Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Troubling Meaty ‘Estrogen’

    High temperature cooking can imbue meats with a chemical that acts like a hormone.

    By Janet Raloff
  2. Health & Medicine

    Moving up the Charts: Drug-resistant bug invades military, civilian hospitals

    Acinetobacter baumannii, a common bacterium, is becoming more virulent and drug resistant in hospitals.

    By Brian Vastag
  3. Health & Medicine

    Antibiotic improves recovery from stroke

    An antibiotic called minocycline seems to limit brain damage and disability in stroke patients.

    By Nathan Seppa
  4. Health & Medicine

    Diabetes precursor may be checked by omega-3 fatty acids

    Omega-3 fatty acids in the diet might fend off diabetes in children prone to the disease.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Yummy Bugs

    Do you enjoy chocolate? You can make it more nutritious by bugging it—with crickets, for example. Or how about ant-fortified tacos? This site introduces Westerners to the idea that many commonly encountered insects are edible. Indeed, most are lower in fat—and higher in protein—than beef, lamb, pork, or chicken. The site’s author argues that “insects […]

    By Science News
  6. Health & Medicine

    Diminishing Obesity’s Risks

    Mouse data suggest that, properly managed, obesity can be benign.

    By Janet Raloff
  7. Health & Medicine

    Shields Down: A cancer-fighting gene declines in old age

    Decline of an important anti-cancer gene could contribute to increased cancer risk among the elderly.

    By Patrick Barry
  8. Health & Medicine

    Fueling a Flu Debate: Do vaccinations save lives among the elderly?

    Flu shots seem to prevent some deaths and limit hospitalizations for pneumonia in elderly people.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Lonely white cells

    In chronically lonely people, white blood cells show abnormal gene activity that may affect health through immune responses.

    By Brian Vastag
  10. Health & Medicine

    Lack of Evidence: Vaccine additive not linked to developmental problems

    Thimerosal, a mercury-containing vaccine preservative, shows no signs of causing memory, attention or other problems in children.

    By Brian Vastag
  11. Health & Medicine

    Keep Out: Treated mosquito nets limit child deaths

    Mosquito nets treated with insecticides decrease death rates among children in Kenya's malarial zones.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Distracted? Tea might help your focus

    An amino acid in tea combines with the brew's caffeine to enliven brain cells that aid concentration.

    By Janet Raloff