Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Primate virus found in zoo workers

    Viruses related to HIV can be found in the blood of some zoo staff and other people who work with primates, although the infections don't appear to be harmful.

    By Ben Harder
  2. Health & Medicine

    Inflammatory Fat

    Immune system cells may underlie much of the disease-provoking injury in obese individuals that has been linked to their excess fat.

    By Janet Raloff
  3. Health & Medicine

    Putting the brakes on toxic shock

    Scientists have discovered the cascade of molecular events that underpins many cases of toxic shock syndrome.

    By Nathan Seppa
  4. Health & Medicine

    Some T cells may be a fetus’ best friend

    While pregnant, mice overproduce a kind of T cell that reins in other immune cells that might target the fetus.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Pill Puzzle: Do antibiotics increase breast cancer risk?

    A new study links antibiotic use to breast cancer, although it's not clear the drugs cause the disease.

    By John Travis
  6. Health & Medicine

    Drug Racing: Gene tied to HIV-drug response

    A genetic mutation more common in blacks than in whites increases the odds that people taking a common HIV medicine will suffer side effects that lead them to halt treatment.

    By Ben Harder
  7. Health & Medicine

    Pregnancy Alert: Proteins may predict preeclampsia

    Blood concentrations of two proteins that affect blood vessel growth appear to foretell the pregnancy condition known as preeclampsia.

    By Edna Francisco
  8. Health & Medicine

    Virus might explain respiratory ailments

    Human metapneumovirus, first isolated in 2001, is present in many respiratory infections that had previously gone unexplained.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Calcium Superchargers

    Foods such as yogurts supplemented with fiberlike sugars are developing into the latest wave in functional foods–commercial goods seeded with ingredients that boost their nutritiousness or healthfulness. Makers of foods doctored with these unusual, nearly flavorless sugars claim that their products improve the body’s absorption of calcium in the diet, thereby offering bones a treat. […]

    By Janet Raloff
  10. Health & Medicine

    Early Warning? Inflammatory protein is tied to colon cancer risk

    C-reactive protein, an inflammatory protein linked to heart disease, might also signal susceptibility to colon cancer.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Malaria drug boosts recovery rates

    Adding the herbal-extract drug artesunate to standard malaria treatment reduces the relapse rate, even in areas where the malaria parasite is resistant to standard drugs.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Aging protein saps muscle strength

    Proteins crucial for muscle strength begin to function poorly as rats get older.

    By John Travis