Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Double Shot: Anthrax vaccine gets makeover

    An experimental anthrax vaccine appears to spur production of antibodies that stop the bacterium and disable the anthrax toxin at the same time.

    By Nathan Seppa
  2. Health & Medicine

    Better Bones: Women benefit from low dose of estrogen

    Ultralow doses of estrogen and progesterone given to postmenopausal women boost bone density compared with placebos, without causing the adverse effects seen in some women who get larger doses of these hormones.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Health & Medicine

    Prenatal Cares: Popular painkillers linked to miscarriage

    A new study finds that pregnant women taking nonprescription painkillers such as ibuprofen and aspirin have a higher risk of miscarriage.

    By Sorcha McDonagh
  4. Health & Medicine

    Guggul extract fails its cholesterol test

    Guggul extract, long used in parts of Asia and gaining popularity in Western countries as a weapon against high cholesterol, does not appear to work.

    By Ben Harder
  5. Health & Medicine

    Tuesday Can Be Fat, but Weekends Are More Fattening

    Unsuccessful weight watchers are well aware that the winter holiday season can bestow, besides gifts, a few extra pounds. But according to Barry M. Popkin of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, people seem to approach every weekend as a holiday: They eat and drink too much. For the average adult in the […]

    By Ben Harder
  6. Health & Medicine

    Viruses, but not bacteria, tied to mental decline

    Past infection by multiple common viruses may contribute to cognitive decline in some elderly people.

    By Ben Harder
  7. Health & Medicine

    Drug reduces risks for dialysis patients

    Kidney-dialysis patients getting the vitamin D drug paricalcitol survive longer than those getting a similar medication called calcitriol.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Health & Medicine

    Predicting Prostate Cancer’s Moves

    To guide treatment decisions in individual cases of prostate cancer, medical researchers are using gene-expression profiling and other novel techniques to develop better predictive markers of how a given tumor will behave.

    By Ben Harder
  9. Health & Medicine

    Brawny Brains: Creatine pills may aid memory and cognition

    The popular muscle-building supplement creatine can boost performance on mental tests.

    By Ben Harder
  10. Health & Medicine

    Switching Off Pain: Modeling relief on the action of marijuana

    A new drug, tested in rats, blocks pain caused when the nervous system goes awry without producing unwanted side effects.

    By Sorcha McDonagh
  11. Health & Medicine

    Blood Sugar Fix

    A new class of experimental drugs that mimic the actions of the hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 shows benefits against type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Health & Medicine

    Virus Shield: Ebola vaccine works fast in monkey test

    Tests on monkeys show that an experimental vaccine can build immunity against Ebola virus within a month, suggesting the vaccine might help contain outbreaks of the deadly pathogen.

    By Nathan Seppa