Latest science news in Health & Medicine
Asthma peaks at back-to-school time
Asthma experts say the next few weeks could be busy ones for children suffering from the troubling condition.
Tasmanian devil disease is immortal
The infectious cancer wiping out Tasmanian devils won't slow down, thanks to immortal chromosomes, new research has found.
Grünenthal Group Apologizes to Thalidomide Victims
The Grünenthal Group’s apology, but no admission of liability, came 50 years after the defect-causing drug was taken off the market.
Chilling methods could change meat tenderness
In a recent paper published in the Journal of Animal Science, meat scientists report that a method called blast chilling could affect pork tenderness. Researchers at the USDA-ARS, Roman L....
Spray-on Powder Uses Nitric Oxide to Fight Deadly Bacteria
The powder, containing a photoactive compound, offers a treatment for the potentially lethal bacteria, A. baumannii, by simply adding sunlight.
Sheriff: Man stole doctor's ID, saw 500 patients
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A man stole a physician's identity and pretended to be a doctor for a year in South Carolina, and now investigators are...
Singing the haemo blues for charity
It was when doctors discovered cancer in Derek Caine at 62 that he discovered the musician in himself. Now his mission is to help other leukemia patients and their families.
Legislated to health? If people don't take their health into their own hands, governments may use policies to do it for them
Obesity rates in North America are a growing concern for legislators. Expanded waistlines mean rising health-care costs for maladies such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. One researcher says...
Breathable treatment to help prevent asthma attacks
Researchers in the UK are presenting details of a treatment that could help asthmatics fight infections that trigger 80 percent of asthma attacks.
Microbe-Free Beaches, Thanks to Dogs
Canine patrols can cut down on harmful bacteria from seagull poop
Engineers Can Be Researchers Too | Video
University of Illinois professor, William Sanders, leads a team in the fight against cyber attacks on the Nation’s critical systems.
First simultaneous robotic kidney transplant, sleeve gastrectomy performed
A 35-year-old Chicago woman is the first patient in the world to have a combined procedure that offers new hope for obese kidney patients.
Intervention helps children with sickle cell disease complete MRI tests without sedation
Researchers report success using a targeted educational approach to teach young sickle cell disease patients to remain motionless during MRI scans, making the process safer.
Potential drug for treatement of Alzheimer's disease investigated
A compound developed to treat neuropathic pain has shown potential as an innovative treatment for Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study.
Sir Christopher Booth
Popular and outspoken clinician whose speciality was gastroenterology, he was also a researcher and historianSir Christopher Booth, who has died aged 88, was one of the great names of modern British medicine, outstanding...
Immune system protein could explain pancreatitis
There is now a clear target for the treatment of acute pancreatitis, according to researchers in Sweden, who have discovered that a well-known protein plays a central role in the...
Why Doctors Don't Read Some Medical Test Results
Tests ordered on a patient's last day at the hospital often go unchecked.
Quebec sisters died in Thailand from drinking DEET
The death earlier this year in Thailand of two sisters from Quebec was caused by caused by drinking a cocktail that includes the insecticide DEET, an autopsy concluded.
F.D.A. Approves Drug for Constipation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug linaclotide, which will be sold under the brand name Linzess, for chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome for people over the age...
New Technology Allows Diabetes Testing Through Saliva and Tears
Save your finger tips — new biosensor tests blood sugar through saliva, tears and urine.
Tapping the body to fight disease
Biju Parekkadan saw his future in the plight of a newborn thousands of miles away. It was 1998, and Parekkadan, then a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and...
Too much protein HUWE1 causes intellectual disability
2 to 3% of the children are born with an intellectual disability. Possibly by a genetic defect, but in 80% of these cases, we do not know – yet -...
Crowdsourcing breakthrough treatments for blood infections
If asked how today's toughest medical problems are being solved, most people would probably envision highly skilled physicians and scientists working countless hours with sophisticated lab equipment, not people sitting...
Surgery allows blind orangutan to see her babies
(AP)—A formerly blind Sumatran orangutan can see her baby twins for the first time after undergoing cataract surgery in the first such operation in Indonesia.
Comprehensive, accessible vision testing device for children developed
Eighty-five percent of children's learning is related to vision. Yet in the U.S., 80 percent of children have never had an eye exam or any vision screening before kindergarten, statistics...
Physician, glove thyself: Med Sensation has exam tool (w/ Video)
(Phys.org)—An effort by two engineers and a medical student has resulted in a second glove prototype designed so that doctors can use it as enhanced data. The idea is to...
Anesthesia for hand or face transplants -- initial guidelines
Hand and facial transplants are still rare, but experience so far has produced some suggested guidelines for anesthetic management in patients undergoing these complex "composite" transplant procedures, according to a...
Factors other than pain affect long-term use of strong pain medications after surgery
Non-pain-related factors—including previous use of pain medications, high perceived risk of addiction, and symptoms of depression—increase the risk of continuing to use strong pain-relieving drugs several months after surgery, according...