Humans

Health & Medicine

Success clearing clogged arteries

In the past 10 years, angioplasty and other procedures to unblock clogged arteries have steadily improved, probably due to increasing use of wire-mesh tubes called stents to help patients’ arteries stay open.

Health & Medicine

A sticky problem solved

Researchers have identified a protein integral to making blood clot, a finding they hope will lead to better drugs for preventing clots in people at risk of heart attack or stroke.

Humans

Explosions, not a collision, sank the Kursk

Analyses of the shock waves recorded at seismic stations across northern Europe indicate that the Russian submarine Kursk sank due to onboard explosions, not a run-in with another vessel.

Health & Medicine

Found: Mutation for deadly nerve disorder

Two research teams have discovered the genetic mutation that causes familial dysautonomia, a lethal hereditary disease that causes nervous system damage.

Health & Medicine

Radiation therapy keeps arteries clear

Two new studies add to the growing evidence that radiation treatment may keep arteries open longer after angioplasty.

Anthropology

Rumble in the Jungle

A new book raises troubling and controversial issues regarding research on a famous South American Indian population.

Health & Medicine

Dietary stress may compromise bones

Internal conflict about what and how much to eat not only induces production of a stress hormone but also may eventually weaken bones.

Health & Medicine

Raloxifene doesn’t hike breast density

Estrogen-replacement therapy that includes estrogen increases breast-tissue density among postmenopausal women, but the estrogen-replacement drug raloxifene doesn’t.

Anthropology

Human ancestors had taste for termites

Incisions on ancient bone implements found in South Africa indicate that human ancestors gathered termites, a protein-rich food source, more than 1 million years ago.

Health & Medicine

Cocaine link to heart attack bolstered

Regular cocaine use may account for one-fourth of nonfatal heart attacks in people under age 45.

Health & Medicine

Gene mutation can spur autoimmunity

A mutation of a gene on the X chromosome can lead to a dangerous autoimmune disorder and type I diabetes.

Health & Medicine

Mending a Broken Heart

Transplants of skeletal-muscle cells may help heal hearts damaged by illness or previous heart attacks.