Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s trade-off for mentally active seniors
Staying mentally active may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease but may also prompt rapid cognitive decline once symptoms appear.
- Health & Medicine
Ovary removal proves beneficial for cancer-prone women
BRCA mutation carriers who opt for surgery survive longer than those who forgo the operation, a new study shows.
- Life
Why starved flies need less sleep
Low lipid levels keep the insects buzzing past bedtime, a new study finds, suggesting a role for metabolism in regulating sleep.
- Health & Medicine
Wheat genome announcement turns out to be small beer
The DNA sequence released by U.K. team still requires assembly.
- Health & Medicine
Dairy foods may cut heart attack risk
The reputations of milk, cheese and many other dairy products have taken a bit of a hit in recent years for their constituting a major dietary source of saturated fats — a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. How ironic, then, that a Swedish study now correlates intake of dairy fats with a reduced risk of heart attacks.
- Health & Medicine
New drug fights metastatic melanoma
A novel compound joins two other promising therapies to offer hope for patients with the advanced form of the skin cancer, who currently have poor treatment options.
- Health & Medicine
New gel seals wounds fast
A synthetic material revs up blood clotting at low cost.
- Health & Medicine
Amphetamine abusers face blood vessel risk
The odds of sustaining aorta damage are more than tripled in people who abuse or are dependent on amphetamines, a review of hospital records finds.
- Life
Gene profiles may predict TB prognosis
A molecular profile may help doctors predict who will get sick from TB infections.
- Health & Medicine
Traffic may drive some people to diabetes
Urban air pollution — especially the particles and gases emitted by heavy traffic — can increase a senior citizen’s risk of developing type-2 diabetes, according to a new German study. If confirmed, its authors say, pollution would represent a “novel and potentially modifiable risk factor” for the metabolic disorder.
- Health & Medicine
Teen hearing loss rate worsens
The percentage of adolescents with some decline has increased since the 1990s, a study shows.
- Health & Medicine
The high cost of diabetes
Although an estimated 7.8 percent of Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes, patients with this metabolic disease rack up 23 percent of hospital costs nationwide, a new federal analysis finds. Their collective hospital bill in 2008, the most recent year for which data were available: almost $83 billion.
