Nathan Seppa

Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)

All Stories by Nathan Seppa

  1. Health & Medicine

    Donating a kidney doesn’t hurt long-term health

    A survey of donors since the 1960s finds survival rates on par with the general population.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Easygoing, social people may get dementia less often

    Don’t worry, be happy: People who are largely unstressed by mundane events seem less likely to develop dementia in old age than people who sweat the small stuff.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Using checklist reduces surgery complications

    Measure twice, cut once: Going over a checklist of procedures in the operating room before and after surgery lowers the complication rate and, in developing countries, saves lives, a study in eight hospitals shows.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Omega-3 fatty acid is early boost for female preemies

    DHA given to newborns in the first weeks following birth improves brain development in girls, but not boys.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Early C-sections pose risks

    Babies delivered by elective cesarean section just a week or two before 39 weeks of gestation face increased risk of respiratory and other complications.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Parkinson’s brain surgery works in older patients, too

    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.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Disturbed sleep tied to Parkinson’s risk

    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.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Experimental drug fends off emphysema in mice

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

  9. Health & Medicine

    Enzyme inventory affects ovarian cancer outlook

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

  10. Health & Medicine

    Dual therapy best for nasty prostate cancer

    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.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Breast cancer costs poor people more

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

  12. Health & Medicine

    Soy compound revs up cancer fighter in healthy tissue

    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.