Nathan Seppa

Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)

All Stories by Nathan Seppa

  1. Not just a high

    Cannabis compounds show their stuff against a host of medical problems, relieving symptoms far beyond pain and nausea.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Stopping platelets at the source

    An experimental treatment may prevent harmful clotting and less need for drugs that increase bleeding risk, a study in baboons shows.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Vitamin B6 linked to lowered lung cancer risk

    High levels of folate and the amino acid methionine also seem to help, a new study finds.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Different berries, similar cancer-fighting effects

    Animal tests suggest that esophageal and breast cancer might make good targets for several types of berries as dietary supplements.

  5. Health & Medicine

    In youth hockey, more contact means more injuries

    Concussions are three times more common among 11- to 12-year-olds in leagues that permit checking, a Canadian study finds.

  6. Health & Medicine

    New angle on treating sepsis

    An enzyme that plays a role in the lethal inflammatory disorder may be a suitable drug target, early tests show.

  7. Tanning bed use linked to melanoma risk

    People with the skin cancer are more likely to have frequented the salons, a study finds.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Immune traits may identify lucky kidney-transplant recipients

    Tests find a genetic signature that may delineate people who could drop immune-suppression therapy.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Behavioral therapy can help kids with Tourette disorder

    A ten-week course of practicing techniques to countermand tics works better than counseling.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Caring for a spouse with dementia leaves caregiver at risk

    Wives and husbands who attend to mates have greater chance of developing problems themselves, a new study finds.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Global child deaths on decline

    Infectious diseases kept numbers for 2008 staggeringly high, with 8.8 million children dying before age 5, a new survey shows.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Sickle-cell anemia tied to cognitive impairment

    Patients with the hereditary condition score worse on standardized tests than people without it.