Nathan Seppa
Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)
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All Stories by Nathan Seppa
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Health & Medicine
Cancer Link: Gene regulates progesterone effect on breast cells
The BRCA1 protein regulates the effect of pro-growth progesterone, which could explain why having a mutated BRCA1 gene predisposes a woman to breast cancer.
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Health & Medicine
Kidney Progress: Drug slows cyst growth
The trial drug roscovitine has been shown to reverse polycystic kidney disease in mice.
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Health & Medicine
Bug be gone
An experimental device that combines a special comb with a forceful air blower kills head lice and their nits.
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Health & Medicine
More Evidence of Protection: Circumcision reduces STD risk in men
Circumcised men are less likely to get sexually transmitted diseases than uncircumcised men are.
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Health & Medicine
Malaria Reversal: Drug regains potency in African nation
An inexpensive drug that had lost much of its punch against malaria over the past 20 years is showing signs of regaining its strength in the African nation of Malawi.
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Health & Medicine
Lung Scan: CT may catch some treatable cancers
Computed tomography (CT) scans seem to catch lung cancer early in smokers, but questions remain about the screening procedure.
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Gene might underlie travelers’ diarrhea
Travelers to Mexico who get diarrhea are more likely than healthy travelers to have a particular variant form of the gene for the glycoprotein lactoferrin.
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Health & Medicine
Protecting against a difficult microbe
By using DNA from the bacterium Clostridium difficile, scientists have fashioned a vaccine against the microbe.
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Health & Medicine
Flu vaccine seems to work for kids under 6 months of age
Babies younger than 6 months appear fully capable of responding to a flu shot.
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Health & Medicine
Dengue strikes United States
Texas has been hit with the first-ever outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever in the continental United States.
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Health & Medicine
Prep Work: Bird-flu vaccine might work better with primer
Giving people a vaccine against an existing form of avian influenza might help them respond better when given a shot for a future strain of the virus during a pandemic.
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Health & Medicine
Antiviral drug may limit herpes spread
In people with genital herpes, the drug famciclovir sharply reduces virus shedding from the genitalia.