All Stories by Nathan Seppa
- Health & Medicine
Lyme microbe forms convenient bond with tick protein
The bacterium that causes Lyme disease commandeers a gene in the deer tick, inducing overproduction of a salivary protein that the bacterium uses to escape immune detection once it's inside a mammal.
- Health & Medicine
Echinacea Disappoints: There’s still no cure for the common cold
The folk remedy echinacea shows no benefit against the common cold.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer Switch: Good gene is shut off in various malignancies
A gene called Reprimo is shut down in several cancers but rarely in healthy cells.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccines against Marburg and Ebola viruses advance
Two new vaccines protect against the lethal Ebola and Marburg viruses, tests in monkeys show.
- Health & Medicine
Epilepsy surgery stands test of time
Brain surgery for people with severe epilepsy keeps many of these patients free of seizures for decades.
- Health & Medicine
Running Interference: Fresh approach to fighting inflammation
Two experimental drugs stop inflammation in mice by preserving a natural inflammation inhibitor.
- Health & Medicine
Sleepy teens haven’t got circadian rhythm
High schools that begin classes as early as 7:30 a.m. deprive teenagers of sleep, and attempts to reset an adolescent's biological clock fail to solve the problem.
- Health & Medicine
Attack on Elephantiasis: Antibiotic offers weapon against tropical scourge
An antibiotic called doxycycline can cure people of elephantiasis, a parasitic disease, by killing the bacterium that the parasite needs to survive.
- Health & Medicine
Cocaine abusers get more heart aneurysms
Regular cocaine users are about four times as likely as nonusers to have an aneurysm in a coronary artery.
- Health & Medicine
No Sugar Babies: Study suggests treating gestational diabetes
Women with gestational diabetes who receive dietary counseling, regular blood sugar monitoring, and insulin as needed lessen their risk of birth complications.
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Cancer Link: MicroRNA grabs the spotlight
A type of genetic molecule known as microRNA can regulate gene activation and, in some cases, accelerate cancer growth.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine Gains: Shot protects seniors from shingles flare-ups
An experimental vaccine prevents half of all cases of shingles, a painful skin disease that typically afflicts the elderly.
