Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
Patients deficient in vitamin D fare worse in battle with lymphoma
A new study suggests that the sunshine vitamin may play protective role against common form of the blood cancer.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Targeting microRNA knocks out hepatitis C
Blocking a small molecule, a new drug reduces levels of the virus, chimp study shows.
- Health & Medicine
The apnea and the ecstasy
Users of the illicit drug have more bouts of sleep apnea, a dangerous nighttime breathing disorder.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Amino acid recipe could be right for long life
In fruit flies, a low-calorie diet with extra methionine extends lifespan without harming fertility
- Life
Gene stops tumors, but only when it’s gone
When a single copy of the microRNA processor Dicer is disabled, cancer can become more deadly. Removing Dicer completely, though, stops tumors.
- Health & Medicine
Discerning pancreatic cancer from pancreatitis
New test shows patients with autoimmune pancreatitis are more likely to have a telltale antibody.
By Nathan Seppa - Ecosystems
Dining: Bugged on Thanksgiving
Earlier this week, I met with Zack Lemann at the Insectarium, a roughly 18-month-old Audubon museum. He gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of its dozens of living exhibits hosting insects and more -- including tarantulas and, arriving that day for their Tuesday debut, white (non-albino) alligators. But the purpose of my noon-hour visit was to sample the local cuisine and learn details of preparations for a holiday menu that would be offered through tomorrow at the facility’s experiential cafe: Bug Appetit. There’s Thanksgiving turkey with a cornbread and wax worm stuffing, cranberry sauce with meal worms, and Cricket Pumpkin Pie. It’s cuisine most Americans would never pay for. But at the Insectarium, they don’t have to. It’s offered free as part of an educational adventure.
By Janet Raloff - Humans
Beefy hormones: New routes of exposure
On any given day, some 750,000 U.S feedlots are beefing up between 11 million and 14 million head of cattle. The vast majority of these animals will receive muscle-building steroids — hormones they will eventually excrete into the environment. But traditional notions about where those biologically active pollutants end up may need substantial revising, several new studies find.
By Janet Raloff - Life
Bone regulators moonlight in the brain as fever inducers
Study in mice suggests proteins could be source of post-menopausal hot flashes.
- Health & Medicine
Malaria shows signs of resisting best drug used to fight it
The frontline malaria medicine artemisinin shows gaps in effectiveness in Southeast Asia.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
Obese people can misjudge body size
Survey finds that many overweight individuals consider their body size normal and healthy despite having health problems
By Laura Beil - Health & Medicine
Marathoners’ hearts stressed, but not necessarily by heart attacks
Detailed imaging of runners’ hearts before and after races doesn’t find signatures of heart attacks
By Laura Beil