Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineNutrients linked to brain lesions
The more calcium and vitamin D elderly individuals consume, the greater the number and size of lesions that show up in their brains.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineSuper-Size Mice—Fast Food Hurts Rodents
When rodents eat the equivalent of a fast-food diet, they develop health problems similar to those seen in the movie Super Size Me.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineBlending In: Dissolvable stents promise to protect arteries
A biodegradable magnesium stent props open clogged blood vessels and then dissolves, circumventing the problems linked to permanent metal stents.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineGuilt by Association: Whole-genome scans yield disease clues
In a sweeping demonstration of the power of the new biology, researchers have linked two dozen genetic variations to six major diseases.
By Brian Vastag -
Health & MedicineAnimal-to-human diseases could be right at home
A new map of where SARS or Ebola might erupt next highlights North America and Western Europe as likely sources.
By Brian Vastag -
Health & MedicineBeware the bats
Fruit bats in Bangladesh regularly trigger small outbreaks of Nipah virus, a measleslike pathogen that causes brain inflammation and death.
By Brian Vastag -
Health & MedicinePhages break up plaques
Phages, viruses that infect bacteria, dissolve plaques in the brains of mice with an Alzheimer's-like disease.
By Brian Vastag -
Health & MedicineSticky treatment for staph infections
Honey from New Zealand gums up bacteria, offering a potential new means of combating difficult-to-treat infections.
By Brian Vastag -
Health & MedicineTea—Milking It
Adding milk doesn't diminish tea's antioxidant bounty, research finds.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineVisualizing Cancer: Images of tumors can detect gene expression
Subtle features in X-ray images of tumors let radiologists infer which genes are active in the cancerous growth.
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Health & MedicineEarly Start: Fetuses generate immune response to vaccination
A fetus can manufacture immune cells and antibodies in direct response to vaccine given to the mother during pregnancy.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineStem cells not required
Insulin-producing cells in the pancreas proliferate by cell division, unlike other body tissues, which regenerate from adult stem cells.