Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Cardiovascular Showdown—Chocolate vs. Coffee

    Chocolate appears to be good for your arteries, whereas coffee—or at least its caffeine—does damage.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Cutting blood supply to kill off fat

    Killing the blood vessels that sustain fat tissue causes obese mice to lose weight.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Estrogen loss induces lung disease in mice

    Estrogen loss hampers lung function in mice by sabotaging the alveoli, the tiny sacs that deliver oxygen-rich air to the bloodstream.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Folate enrichment pays baby dividends

    The federally mandated fortification of grain-based foods with folic acid has led to a 25 percent drop in the rate of potentially life-threatening neural tube birth defects.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Cinnamon Cleans the Breath

    Cinnamon can kill oral bacteria, including germs responsible for a chemical that imparts the rotten-egg smell to the breath.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Herbal erection pills may be spiked

    Some pills marketed as herbal remedies for erectile dysfunction contain drugs that should be available only by prescription.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Bad Break: Homocysteine may weaken bones

    Elderly people with elevated concentrations of the amino acid homocysteine in their blood are more likely to break bones than are people with low amounts.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Nanoparticles could mark spots for surgery

    A new molecule studded with magnetically active ions may soon help surgeons extract, with minimal cutting, lymph nodes likely to harbor cancer.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Cord Blood to the Rescue: Infusions help babies with Hurler’s syndrome

    Umbilical cord blood transplants boost overall health and survival in patients with the rare hereditary condition called Hurler's syndrome.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Ironing Out Some Mental Limitations

    Iron deficiency can subtly compromise how well a person performs multiple challenging tasks simultaneously.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Humidity may affect LASIK surgery

    High humidity can boost the chances of needing follow-up surgery after LASIK surgery for nearsightedness.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Delaying Dementia

    The limited success of attempts to treat Alzheimer's disease with several compounds that appear able to prevent the disorder suggests that the window for derailing the development of the illness may close years before cognitive decline becomes evident.

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