Health & Medicine

Health & Medicine

Chili pepper holds hot prospects for painfree dieting

A cousin of the chemical that packs the heat in chilis not only can rev up the body’s metabolism but actually encourage it to preferentially burn fat, according to a new trial in obese men and women. And the kicker: The molecule is itself so fat that it can’t fit into the receptors that would ordinarily register pain.

Health & Medicine

This off-white rice may be heart healthy

The outer coating of a semi-polished rice – a layer which manufacturers ordinarily polish off of brown rice in the process of making it white – offers cardiovascular benefits, new data indicate.

Health & Medicine

Baby’s calcium might play defining role in adult bone health

Calcium makes bones strong. But a new animal study suggests that to do this, ample calcium may need to be available from birth. Too little in the early weeks of life may reprogram certain stem cells – those in the marrow – in ways that permanently compromise bone structure. Perhaps even fostering osteoporosis.

Health & Medicine

Body makes its own morphine

A study in mice suggests other mammals, including humans, can produce the painkiller in their bodies.

Health & Medicine

Women of childbearing age still aren’t getting enough folic acid

To head off a risk of neural tube defects, a class of potentially devastating birth defects, women of childbearing age are supposed to get at least 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. A government study now finds that the vast majority of these women fall short. It finds that the national average for women in this age group is some 40 percent below the recommended minimum.

Health & Medicine

Data from many drug trials for stroke go unpublished

Important details from roughly one in five drug trials for the acute treatment of the most common type of stroke have never entered the public domain, a new study finds. The masked data come from 125 trials that tested effects of 89 different drugs.

Earth

Studies aim to resolve confusion over mercury risks from fish

Several new papers suggest strategies by which American diners can negotiate a mercury minefield to tap dietary benefits in fish.

Health & Medicine

Marker protein may help breast cancer screening

High amounts of EGFR can show up in the blood as much as 17 months before disease is diagnosed, a study finds.

Health & Medicine

IOM: Manufacturers should help Americans cut back on salt

Americans have developed an unhealthy love affair with this savory condiment. And 40 years of haranguing people about their overconsumption has “generally failed to make a dent in Americans’ intake,” according to the Institute of Medicine, a research arm of the National Academy of Sciences. A new report it releases April 21 will ask the Food and Drug Administration to set lower ceilings on how much salt can be added to processed foods.

Health & Medicine

Colorectal cancer risk linked to stomach bacterium, inflammation

Stomach infection and high levels of inflammatory proteins are more common in people with colon polyps or disease, two studies show.

Life

BATTLE trial personalizes lung cancer treatment

A new study makes a first step toward personalized chemotherapy.

Humans

Mercury surprise: Rice can be risky

A new study out of China shows that for millions of people at risk of eating toxic amounts of mercury-laced food, fish isn't the problem. Rice is.