Latest science news in Health & Medicine
Diabetes still ‘rapidly rising’
Researchers warn of rising diabetes rates in New Zealand, urging the government to help curb the upcoming health crisis.
Scientists highlight link between stress and appetite
Researchers have uncovered a mechanism by which stress increases food drive in rats. This new discovery could provide important insight into why stress is thought to be one of the...
Health Law Mandate Is Rejected by Court
The provision of President Obama’s health care law that requires Americans to buy health insurance was deemed unconstitutional by a federal court in Georgia.
Poor growth, delayed puberty and heart problems plague kids with mild kidney disease
Heart disease causes 35 percent of deaths in young adults with chronic kidney disease. Children with only mildly impaired kidney function experience poor growth, delayed puberty, metabolic problems, and high...
More evidence seen that deer spread Oregon E. coli
(AP) -- Health officials think they'll be able to prove deer droppings in a Washington County strawberry field caused an E. coli outbreak that killed one person and sickened...
Higher estrogen production in the breast could confer greater cancer risk than thought
Could some women who naturally produce excess aromatase in their breasts have an increased risk of developing breast cancer? Investigators say their mice study shows that overproduction of aromatase, which...
China urged to take technological risk more seriously
The recent nuclear scare in Japan has reinforced pressure in China to raise its awareness of the risks of new technologies. Li Jiao reports.
Positive impact of growing public awareness of obesity epidemic found
Increasing public awareness of the childhood obesity epidemic may be contributing to evidence of overall reductions in body mass index (BMI), a measure of obesity in children, according to the...
New experimental vaccine against chikungunya virus created
Researchers have developed a new candidate vaccine to protect against chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne pathogen that produces an intensely painful and often chronic arthritic disease that has stricken millions of...
Podcast: Toxic Rats, the Benefits of Twins, and a Black Hole's Destiny
Listen to a roundup of some of our favorite stories from the week
WTC attacks increase subsequent firefighter retirements
A new study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine reveals that the WTC attacks affected the health of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) resulting in more...
UN says cholera epidemic in Somalia
(AP) -- World Health Organization officials said Friday that famine-hit Somalia faces a cholera epidemic as dirty water and poor sanitation are leading to an increase in outbreaks of...
The New Old Age Blog: Do Hospitalists Save Money?
Patients with primary care doctors are more likely to be discharged to their homes than those cared for by hospitalists, and less likely to be readmitted, a new study finds.
Withdrawal of CPAP therapy results in rapid recurrence of OSA
The benefits of continuous positive airway pressure machines for patients with obstructive sleep apnea are quickly reversed when the therapy is withdrawn, according to Swiss research.
Warning signs predict kidney injury after surgery
Kidney injury is a frequent and serious complication of heart surgery. Three proteins predict which patients will likely develop kidney injury after surgery in adults and children. High risk patients...
Less salt, less strokes, says new research
(Medical Xpress) -- Speaking ahead of a United Nations High Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases, Professor Francesco Cappuccio from Warwick Medical School argues that lowering dietary salt intake has the...
New treatment option for advanced prostate cancer
Prostate cancer that has become resistant to hormone treatment and that does not respond to radiation or chemotherapy requires new methods of treatment. By attacking stem cell-like cells in prostate...
Sex-based drug differences investigated
Some medicines should be separately targeted towards men or women because of significant metabolic differences that may affect disease onset and progression, say German scientists.
Microwaves join fight against malaria
With the support of a Phase II grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Penn State materials scientists and medical researchers are working to develop a process to destroy...
Genetically Modified Immune Cells Attack Leukemia Tumors
A new cancer therapy has been recently described in the New England Journal of Medicine, and Science Translational Medicine. The therapy is based on the idea that T cells, the...
Well Blog: Arthritis and the Exercise Gap
Exercise is specifically recommended for osteoarthritis because it can reduce pain and improve mobility, but most patients aren't getting enough.
New measurements prove it: Active older adults less likely to become cognitively impaired
(Medical Xpress) -- Reaching over to make the bed or bending to get a grocery bag might not be the typical idea of being physically active. But all those everyday...
Scientists identify mutation in SIGMAR1 gene linked to juvenile ALS
Researchers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have identified a mutation on the SIGMAR1 gene associated with the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Study findings published today in...
Smoking cigarettes is worse for women's hearts than men's: study
(Medical Xpress) -- Rates of smoking have been reducing in men but increasing in young women in some countries, and now a new review of earlier studies has shown that...
The Texas Tribune: Delight and Unease Over Law on Student Vaccinations
Texas has become the first state to require every college student to be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis, but the law has opponents.
Hot Chemotherapy Bath: Patients See Hope, Critics Hold Doubts
As competition for patients and treatments intensifies, more medical centers are offering a controversial procedure in which inner organs are bathed in hot chemotherapy drugs.
Common themes emerge in hospitals' anti-MRSA efforts
Researchers have identified common barriers and strategies for successfully implementing practice changes in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). The study reveals shared lessons learned from six ICUs as they implemented evidence-based...
Outbreak C. difficile strain common in Chicago hospitals, investigation finds
An outbreak strain of Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that causes diarrhea and sometimes life-threatening inflammation of the colon, is common in Chicago-area acute care hospitals, research suggests.