Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Problem Paternity: Older men seem more apt to have autistic kids

    Children born to fathers who are age 40 or older have an increased risk of developing autism.

    By Nathan Seppa
  2. Health & Medicine

    Herpes simplex viruses dip in prevalence

    Two viruses that cause genital herpes decreased in prevalence in the United States during the past 2 decades.

    By Ben Harder
  3. Health & Medicine

    Old drug can stop clots as well as newer drug does

    A decades-old form of the anticlotting drug heparin is as safe, as effective, and potentially as convenient to use as recent derivatives that are many times more expensive.

    By Ben Harder
  4. Health & Medicine

    Another Way Men and Women Differ

    One reason young women face a much lower heart-disease risk than do men may reflect the different way their bodies respond to fats circulating in their blood during the first hours after a meal.

    By Janet Raloff
  5. Health & Medicine

    Head to Head: Brain implants are better for Parkinson’s patients

    Parkinson's patients who get electrodes surgically implanted in their brains regain some muscle control and have improved quality of life.

    By Nathan Seppa
  6. Health & Medicine

    Risky Legacy: African DNA linked to prostate cancer

    The high rate of prostate cancer among African American men may result in large part from a newly identified stretch of DNA passed down from their African ancestors.

    By Ben Harder
  7. Health & Medicine

    Breast milk may not be enough

    Breast-fed infants need vitamin D supplements, at least in winter.

    By Janet Raloff
  8. Health & Medicine

    Sauna use among dads linked to tumors in children

    Men who expose themselves to excessive heat in the weeks before they conceive children may place their future offspring at unnecessary risk of brain cancer.

    By Ben Harder
  9. Health & Medicine

    How to Wash Up in the Wilderness

    Many campers who wash their dishes in the wilderness use methods that don't consistently remove all bacteria.

    By Ben Harder
  10. Health & Medicine

    Origins of Ache: Immune proteins may yield chronic-pain clues

    People with chronic pain that has no underlying disease have low concentrations of proteins in the cytokine family that restrain inflammation.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Fewer Drugs, Same Outcome: Simpler HIV regimens are effective

    In two studies, AIDS clinicians found that standard three-drug regimens fight HIV as well as four-drug treatments do, and that a single drug might maintain a patient's health once the virus is suppressed.

    By Eric Jaffe
  12. Health & Medicine

    The Screen Team

    New and experimental methods of screening for colorectal cancer that patients find less unpleasant than current tests could take a bite out of the malignancy's toll.

    By Ben Harder