Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineHormone therapy falls out of favor
Several studies now indicate that health risks associated with hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women outweigh its benefits.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineSleepy Heads: Low fuel may drive brain’s need to sleep
A new study supports the hypothesis that dwindling energy stores in the waking brain induce sleep.
By Kristin Cobb -
Health & MedicineMixed Blessing: Unusual gene helps heart, hurts immunity
People carrying a variant of a gene that encodes an immune protein called toll-like receptor 4 have a weaker defense against infections but appear to be less prone to heart disease.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineMore than Skin Deep? Beauty products may damage fetal development
A new report shows that many cosmetics contain phthalates—a class of chemicals known to cause developmental deformities in animals.
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Health & MedicineDisabled Defense: HIV protein counters immune-cell gene
Immune cells contain a protein that can inhibit HIV replication if the AIDS virus lacks a key protein.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineGender differences in weight loss
Men and women gain weight differently and may lose it differently, too.
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Health & MedicineAntioxidants for greyhounds? Not a good bet
Antioxidant vitamins that greyhound racers have been giving their animals to boost performance actually slow down the dogs.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineStudy fails to link vasectomy to cancer
Researchers have found that men with prostate cancer are no more likely to have had a vasectomy than healthy men are.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineMethod could boost diabetes therapy
Allowing insulin-producing islets to grow in close contact with each other during cell culture may increase the chance of successful transplant into diabetic people.
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Health & MedicineMelanoma gene quickly reeled in
Biologists have discovered a gene that may contribute to many cases of deadly skin cancer.
By John Travis -
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Health & MedicineDo-It-Yourself: Virus recreated from synthetic DNA
In an experiment with implications for bioterrorism, scientists have used poliovirus' widely known genetic sequence to synthesize that virus from DNA and other chemicals.
By John Travis