Health & Medicine
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Health & Medicine
Toxin Trumped: New malaria vaccine protects mice
An experimental vaccine neutralizes a toxic molecule made by malaria-causing parasites.
By John Travis -
Health & Medicine
Fruit: Towards Virtual Taste Tests
When it comes to fresh fruit, looks can be deceiving. The prettiest apples may be tasteless or their texture mealy. Intact, ruby-hued skin may hide a large, mushy bruise. As a result, each purchase becomes somewhat of a gamble. Federal engineers with the Agricultural Research Service hope to up a buyer’s odds with a system […]
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
One more reason to worry
A single dose of the AIDS drug nevirapine, given to mothers to help prevent them from infecting their children during birth, may be enough to prod the virus to develop drug resistance.
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Health & Medicine
HIV may date back to the 1930s
Genetic analysis of the AIDS virus suggests it first infected humans in the first third of the 20th century.
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Health & Medicine
AIDS drugs may cause bone loss
Using X rays to measure bone density in HIV-infected men, researchers find a possible link between bone loss and long-term use of protease inhibitors.
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Health & Medicine
Researchers Probe Cell-Phone Effects
Scientists are trying to find out whether biological changes associated with cell-phone use represent health risks.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Worm genes take on bacterial foes
Creatures as simple as worms have an effective immune defense.
By John Travis -
Health & Medicine
No worry that this secret will leak
The recently discovered protein angiopoietin-1 appears to protect blood vessels from leaking, a finding with implications for research into diseases that involve swelling, such as arthritis and asthma.
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Health & Medicine
Lung cancer gene has gender bias
The X chromosome's gastrin-releasing peptide receptor gene is turned on by nicotine to produce a protein that promotes lung cancer, a combination of factors that could explain why women are more susceptible to the disease than men are.
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Health & Medicine
Novel diabetes strain has rapid onset
Japanese researchers have confirmed that some patients with type 1 diabetes have a novel form of the disease that's not caused by immune cells attacking the pancreas.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
Diet Pills: It’s Still Buyer Beware
With some half of the adult U.S. population overweight–many individuals severely so–is it any wonder that the fastest growing segment of the dietary supplement industry is weight-loss aids? Since 1997, sales of diet pills and related supplements have been increasing 10 to 20 percent annually to the point where last year they reached $2 billion. […]
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
New Antidote to Botulism: Drug neutralizes toxin in mouse tests
An experimental drug disables deadly botulism toxin much better than current treatment does.
By Nathan Seppa