Health & Medicine
- Chemistry
Youngsters can sniff out old people’s scent
Body odor changes detectably with age, becoming mellower in men and not at all offensive in either sex — even to young people.
- Health & Medicine
Fever in pregnancy linked to autism
Pregnant women who run a high temperature that goes untreated may double their risk of having an autistic child, a study finds.
By Nathan Seppa -
- Health & Medicine
Long-acting contraceptives best by far
Implants and IUDs outperform the pill, vaginal ring and patch as birth control options, a study finds.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
No new smell cells
Other mammals constantly create new olfactory neurons as they learn new smells, but a new study suggests humans don’t.
- Health & Medicine
Thou can’t not covet
Wanting what others have may be hardwired in the brain, experiments suggest.
- Humans
Our increasingly not-so-little kids
Little kids are meant to get big. Just not too quickly. When overfeeding spurs the girth of young children, youngsters find themselves propelled down the road towards diabetes and heart disease, a new study finds. In just the past decade, for instance, the share of kids with diabetes or pre-diabetes skyrocketed from 9 percent to a whopping 23 percent.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Severe sleep apnea tied to cancer risk
A chronic lack of oxygen caused by disrupted rest may explain the association, researchers say.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Good cholesterol may not be what keeps the heart healthy
Genetic study suggests that higher levels of HDL aren’t directly responsible for the lower risk of cardiovascular disease seen in population studies.
- Humans
Redefining ‘concern’ over lead
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced May 16 that it would no longer designate any particular blood-lead value in children as representing a “level of concern.” Its justification: There is no threshold below which lead exposures are not a concern.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Coffee gives jolt to life span
Unlike wine's, coffee's benefits apparently keep increasing well beyond the first two servings.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Even moderate noise may harm hearing
Chronic, low-level sound exposure causes deficits in rats.