Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Lavender Revolution: Plant essences linked to enlarged breasts in boys

    Two natural ingredients in many hair- and skin-care products act like a female sex hormone and can cause abnormal breast development in boys.

    By Ben Harder
  2. Health & Medicine

    Measuring Stick: Spinal tap test tracks Alzheimer’s compound

    A new test is the first to measure production and clearance of amyloid-beta in the cerebrospinal fluid of people, enabling scientists to track this Alzheimer's disease peptide.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    Pregnancy risk from blood pressure drugs?

    Babies exposed in the first trimester of their mother's pregnancy to blood pressure drugs called ACE inhibitors are at an increased risk of birth defects.

    By Nathan Seppa
  4. Health & Medicine

    A Vexing Enigma

    While no drug or lab test is approved to treat or diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome, new research into the biology of the disorder may begin to shed light on the problem.

    By Ben Harder
  5. Health & Medicine

    Be Good to Your Gums, Bite Into Whole Grains (with recipe)

    Diets rich in whole grains appear to help ward off a type of gum disease.

    By Janet Raloff
  6. Health & Medicine

    Proof of Protection: Condoms limit infection by cervical cancer virus

    Condom use reduces a woman's risk of being infected with human papillomavirus and of developing precancerous growths on the cervix.

    By Nathan Seppa
  7. Health & Medicine

    Antidepressant drugs show link to diabetes

    People taking antidepressant medication might be at increased risk of developing diabetes.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    New drugs reduce blood sugar

    Two experimental drugs can lower blood sugar significantly in people with type 2 diabetes.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Glucosamine isn’t at fault

    The popular dietary supplement glucosamine doesn't cause insulin resistance, the precursor of type 2 diabetes.

    By Kate Travis
  10. Health & Medicine

    Coffee protects against alcoholic cirrhosis

    A sobering cup of coffee could provide protection against cirrhosis, a liver-scarring disease common in alcoholics.

    By Christen Brownlee
  11. Health & Medicine

    Wasting Away: Prozac loses promise as anorexia nervosa fighter

    Although often prescribed for people with anorexia nervosa, the popular antidepressant medication Prozac offers no better protection against the potentially fatal eating disorder than placebo pills do.

    By Bruce Bower
  12. Health & Medicine

    Next Line of Defense: New drugs take on resistant leukemia

    Two experimental drugs stop many cases of chronic myeloid leukemia that are resistant to the drug imatinib (Gleevec).

    By Nathan Seppa