Health & Medicine
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Health & MedicineRevised Immunity: Drug slows diabetes in young patients
A drug fashioned from a mouse antibody has halted the progression of diabetes in children and young adults who are newly diagnosed with the disease.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineE is for Effort from Athletes
It takes a lot of energy to move the body–which is why vigorous exercise burns so many calories. However, both exercise and our body’s conversion of food to usable energy can take a physical toll on muscle. Boston researchers now find that supplementing diets with extra vitamin E can reduce not only muscle damage but […]
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineSleep Time
The International Sleep Medicine Association has created a Web site that brings together a wide variety of information sources concerning sleep health and sleep disorders. It includes access to online video lectures on various aspects of sleep, chat rooms and message boards, and links to news stories. Go to: http://www.1sleep.com/
By Science News -
Health & MedicineLook Ma, Too Much Soy: Hormone in infant food reduces immunity in mice
Large doses of the estrogenlike hormones that occur naturally in soybeans weaken the immune systems of mice.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineSurgical Option: Removal of ovaries can prevent cancers in women at risk
In women who harbor mutations in one of the BRCA genes, ovary removal reduces the risk of developing ovarian, peritoneal, and breast cancers.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineHigh elevation linked to hormone dearth
Elderly Peruvian women living at very high altitudes have lower blood concentrations of some key hormones than do their lowland counterparts.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineOn Wheat and Weaning
Prolonged breastfeeding appears to offer some babies major intestinal benefits, a new Swedish study finds. The practice prevented or at least delayed the onset of celiac disease in children. This intestinal disorder tends to run in families, especially those with a northern-European background. In the United States, roughly one in every 250 Americans develops the […]
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineFreeing up the mouse genome
Scientists have assembled the DNA sequences from a strain of the common lab mouse and made the draft genome available for free over the Internet.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineD-fending the Colon: Bile component triggers vitamin D receptor
The protein that enables cells to respond to vitamin D also helps the gastrointestinal tract protect itself from an especially dangerous acid in bile.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicineWholesome Grains: Insulin effects may explain healthful diet
Overweight people who eat whole grains rather than refined ones appear better equipped to manage their blood-sugar concentrations with minimal production of the hormone insulin, which could help explain why a diet rich in whole grains appears to guard against type II diabetes and heart disease.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineAmyloid Buster? New drug hinders Alzheimer’s protein
By disabling a dementia-linked protein, a synthetic drug is showing a tantalizing capacity to interfere with the formation of waxy amyloid deposits like those that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineA Model Mouse
Mice with symptoms similar to rheumatoid arthritis may illuminate the puzzling disorder.
By John Travis