Health & Medicine

  1. Health & Medicine

    Breast-feeding has protective bonus

    Breast-feeding appears to help ward off breast cancer.

    By Damaris Christensen
  2. Health & Medicine

    Obesity and Genetics

    Studies show that genes are a significant factor in developing obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide an online guide to the problem of obesity and insights into current research on the genetics of obesity. Go to: http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/training/perspectives/obesity.htm

    By Science News
  3. Health & Medicine

    Surprise! Obesity (and Inactivity) Can Spur Cancers

    Some 60 percent of U.S. adults say they’re worried at the prospect of developing cancer, yet only 6 percent recognize that being overweight is a leading predisposing factor. That’s one finding from a June survey, commissioned by the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C. The survey was unveiled on July 11 at a […]

    By Janet Raloff
  4. Health & Medicine

    Retina Rescue: Adult stem cells form blood vessels in the eye

    Stem cells derived from bone marrow can grow into new blood vessels in the eyes of mice, suggesting a way to treat eye diseases in people.

    By Nathan Seppa
  5. Health & Medicine

    Fat Chance: Cancer drugs may also thwart obesity

    Drugs now undergoing testing as a cancer therapy because they thwart new blood vessel growth may also be a treatment for obesity.

    By John Travis
  6. Health & Medicine

    Viral Survivor

    Epstein-Barr virus, the cause of diseases ranging from mononucleosis to several kinds of cancer, has begun to reveal how it enters human cells and protects itself from the immune system.

    By John Travis
  7. Health & Medicine

    For Failing Hearts: Gene therapy stops decline in animals

    Tests in hamsters have raised hopes for creating a gene therapy to stop the common downward spiral of chronic heart failure.

    By Susan Milius
  8. Health & Medicine

    Heart damage tied to immune reaction

    Researchers in Brazil have identified immune proteins that flood the heart tissues of many people with Chagas disease, suggesting a cause of this deadly complication of the parasitic tropical disease.

    By Nathan Seppa
  9. Health & Medicine

    Gene might contribute to asthma risk

    Variations in a gene called ADAM33 may predispose a person to asthma.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    Hormone 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
  11. Health & Medicine

    Sleepy 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
  12. Health & Medicine

    Mixed 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