Latest science news in Health & Medicine
Anti-sleeping sickness drives may also need to target animals
Efforts to eliminate sleeping sickness from humans without tackling the disease's animal hosts may only end in fresh outbreaks.
University of Calgary gets financial boost for mental health programs
The University of Calgary will receive $3 million over three years towards its mental health programs.
Potential new treatment for gastrointestinal cancers discovered
Researchers have identified a complex of proteins that promotes the growth of some types of colon and gastric cancers, and [...]
Scientists discover genes responsible for cornea blindness
Scientists have succeeded in identifying genes for central corneal thickness that may cause potentially blinding eye conditions. These eye conditions include glaucoma, as well as the progressive thinning of the...
Emergency treatment for energy drinks rising in U.S.
A new U.S. government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled during the past four years.
A Single Bout Of Exercise Can Make Your Flu Shot More Effective
Syringe Wikimedia CommonsJust make sure your sweat levels are optimal. So, you've gotten yourself a flu shot. Good thinking, since this flu season is especially rough. A shot's not always going to save...
First way to make large amounts of promising anti-cancer substance
Scientists are reporting development of the first practical way to make large amounts of a promising new anti-cancer substance that kills cancer cells differently than existing medicines. A new article...
Seven days: 11–17 January 2013
The week in science: European Food Safety Authority releases data on GM maize risk assessments; Japanese scientists benefit from stimulus bill; and Beijing suffers under record-breaking smog.Nature 493 276 doi:...
Childhood immunization schedule safe, report determines
A review of the available evidence underscores the safety of the federal childhood immunization schedule, according to a report released [...]
Colicky Babies May Have Wrong Bacteria
Abnormalities in gut bacteria may play a role in infant colic.
Vaccine Switch Urged for Eradication of Remaining Pockets of Polio
By sunrise on a warm December morning, Janila Shulu’s team are out in the dirt roads and alleyways of Ungwan Rimi, a poor neighborhood in a predominantly Muslim section of...
COPD patients at risk of dangerous bacterial infections
It is well known that COPD patients run a higher risk of contracting respiratory infections. However, a new thesis shows that they are also at higher risk of other bacterial...
Drugs for diabetes? Scientists test the power of plants
Scientists believe they have identified potential sources of medicines derived from plants which may have fewer adverse side-effects for diabetes sufferers.
Cutting down on sugar has a small but significant effect on body weight, study finds
Reducing sugar intake has a small but significant effect on body weight in adults, according to a new study. Although the effect is relatively small (an average reduction of 0.8...
Blood clots and artery blockage more likely during IVF pregnancies, study suggests
In vitro fertilization is associated with an increased risk of pulmonary embolism (blockage of the main artery of the lung) and venous thromboembolism (blood clots) during the first trimester of...
In Africa, success against AIDS
Harvard AIDS researchers gathered at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) last Thursday to mark 10 years of work under a key federal anti-AIDS program that has been instrumental in stemming the...
HIV trial under scrutiny
Critics say that antibody therapy is too expensive for its African target population.Nature 493 279 doi: 10.1038/493279a
Risks of a genetic approach to crime prevention
I have a piece in the Hartford Courant‘s special set of editorials on the Sandy Hook tragedy. The headline-writer missed [...]
Seeing inside the 'flu inside you | Stephen Curry
Two new studies have probed the genetic innards of the 'flu virus in unprecedented detail. But discrepancies between them also show us what a messy process science can be at times.Winter vomiting...
Poorly conducted research is a gift to the opponents of tobacco control | Suzi Gage
A study implicates genes in the failure of taxation to get heavy smokers to quit, but the findings are far from clearcutA recent research paper has suggested that the reason tobacco control policies...
Flu vaccine halves risk of infection, study suggests
Canadians who got a flu shot this year may have cut in half their risk of getting sick enough from flu to require medical care, new data suggests.
Transmission of tangles in Alzheimer's mice provides more authentic model of tau pathology
By using synthetic fibrils made from pure recombinant protein, researchers have provided the first direct and compelling evidence that tau fibrils alone are entirely sufficient to recruit and convert soluble...
CDC: 11 biolab workers infected from 2004-10
At least 11 workers at U.S. biological laboratories were infected with dangerous pathogens from 2004 to 2010, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a report...
Well: For DTaP Vaccine, Thigh May Be Better Injection Site Than Arm
Children are less likely to develop bad reactions to the DTaP vaccine, a routine immunization shot, if they get it in their thigh instead of in their arm, a new...
Flu Activity and Norovirus on the Rise in Europe
At least 16 European countries are reporting increasing flu activity and Britain and France are experiencing an uptick in people suffering from norovirus.
18 Human Heads at Airport a Routine Shipment
Apparently, these kinds of bizarre shipments occur regularly.
Doctor honored for work, leadership
Jane deLima Thomas, a palliative care physician and associate director of the Harvard Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is one of five U.S. physicians to receive the...
Is your business ready for a flu outbreak?
Flu is reaching epidemic levels this year. A flu outbreak affects more than individual's health. Communities, schools and businesses will all be impacted by the virus. Will your business be...