Nathan Seppa

Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)

All Stories by Nathan Seppa

  1. Health & Medicine

    Calculated Risk: Shedding light on fracture hazards in elderly

    Diminished bone density in elderly people contributes to fractures following traumatic accidents.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Dengue virus found in donated blood

    Scientists have discovered that 12 units of blood donated in Puerto Rico in late 2005 contained the dengue virus.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Sleeping sickness pill may work as well as injections

    The first oral drug for sleeping sickness is showing effectiveness in a trial in central Africa.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Bomb craters mean trouble for islanders

    A skin infection in people living on the Pacific island of Satowan stems from swimming in ponds formed from World War II bomb craters there.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Patch guards against Montezuma’s revenge

    A patch worn on the skin delivers a vaccine against a form of Escherichia coli that causes traveler's diarrhea.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Biohazard: Smoking before or after pregnancy may harm daughters’ fertility

    Smoking before pregnancy or during breastfeeding might impair the female offspring's fertility, a study in mice shows.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Bone Builder: Drug may offer steroid users new protection against fractures

    A bone-growth medication called teriparatide outperforms the standard bone-preserving drug alendronate in people with steroid-induced osteoporosis.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Earache microbe shows resistance

    A strain of bacterium that causes middle ear infection is resistant to all antibiotics currently approved for the ailment.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Plugging Leaks: Manipulating receptors may impede sepsis

    Manipulation of signaling proteins on blood vessels may help combat sepsis, an often fatal condition.

  10. Good Buzz: Tiny vibrations may limit fat-cell formation

    Mice that spend time on a mildly vibrating platform develop bone or muscle cells in preference to fat cells.

  11. Stored blood loses some of its punch

    Loss of nitric oxide from donated blood that's been stored for as little as 3 hours could impair its ability to flow through a recipient's blood vessels.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Looking for Biomarkers: Protein signature may warn of impending Alzheimer’s disease

    Measuring the amounts of certain proteins in the blood might provide early warning of Alzheimer's disease.