Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Antibiotics could save nerves

    Penicillin and its family of related antibiotics may prevent the type of nerve damage that occurs in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other diseases.

    By Christen Brownlee
  2. Health & Medicine

    Palm-Nut Problem

    The ancient custom of chewing areca nuts is getting more popular as young Asians take up the habit, but betel-nut chewing has been linked to several types of oral cancer.

    By Diana Parsell
  3. Health & Medicine

    Bad Combo? Some antidepressants may hamper breast cancer drug

    Certain widely used antidepressants and a woman's own genes might diminish the effect of tamoxifen, a frontline breast cancer drug.

    By Nathan Seppa
  4. Health & Medicine

    Beat Generation: Genetically modified stem cells repair heart

    Tissue engineers have for the first time used genetically modified human stem cells to repair damaged hearts in guinea pigs.

    By David Shiga
  5. Health & Medicine

    Food Colorings

    Many deeply hued plant pigments appear to offer health benefits, from fighting heart disease and obesity to preserving memory.

    By Janet Raloff
  6. Health & Medicine

    One-Two Punch: Vaccine fights herpes with antibodies, T cells

    An experimental vaccine against genital herpes shows promise in animal tests.

    By Nathan Seppa
  7. Health & Medicine

    Expanding the therapeutic arsenal

    Two experimental drugs can send chronic myeloid leukemia into remission in patients who don't benefit from the best currently available drugs.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    Drug counters severe platelet shortage

    An experimental drug called AMG531 revs up production of platelets in people with severe shortages of these clotting agents.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Viagra eases lung pressure in patients

    Viagra eases increased blood pressure in the lungs, a condition that affects about one-third of adults with sickle-cell disease.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    Taking on a lethal blood cancer

    A drug called bortezomib can induce remission of an aggressive kind of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

    By Nathan Seppa
  11. Health & Medicine

    Male contraceptive shows promise in monkeys

    A shot that primes the immune system against a sperm protein might be the next male contraceptive.

    By Christen Brownlee
  12. Health & Medicine

    Vitamin C and diabetes: Risky mix?

    Vitamin C supplements may place people with diabetes at increased risk of heart disease.

    By Janet Raloff