Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Weight-Loss Costs: A critical look at gastric surgery

    Obese people who opt for weight-loss surgery incur increased odds of subsequent hospitalization and, in some groups, a substantial risk of death.

    By Ben Harder
  2. Health & Medicine

    Iraq war casualties often complicated

    Hundreds of injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan harbor an unusual bacterium that complicates wound healing.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    Strep vaccine stirs antibody production

    An experimental vaccine against the microbe that causes strep throat can induce a potent immune response in adults.

    By Nathan Seppa
  4. Health & Medicine

    Eating disorders may have autoimmune roots

    Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa may be autoimmune diseases, according to a new study.

    By Christen Brownlee
  5. Health & Medicine

    Antibodies Counter Diabetes

    Monoclonal antibodies that target immune cells can save pancreatic cells from the immune system for more than a year in people with type 1 diabetes.

    By Ben Harder
  6. Health & Medicine

    We’re All Likely to Get Fat

    A study based on decades of data from the Framingham Heart Study finds that in the United States, the vast majority of people entering middle age already have gained or slowly gain enough weight to be classified as overweight or obese.

    By Janet Raloff
  7. Health & Medicine

    Vaccine Clears Major Hurdle: Injections offer new tool against cervical cancers

    An experimental vaccine against the virus that causes most cancers of the cervix has passed a test typically needed for regulatory approval.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    Vitamin C may treat cancer after all

    Vitamin C may be an effective cancer fighter when taken intravenously in high doses.

    By Christen Brownlee
  9. Health & Medicine

    When Kids Eat Out

    Adolescents who often eat french fries and other fast food away from home tend to be heavier and to gain weight faster than those who eat most of their meals at home.

    By Janet Raloff
  10. Health & Medicine

    High testosterone linked to prostate cancer risk

    Men with naturally high testosterone levels face an elevated risk of prostate cancer, suggesting that men who use hormone supplements to combat age-related problems could also be in trouble.

    By Ben Harder
  11. Health & Medicine

    Give It Up: Cutting back helps, but even a cigarette or two a day carries risks

    Reducing tobacco use curbs the risk of lung cancer, but smoking even a few cigarettes a day puts a person at three to five times the risk faced by a nonsmoker.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Better Beta: Cells grown in lab may treat diabetes

    Scientists have developed a technique to mass-produce a type of pancreas cell needed for transplants into people with type 1 diabetes.

    By Katie Greene