgent urination in men–benign prostatic hyperplasia, or […]

    By Science News
  5. Health & Medicine

    Can poliovirus fix spinal cord damage?

    Scientists have devised a version of the poliovirus that can deliver genes to motor neurons without harming them, a step toward a gene therapy that reawakens idle neurons in people with spinal cord damage.

    By Nathan Seppa
  6. Health & Medicine

    Prevention in a Pill? Baldness drug might avert prostate cancer

    The drug finasteride, given to alleviate baldness and prostate problems, might prevent some cases of prostate cancer.

    By Nathan Seppa
  7. Health & Medicine

    McDonald’s Cutback in Antibiotics Use Could Reduce Drug-Resistant Bacteria

    The fast-food chain McDonald’s announced on June 19 that it will stop its farms under contract from feeding chicken, cattle, and pigs certain antibiotics intended to accelerate the animals’ growth. That step might slow or reverse the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect people, scientists say. HAPPIER MEAL. Coming soon to a McDonald’s near […]

    By Ben Harder
  8. Health & Medicine

    Double Duty: Diabetes drug protects reopened heart vessels

    A drug normally prescribed to hold blood sugar in check provides an unexpected benefit to heart patients.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    MRI detects missed breast cancers

    Magnetic resonance imaging detects breast cancer better than does mammography and might be preferable for certain women at high risk.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    Cancer vaccine gets first test in patients

    The first clinical test of a cancer vaccine that targets a protein called carcinoembryonic antigen shows promise.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Early cancer therapy and heart problems

    Pediatric cancer treatment with chest radiation or anthracyclines can cause a heightened risk of heart disease at an earlier age than previously believed.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Gene profiles might guide chemotherapy

    Profiles of genetic variations in cancer patients could help oncologists predict the outcome of chemotherapy.

    By Nathan Seppa