Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineTaking a toll: Antiviral drugs activate immune system
Promising antiviral drugs activate a key immune-system protein.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineHeart recipients add their own cells
Transplanted hearts incorporate muscle and blood-vessel cells from their new host, suggesting that the heart may regenerate its own tissue.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineDREAMing away pain
Mutant mice lacking a certain regulatory protein overproduce a natural opioid and are less sensitive to pain than are other mice.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineAn El Niño link with a tropical disease?
An analysis of recent outbreaks of an often fatal disease in Peru may strengthen a link between the malady and the warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean known as El Niño.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & MedicineCompound mimics calorie restriction
A new compound, part of a family of proteins that regulate fat transport, lowers the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes in monkeys.
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Health & MedicineOminous signals: Genes may identify the worst breast cancers
By using a technology that reveals patterns of gene activity in tumor cells, researchers can detect breast cancers that are likely to spread and become deadly.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineDrink and thrive: Moderate alcohol use reduces dementia risk
Alcohol appears to reduce aging drinkers' risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of age-related dementia.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineGerms That Do a Body Good
Research on probiotic bacteria—living microbes that confer health benefits when introduced into the body—offers growing medical promise.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineA new way to lower cholesterol
New agents lower cholesterol in a slightly different way than do statins, the most widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs.
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Health & MedicineThe Persistent Problem of Cystic Fibrosis
Ten years after the discovery of the gene that, when mutated, causes cystic fibrosis, researchers are still struggling to understand why deadly lung infections are so common among people with the disease.
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Health & MedicineThe right fats: Omega-3 fatty acids soothe inflamed colons
A diet containing fish oil, which is rich in healthful omega-3 fatty acids, reduces symptoms of a colitis-like condition in rats.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineAnthrax-toxin component deciphered
Scientists have figured out the molecular structure of edema factor, a component of the anthrax toxin.
By Nathan Seppa