Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineHIV sexual spread exploits immune sentinels
The virus that causes AIDS latches onto a protein called DC-SIGN to hitch a ride on immune cells in mucus membranes and spread through the body.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineFused cells hold promise of cancer vaccines
A vaccine composed of tumor cells fused to immune cells has helped several people survive advanced kidney cancer.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineAntibodies fight Ebola virus in mouse test
Specially designed antibodies can thwart Ebola virus in mice by binding to a glycoprotein on the surface of virus-infected cells, suggesting a potential treatment for the lethal disease.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineHear, Hear
A 14-year study of twin babies shows definitively for the first time that there's a link between middle ear infections and heredity.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineMarrow Can Hide Breast Cancer Cells
Breast cancer patients who have stray cancer cells in bone marrow are more likely to die of cancer or have a recurrence of cancer elsewhere in the body than are breast cancer patients not harboring such cells.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicinePancreatic enzymes may play role in shock
Pancreatic enzymes used for digestion may cause shock when they leach out of the small intestine and form a substance that activates white blood cells.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineResearchers Probe Cell-Phone Effects
Scientists are trying to find out whether biological changes associated with cell-phone use represent health risks.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineAIDS drugs may cause bone loss
Using X rays to measure bone density in HIV-infected men, researchers find a possible link between bone loss and long-term use of protease inhibitors.
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Health & MedicineHIV may date back to the 1930s
Genetic analysis of the AIDS virus suggests it first infected humans in the first third of the 20th century.
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Health & MedicineOne more reason to worry
A single dose of the AIDS drug nevirapine, given to mothers to help prevent them from infecting their children during birth, may be enough to prod the virus to develop drug resistance.
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Health & MedicineNovel diabetes strain has rapid onset
Japanese researchers have confirmed that some patients with type 1 diabetes have a novel form of the disease that's not caused by immune cells attacking the pancreas.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineLung cancer gene has gender bias
The X chromosome's gastrin-releasing peptide receptor gene is turned on by nicotine to produce a protein that promotes lung cancer, a combination of factors that could explain why women are more susceptible to the disease than men are.