Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Bacteria-Stocked Beverage Clears Pathogens from Nose

    Dangerous bacteria often take refuge deep inside peoples noses, where they can remain dormant until they find an opportunity to invade other parts of the body. Perhaps the most important of these stowaway nasal microbes is Staphylococcus aureus, which can spread to wounds and surgical incisions and cause life-threatening blood infections. As many as a […]

    By Ben Harder
  2. Health & Medicine

    Mixed Results: AIDS vaccine falters in whites, may help blacks

    In its first large test, an AIDS vaccine has failed to shield an at-risk population from acquiring AIDS.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    HIV in breast milk can be drug resistant

    HIV-positive women who receive the drug nevirapine during pregnancy often have HIV that is resistant to the drug in their breast milk after they give birth.

    By Nathan Seppa
  4. Health & Medicine

    Designer RNA stalls hepatitis in mice

    Using strips of synthetic RNA that interfere with normal gene action, scientists working with mice have stopped the progression of hepatitis.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Stress and sleepless nights

    Insomnia is associated with increases in stress hormones, boosts that persist all day and night.

    By Damaris Christensen
  6. Health & Medicine

    Gene causes body-fat disorder

    A gene linked to a form of muscular dystrophy also causes a disease that deposits fat unevenly after puberty.

    By Damaris Christensen
  7. Health & Medicine

    Hormone treats autoimmune disease

    A medication combining the drug prasterone and hormone dehydroepiandrosterone, or DHEA, stabilizes or improves symptoms of lupus.

    By Damaris Christensen
  8. Health & Medicine

    Full Pipeline: Success of experimental AIDS drugs offers promise of future therapies

    Three experimental drugs—a monoclonal antibody, a protease inhibitor, and a fusion inhibitor—performed well in early tests on AIDS patients.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Hold the Phone? Radiation from cell phones hurts rats’ brains

    A single 2-hour exposure to the microwaves emitted by some cell phones kills brain cells in rats.

    By Kendall Morgan
  10. Health & Medicine

    Tipsy Times

    Literally hundreds of studies over the past decade have reported evidence that regular, moderate drinking–downing one to three drinks a day–can offer people significant health benefits by cutting their risks of heart disease and probably diabetes. What such studies usually fail to emphasize is that benefits from a little alcohol show up almost exclusively in […]

    By Janet Raloff
  11. Health & Medicine

    Cultured cells reverse some eye damage

    Transplants using bioengineered corneal stem cells grown on an amniotic membrane can vastly improve vision in people who are nearly blind because of damaged corneas.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Cancer Quest

    Developed at Emory University, the CancerQuest Web site offers insights into the biology of cancer. The site provides clear, concise information about how the disease works, accompanied by interactive graphics and a handy glossary. Topics range from cell structure and genetic change to tumor biology and cancer treatment. Go to: http://www.cancerquest.org/

    By Science News