A surgery in which two tiny electrodes are placed in the brain improves the quality of life of patients with Parkinson’s disease, including older patients, and seems to have only short-term side effects. (p. 13)

People who have a disorder that causes them to thrash and kick during sleep face a high risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or other neurodegenerative disorders. (p. 9)

Mice exposed to cigarette smoke and then ed the drug and fended of emphysema, suggesting the edible drug might help ex-smokers. (p. 8)

Levels of two enzymes crucial for shutting down genes might clarify the prognosis for ovarian cancer patients, a new study finds.

Dual therapy that adds radiation to medication for aggressive prostate cancer yields better survival and fewer signs of relapse than drugs alone, a large Scandinavian clinical trial finds.

Out-of-pocket costs of breast cancer hit poor individuals the hardest.

A lab study of healthy breast tissue cells shows increases in the tumor suppressor protein PTEN in the presence of soy isoflavone genistein, a compound believed to fight breast cancer. (p. 15)

Decreasing breast density signals the drug tamoxifen is working in women at risk of developing breast cancer. (p. 15)

Going beyond its original role as an add-on for chemotherapy, the breast cancer drug lapatinib, when taken with another kind of frontline drug, may find use for patients with the HER2-positive form of the cancer.

Selenium, vitamins C, E don’t lower incidence of prostate cancer in two large trials.

The success of two trials sets the stage for a final, large-scale trial that could mean approval of what would be the first vaccine against Malaria. (p. 15)

The association between depression and heart problems could stem from a lack of physical activity and other lifestyle factors.