Latest science news in Health & Medicine
30 Minutes of Exercise May Be As Good As 1 Hour
Thirty minutes of exercise a day works just as well as an hour of exercise for weight loss, a new study suggests.
Prescriptions to seniors inappropriate 20% of the time
Prescriptions given to elderly people are inappropriate about 20 per cent of the time, according to an international review.
Possible cause of immune deficiency cases in Asia
A clinical study has identified an antibody that compromises the immune systems of HIV-negative people, making them susceptible to infections with opportunistic microbes such as nontuberculous mycobacteria. In this study...
New AIDS-like disease described
Researchers have identified a mysterious new disease that has left scores of people in Asia and some in the United States with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected...
Ethical dilemmas contribute to 'critical weaknesses' in FDA postmarket oversight, experts say
Ethical challenges are central to persistent “critical weaknesses” in the national system for ensuring drug safety, according to a commentary by former Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee members published today...
Imaging study sheds new light on alcohol-related birth defects
The new imaging study in a mouse model for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders could enhance the diagnoses of birth defects caused by alcohol exposure in the womb and it illustrates...
Children’s body fatness linked to decisions made in the womb
New born human infants have the largest brains among primates, but also the highest proportion of body fat. Before birth, if the supply of nutrients from the mother through the...
Potency of statins linked to muscle side effects
A new study reports that muscle problems reported by patients taking statins were related to the strength or potency of the given cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Rough Sea-Slug Sex May Have Benefits
Why sea slugs put up with penis spines and syringe-like appendages.
Researchers study the structure of drug resistance in tuberculosis
A research group is studying disease resistance in tuberculosis. The group has described the structure of a regulator that controls the expression of a pump that removes toxins from the...
First evidence from humans on how alcohol may boost risk of cancer
Almost 30 years after discovery of a link between alcohol consumption and certain forms of cancer, scientists are reporting the first evidence from research on people explaining how the popular...
Toward medicines that recruit the body's natural disease-fighting proteins
Like recruiters pitching military service to a throng of people, scientists are developing drugs to recruit disease-fighting proteins present naturally in everyone’s blood in medicine’s war on infections, cancer and...
New research shows discrepancies in quality of care, mortality among women and men who suffer heart attacks
A new study found there was significantly lower quality of care and worse outcomes in women compared to men – particularly young women under age 35 who had heart attack...
Archived blood spots could be epigenetic jackpot
But privacy concerns could complicate their use for research.Nature News doi: 10.1038/nature.2012.11258
Antibiotics linked to fat buildup
Drugs might impact body composition, weight by altering mix of gut microbes
Tracking infectious outbreaks by their genomes
A New York City patient carrying a multi-drug-resistant strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a microbe frequently associated with hospital-borne infections, introduced the dangerous bacteria into the 243-bed research hospital while participating...
Gene mutation may signal recurrence of fibromatosis in children
In the case of aggressive fibromatosis, the good news is that it is a slow-growing benign tumor. The bad news is that this abdominal tumor often recurs after surgical removal....
Targeting inflammation to prevent, treat cancers
Researchers have identified a gene that disrupts the inflammatory process implicated in liver cancer.
Law School Test Prep May Alter Brain
Intensely studying for the LSAT can change brain structure and may even boost IQ, neuroscientists say.
FYI: Is There Any Way to Prevent Toe Cramps?
Toe Cramps Superstock/Getty Images Short answer: Not really. Long answer: All muscles are capable of cramping, but the ones farthest away from your spinal cord-in your feet and lower legs, for example-tend to...
Microbiologists find new approach to fighting viral illnesses
By discovering how certain viruses use their host cells to replicate, microbiologists have identified a new approach to the development of universal treatments for viral illnesses such as meningitis, encephalitis,...
Close contact with young people at risk of suicide has no effect, study suggests
Researchers, doctors and patients tend to agree that during the high-risk period after an attempted suicide, the treatment of choice is close contact, follow-up and personal interaction in order to...
Early exposure to antibiotics may impact development, obesity
Researchers have made a novel discovery that could have widespread clinical implications, potentially affecting everything from nutrient metabolism to obesity in children.
Govt. gene sleuths stop superbug that killed 6
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Over six frightening months, a deadly germ untreatable by most antibiotics spread in the nation's leading research hospital. Pretty soon, a patient a...
Seniors' drug reaction costs called 'significant'
Adverse reactions to the prescription drugs taken by seniors cost the health-care system more than $13.6 million in Ontario a year, a new study suggests.
For Better or Worse: Older Dads Pass on More Mutations to Kids
A 36-year-old gives twice the new mutations to his child as a 20-year-old dad.
Transgender People New Targets of Hateful Political Ads
Political ads demonize gays and lesbians less, transgender people more.
Modern-Day Phineas Gage? How Man Survived a Rod Through His Brain
The near-miraculous recovery of a man in Brazil after a gruesome accident recalls the famous case of Phineas Gage. Will history repeat again in the psychological aftermath?