Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineBacteria offer drug for organ recipients
Korean investigators have identified a compound that suppresses the immune system of animals.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineYou’re Feeling Sleepy . . . : Anesthetics activate brain’s sleep switch
Anesthesia's sedative effect may depend on activating sleep circuits in the brain.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineFlower Power: Corn lily compound stops cancer in mice
A new study in mice suggests that cyclopamine, a plant derivative that causes birth defects in animals, can inhibit medulloblastoma, a brain cancer in children.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineLost and found
Researchers have shown that a drug may shepherd a mutated protein—gone astray in people with cystic fibrosis—into its proper place.
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Health & MedicineProcessing corn boosts antioxidants
Cooking sweet corn increases its disease-fighting antioxidant activity, despite decreasing its vitamin C content.
By Kristin Cobb -
Health & MedicineInflammatory Ideas
Researchers are gathering evidence that inflammation precedes and predicts diabetes.
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Health & MedicineHear, Hear
A 14-year study of twin babies shows definitively for the first time that there's a link between middle ear infections and heredity.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineMarrow Can Hide Breast Cancer Cells
Breast cancer patients who have stray cancer cells in bone marrow are more likely to die of cancer or have a recurrence of cancer elsewhere in the body than are breast cancer patients not harboring such cells.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineSurgery Guide
Designed for patients and their families, physicians, and students, this Web site provides detailed information about a variety of common surgical procedures, ranging from hernia repair to LASIK for vision correction. Illuminating diagrams and cutting-edge animation accompany each description of a type of surgery. Go to: http://yoursurgery.com/index.cfm
By Science News -
Health & MedicineTracking signs of memory loss
A new imaging agent may allow researchers to detect the plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's disease before symptoms are present, when therapies may be most effective.
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Health & MedicineCooking Up a Carcinogen
The discovery that acrylamide—a known animal carcinogen—forms in many foods as they fry or bake has prompted the development of an international research network to investigate whether it poses a threat.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicinePancreatic enzymes may play role in shock
Pancreatic enzymes used for digestion may cause shock when they leach out of the small intestine and form a substance that activates white blood cells.
By Nathan Seppa