Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Homegrown Defender: Urinary infections face natural guard

    Specialized peptides produced by cells lining the urinary tract stand guard as the first line of defense against bacterial infection.

    By Nathan Seppa
  2. Health & Medicine

    Can supplements nix kidney stones?

    The majority of commercially available probiotic supplements don't degrade the compound that forms kidney stones.

    By Christen Brownlee
  3. Health & Medicine

    Dive suits could spread disease

    Divers' wetsuits can harbor bacteria that cause diseases in coral and people.

    By Christen Brownlee
  4. Health & Medicine

    For women, weight gain spells heartburn

    A study of more than 10,000 women suggests that weight gain is associated with heartburn.

    By Eric Jaffe
  5. Health & Medicine

    Has Early Programming Sealed These Animals’ Fate?

    Surprising data from harbor seals indicate that nutrition prior to weaning may permanently set growth rates in the animals.

    By Janet Raloff
  6. Health & Medicine

    At iconic Asian temple, monkeys harbor viruses

    Temple sites in South and Southeast Asia that offer refuge to monkeys also shelter monkey viruses.

    By Ben Harder
  7. Health & Medicine

    Common drugs offer some hot flash relief

    Antidepressants and some other prescription drugs reduce the number of hot flashes that many women experience during menopause.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    Blood, Iron, and Gray Hair

    Recent findings show that anemia is exceedingly common in elderly people and link the condition to severe health problems, including accelerated physical and mental decline and a shorter life span.

    By Ben Harder
  9. Health & Medicine

    For the Birds: New vaccines protect chickens from avian flu

    By piggybacking components of strains of avian-influenza virus onto an existing poultry vaccine, scientists have created experimental vaccines that can prevent bird flu in chickens.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    Open Water, Open Mouths: Scuba divers face infection risks

    A new study takes a stab at quantifying the risks that waterborne bacteria and viruses pose to scuba divers.

    By Ben Harder
  11. Health & Medicine

    Prescription stimulants are big on campus

    Nearly 1 in 10 students at a New England college admits to using prescription stimulants without authorization.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Hookworms hitched rides with nomads

    Horseback-riding herders known as Scythians once traveled far and wide across Eurasia, and their remains contain the parasites to prove it.

    By Ben Harder