Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
Epilepsy drug eases diabetes woes
The epilepsy drug topiramate relieves pain, seems to initiate nerve repair, aids weight loss, and may have other benefits for persons with diabetes.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Strict regimen pays off years later
Diabetes patients who adhered to a strict program of blood sugar control over nearly 7 years starting in the 1980s are still showing heart benefits.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Lethal Emergence: Tracing the rise of dengue fever in the Americas
Using the genetics of viruses, scientists have tracked a virulent form of dengue virus in Latin America back to its roots in India.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Soy Greens—The Coming Health Food?
Soybeans have gained renown for offering a host of health benefits. Not only do diets rich in products made from this legume appear to protect against heart disease and some cancers, but they also help to preserve bones in aging bodies. Yum? Diets augmented with leaves of the soybean plant might help diners control their […]
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Prostate Health
Many men over age 50 rarely sleep through the night. Instead, they find themselves awake and needing to urinate when, as younger men, this rarely happened. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases offers an excellent resource on the most common cause of frequent and urgent urination in men–benign prostatic hyperplasia, or […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Can poliovirus fix spinal cord damage?
Scientists have devised a version of the poliovirus that can deliver genes to motor neurons without harming them, a step toward a gene therapy that reawakens idle neurons in people with spinal cord damage.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Prevention in a Pill? Baldness drug might avert prostate cancer
The drug finasteride, given to alleviate baldness and prostate problems, might prevent some cases of prostate cancer.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
McDonald’s Cutback in Antibiotics Use Could Reduce Drug-Resistant Bacteria
The fast-food chain McDonald’s announced on June 19 that it will stop its farms under contract from feeding chicken, cattle, and pigs certain antibiotics intended to accelerate the animals’ growth. That step might slow or reverse the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect people, scientists say. HAPPIER MEAL. Coming soon to a McDonald’s near […]
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Double Duty: Diabetes drug protects reopened heart vessels
A drug normally prescribed to hold blood sugar in check provides an unexpected benefit to heart patients.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
MRI detects missed breast cancers
Magnetic resonance imaging detects breast cancer better than does mammography and might be preferable for certain women at high risk.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Cancer vaccine gets first test in patients
The first clinical test of a cancer vaccine that targets a protein called carcinoembryonic antigen shows promise.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Early cancer therapy and heart problems
Pediatric cancer treatment with chest radiation or anthracyclines can cause a heightened risk of heart disease at an earlier age than previously believed.
By Nathan Seppa