Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
Obesity messes with the brain
Excess weight may compromise memory and concentration, possibly by spurring inflammation that damages white matter.
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
Handling fruit can throw off blood-glucose tests, plus an autism gene and itchy feelings in this week’s news.
- Health & Medicine
Gene therapy for Parkinson’s advances
Brain surgery to insert genetic cargo improves movement in some patients, a study shows.
- Life
Brain chemical influences sexual preference in mice
Males lacking the neurotransmitter serotonin court both sexes equally, researchers are surprised to find.
- Life
Who felt it not, smelt it not
A genetic defect in a crucial protein stops both pain and smells from reaching the brain.
- Humans
Pre-chewed baby food common in HIV-positive households, study suggests
Here’s a particularly disturbing stat: 31 percent of babies in households where the mom is HIV-positive get at least some pre-chewed food. In most cases the surveyed caregivers who reported doing that pre-chewing were the infected moms.
- Tech
Chernobyl’s lessons for Japan
Radioactive iodine released by the Chernobyl nuclear accident has left a legacy of thyroid cancers among downwinders — one that shows no sign of diminishing. The new data also point to what could be in store if conditions at Japan’s troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power complex continue to sour.
- Health & Medicine
Blood tests could forewarn of emphysema
Certain microparticles or proteins suggest nascent disease, even in smokers who appear healthy, two studies show.
- Life
Antibiotics may make fighting flu harder
The drugs kill helpful bacteria that keep the immune system primed against viral infections.
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
The brain 'sees' Braille, plus engineered urethras and baseball practice swings in this week's news.
- Humans
Burying potential conflicts of interest
A new study reports evidence that few meta-analyses of human drug trials identify who funded the those trials, even though such information could be useful in identifying potential conflicts of interest
- Health & Medicine
Digging into the roots of lupus
Two new studies implicate common white blood cells called neutrophils in this autoimmune disease.
