Latest science news in Health & Medicine
Lower Educational Outcomes Found For Survivors Of Childhood Cancer
Childhood cancer survivors may suffer from poor educational achievement and learning difficulties.
Protein That May Help Breast Cancer Spread, Beat Cancer Drugs, Identified
New research shows that a protein called Muc4 may be the essential ingredient that allows breast cancer to spread to other organs and resist therapeutic treatment.
Experts find gene trigger for deadly skin cancer
LONDON (Reuters) - Up to 70 percent of melanoma skin cancers may be triggered by a gene mutation that causes cells to become cancerous after excessive exposure to the sun,...
Baby breathing on her own, no longer a heart donor candidate
A baby girl who was taken off a respirator at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children after her parents offered her heart to a seriously ill P.E.I. infant has survived the...
Avastin effective in fighting brain tumors
SEATTLE, April 7 (UPI) -- A U.S. study indicates the use of the drug Avastin to treat a subgroup of recurrent brain tumors is safe and effective at...
Gene helps protect tumour suppressor in breast cancer
Scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Centre have discovered a gene that protects PTEN, a major tumour-suppressor that is reduced but rarely mutated in about half...
New risk variant for atopic dermatitis identified
Scientists in Germany have identified a gene variant on chromosome 11 that is associated with an increased risk of atopic dermatitis. In a large genome-wide association study the researchers scanned...
Link between widely used osteoporosis drugs and heart problems probed
New research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine evaluated the link between a common class of drugs used to prevent bone fractures in osteoporosis patients and the development of...
French claim full face transplant
A French surgeon says he has now effectively carried out a full face transplant after two operations in a fortnight.
Stem Cell Therapy Grows New Blood Vessels
New research has identified how to use selected stem cells from bone marrow to grow new blood vessels to treat diseases such as peripheral artery disease. It's one of the...
The pig of the future might be free of diseases that can infect people
Pigs are known carriers of the bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica, and they can infect both other pigs and people. Human infection occurs through eating improperly-cooked pork. Professor Truls Nesbakken of the...
Intestinal Parasites Alter Immunity In Cholera Patients
Cholera patients also infected with parasitic intestinal worms have a significantly reduced immune response to the cholera toxin, according to a new report. Results of the study suggest that parasitic...
From Developing Limbs, Insights That May Explain Much Else
Future treatments for injuries and birth defects may be possible.
Really?: The Claim: Birth Complications are More Likely With Boys.
Is the old wives’ tale true? Are boys more likely to cause a difficult pregnancy?
Vital Signs: Regimens: Tai Chi Shows Promise as a Stroke Therapy
Tai chi may improve the balance of stroke patients, a new study shows.
Vital Statistics: U.S. Still Struggling With Infant Mortality
About 28,000 children under the age of 1 die every year — a figure that seems to be slowly declining.
House Dust Yields Clue to Asthma: Roaches
Dust bunnies from real homes suggest a cause for allergies in poor children.
Fawcett's cancer spread to liver, producer says
NEW YORK (AP) -- Farrah Fawcett is being treated for anal cancer that has spread to her liver, a producer who worked with the actress said...
Using Nicotine Replacement Therapy Could Help Some Smokers Quit Gradually
Smokers who do not want to quit right now, but are prepared to try to reduce their smoking are twice as likely to stop smoking in the long-term if they...
When should Alzheimer's patients stop driving?
(AP) -- Scientists are creating tests to show when it's time for people with early Alzheimer's disease to stop driving.
Bone-repairing stem cell jab hope
Doctors may soon be able to patch up damaged bones and joints anywhere in the body with a simple shot in the arm.
Novel lung cancer vaccine shows promise in fighting early-stage lung cancer
An experimental vaccine that triggers the patient's immune system to identify and attack specific tumor cells is showing new promise for the treatment of early lung cancer. Thoracic surgeons...
Experts identify mutant genes linked to hepatitis B
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Scientists in Japan have identified a series of gene mutations that appear to make people more susceptible to chronic hepatitis B infection.
Novel needle could cut medical complications
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people suffer medical complications from hypodermic needles that penetrate too far under their skin. A new device developed by MIT engineers aims to prevent...
China aims to expand health care by 2020
China's government plans to reform its health-care system to offer safe and affordable coverage for its 1.3 billion citizens by 2020.
Salamanders get help avoiding road massacre
From rural Vermont to urban centers like Philadelphia, human escorts, called bucket brigades in some places, help amphibians make it to their mating areas without getting squashed by cars.
Prepared patient: Coping with the high cost of prescriptions
Cost-cutting measures are creeping into the medicine cabinet. We split pills in half or take the drugs every other day to stretch our doses. We stop filling the prescriptions for...
'Magic potion' in fly spit may shoo away blinding eye disease
Researchers are reporting the first identification of a "magic potion" of proteins in the saliva of the black fly that help this blood-sucking pest spread parasites that cause "river blindness,"...