Latest science news in Health & Medicine
Breast cancer drug Herceptin increases heart damage risk, study says
Stephen FellerTORONTO, April 20 (UPI) -- Researchers suggest all breast cancer patients being treated with the drug trastuzumab, sold as Herceptin, are at higher risk for heart damage than thought.
Zika virus detected in 2 pregnant B.C. women
Two pregnant women in B.C. have tested positive for Zika virus, health officials have confirmed.
Females more resistant to organ damage following kidney transplant
After a kidney transplant, women may experience decreased kidney damage from ischemia reperfusion injury compared to men due to the impact of gender-specific hormones, suggests a new preclinical study and...
Countries around world begin switch to new polio vaccine
More than 150 countries around the world have begun a synchronized switch to a different oral polio vaccine, an important milestone in the effort to eliminate the disease.
Shining light on brain tumors
When operating on cancer, surgeons want to remove tumors and not healthy tissue. This is especially important and challenging when dealing with brain tumors, which are often spread out and...
Researchers find method that could resurrect an abandoned pancreatic cancer targeted drug
Pancreatic cancer is on track to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths by 2020. These statistics are due, in part, to pancreatic cancer's resistance to most targeted cancer...
New snakebite treatment may extend window for medical care
Marilyn MalaraTUCSON, April 16 (UPI) -- Researchers from the University of Arizona are working to develop a snakebite treatment which may be capable of slowing or preventing life-threatening symptoms.
The New Health Care: The Undeniable Convenience and Reliability of Retail Health Clinics
Research hasn’t backed up many of the concerns of doctors, but the clinics don’t seem to be a solution for trimming health spending.
Zika Virus Can Be Transmitted Through Anal Sex, C.D.C. Says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described a case of sexual transmission of the virus between two men in Texas.
Biomaterials coax immune cells to help heal damaged tissue
Findings in mice could lead to therapies that regenerate tissue after injuries
UCI Team Finds Method to Reduce Accumulation of Damaging Huntington's Disease Protein
A study appearing April 14 in the journal Neuron suggests there may be a new way to change the damaging course of Huntington disease. Researchers have shown that reducing the...
Mothers' milk and the infant gut microbiota: An ancient symbiosis
Nursing infants' gastrointestinal tracts are enriched with specific protective microbes. Mother's milk, itself, guides the development of neonates' gut microbiota, nourishing a very specific bacterial population that, in turn, provides...
Leaping over spinal cord injury, researchers teach a quadriplegic's hand to move again
In a development that could help restore fine motor movement to patients with brain or spinal-cord injuries, researchers have briefly restored a 24-year-old quadriplegic man's ability to grasp a cup...
Americans live longer but with disabilities or health issues, study shows
Americans are living longer but in poorer health, according to a new study. The study examined life expectancy trends and disability rates in a 40-year period, from 1970 to 2010....
Toward a better nutritional facts panel
The ubiquitous nutrition facts panel has graced food packages for many years. But can it be improved? Results from a study indicates that the answer is, 'Yes.'
CDC Declares Zika–Microcephaly Link Solid
The U.S. health agency says it is important for pregnant women to take safe sex precautions and avoid mosquito bites -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Why We Know Whether a Swallow Is Frightened in a Storm [Excerpt]
What really happens on the Animal Internet -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
[Report] Nuclear envelope rupture and repair during cancer cell migration
During cancer metastasis, tumor cells penetrate tissues through tight interstitial spaces, which requires extensive deformation of the cell and its nucleus. Here, we investigated mammalian tumor cell migration in confining microenvironments in vitro...
[Report] Parasites resistant to the antimalarial atovaquone fail to transmit by mosquitoes
Drug resistance compromises control of malaria. Here, we show that resistance to a commonly used antimalarial medication, atovaquone, is apparently unable to spread. Atovaquone pressure selects parasites with mutations in cytochrome b, a...
[Feature] Gene therapy gets a high-stakes test
A U.K. team is designing a clinical trial even more radical than prenatal stem cell therapy: the first ever test of gene therapy in pregnancy. The treatment aims to correct...
[Feature] The savior cells?
Researchers are designing the first clinical trials of stem cell treatments for fetuses afflicted with rare bone and blood diseases. The trials, still being planned, involve arguably the trickiest patient...
Quebec man wouldn't have had to starve himself to die legally under new federal bill
Jean Brault, who suffered from a debilitating handicap, went 53 days without eating and eight days without water before he qualified for medically assisted death.
Doctor-assisted dying bill restricted to adults facing 'foreseeable' death
Doctor-assisted death will be restricted to mentally competent adults who have serious and incurable illness, disease or disability under new legislation tabled in Parliament today. The long-awaited bill also sets...
Increase in overdose deaths prompts B.C. to declare public health emergency
A public health emergency has been declared in British Columbia over a "significant" increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths.
Hepatitis C cure for under $300 US fuels excitement
A combination hepatitis C cure that is so costly it’s rationed in Canada will be available in middle-income countries for less than $300 US, a move that opens the window...
Asthma diagnosis 'trivialized,' fuels overdiagnosis, doctors say
More than 30 per cent of Canadians diagnosed with asthma don't in fact have it, a specialist says, on the heels of a British commentary that questions how inhalers have...
Painkiller critics take aim at hospital surveys, procedures
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Critics of how prescription painkillers are administered in the U.S. are calling on health officials to phase out hospital procedures...
Aid Groups Aim to Put Mental Health on World Agenda
The first global estimate of the potential returns on investing in treatments for depression and anxiety was released as conferees met in Washington this week.