NYT > Health
NYT > HealthHDL ‘Good Cholesterol’ Found Not to Cut Heart Risk
People genetically prone to higher levels of HDL, often called “good cholesterol,” showed that they did not have any significant decrease in risk of cardiovascular disease.
Paralyzed, Moving a Robot With Their Minds
Scientists said a tiny brain implant allowed two people who are virtually paralyzed below the neck to manipulate a robotic arm.
Well: Skechers Toning Shoe Customers to Get Refund
Federal regulators announced on Wednesday that Skechers has agreed to pay $40 million to settle charges that the company deceived consumers with claims about its toning shoes.
Maternal Deaths Plunged Over 2 Decades, U.N. Reports
The decline is attributable to increases in contraception and in AIDS drugs, and to greater numbers of births attended by those with medical training.
Pepsi and Competitors Scramble as Soda Sales Drop
Americans are abandoning carbonated drinks, and Coke and Pepsi are relying more than ever on the “flat” drinks and bottled waters.
Alzheimer’s Prevention Is Aim of Drug Trial
A clinical trial of Crenezumab will focus largely on members of a Colombian family who are genetically destined to develop the disease but who do not yet have any symptoms.
Clot-Fighting Drug Plavix Set to Lose Patent Protection
The drug, which prevents clots among heart attack patients, will no longer be promoted by Bristol-Myers Squibb because of an influx of cheaper generic alternatives.
F.D.A. Panel Backs Easier Home H.I.V. Test
An advisory body recommended that the Food and Drug Administration approve the OraQuick test, which uses a mouth swab to give a result in 20 minutes.
News Analysis: Taking Truvada to Prevent H.I.V. Also Comes With Risks
Taking Truvada daily can help people in at-risk groups prevent H.I.V. infection, but the consequences of loose adherence go beyond contracting the virus.
Side Effects: Microscopic Neighbors, Evolving Together
A novel experiment sought to demonstrate that how different living things in a community bump up against one another affects how they evolve.
In Sperm Banks, a Roll of the Genetic Dice
In households across the country, children conceived with donated sperm are struggling with serious genetic conditions inherited from men they have never met.
Losing More to Gain More: Amputees’ Once-Unthinkable Choice
As artificial limbs are infused with better technology, some people are opting to amputate more extensively to regain something more akin to normal function.
A Conversation With Carson Chow: A Mathematical Challenge to Obesity
Carson Chow has used mathematical models to determine the causes of obesity, and ways to stem the epidemic.
On View: Exhibition Traces the Emergence of Jews as Medical Innovators
An exhibition offers a look at the emergence of European and American Jews as innovators in medicine, despite their status as outsiders frequently scorned by the establishment.
Romney Medicare Plan Draws Stark Contrast With Obama’s
Mitt Romney says President Obama has no workable plan to prevent Medicare from going bankrupt, and that he is offering “a dramatic change in perspective and philosophy.”
Drilling Down: For Oil Workers, Deadliest Danger Is Driving
Highway crashes are the largest cause of fatalities in the oil industry, partly because of safety exemptions that allow truckers to work longer hours than other drivers.
Vital Signs: IUD May Be Best Emergency Contraception, Analysis Shows
An examination of 42 studies showed that intrauterine devices had a higher success rate in preventing pregnancy after unprotected sex than two pills that are used more often.
Q & A: Can Animals Get Sunburn, Too?
Just like humans, animals can suffer from too much sun exposure; domestic animals that have short or thin coats of hair or pale skin are at greater risk.
Recipes for Health: Pan-Cooked Brussels Sprouts With Green Garlic
These quick-cooking sprouts are a versatile side dish, but they’re also satisfying with on their own with rice.
Finding a Match and a Mission, to Help Blacks Battle Cancers
Seun Adebiyi launched Nigeria’s national bone-marrow registry, a potential lifesaver for black cancer patients, after experiencing firsthand the difficulty of finding donors for those of African descent.
Whooping Cough Epidemic Hits Washington State
Efforts in Washington State to address a resurgent childhood ailment have been hobbled by years of recession-induced budget cuts that have hollowed out public health departments.
Global Update: Study Seeks More Access to Caesarean Births in Poor Countries
Performing Caesarean deliveries extensively in 49 poor countries would save 16,800 mothers’ lives annually and prevent many vaginal tears, a new study found.
Prototype: An I.B.M. Computer Program Rewards Healthy Diets
A computer program developed at I.B.M. uses game techniques and psychology to influence dieting: eat a salad, for example, and you could win 50 cents.
Off the Shelf: In ‘iDisorder,’ a Look at Mobile-Device Addiction - Review
A new book by a California psychologist examines obsessions with smartphones and other devices — and suggests ways to overcome the neediness.
D.S.M. Revisions May Sharply Increase Addiction Diagnoses
Revisions to a major psychiatric manual would expand recognized addiction symptoms, which could pose huge consequences for insurers and taxpayers.
Diet Drug Wins Approval of F.D.A. Advisers
Government advisers recommended that the F.D.A. approve the weight-loss drug lorcaserin.
Well: Concussions May Be More Severe in Girls and Young Athletes
Younger athletes, and girls in particular, may need to be managed more cautiously after a concussion, a new study shows.
Dialysis Rule Changes Followed by Transfusion Increases
A shift by the federal government in how it pays for drugs for dialysis patients may have had an unintended and potentially dire consequence, researchers say.
Well: New Cautions About Bisphosphonates
The Food and Drug Administration published an analysis that suggested caution against long-term use of the drugs, but fell short of issuing specific recommendations.
Pfizer’s Rheumatoid Arthritis Pill Wins Federal Panel’s Approval
A federal advisory panel recommended approval of a rheumatoid arthritis pill known as tofacitinib, but several members expressed concern about its safety.
Well: Coffee Drinkers May Live Longer
The largest-ever study of the relationship between coffee consumption and health showed that regular coffee drinkers had a lower risk of dying from a variety of diseases.
Well: Phys Ed: Cancer Survivors Who Exercise Live Longer
Even moderate activity like taking a walk may improve cancer survivors' long-term prognosis, according to new research showing that regular exercise can lower survivors' risk of premature death, not only from cancer but from any cause.
Well: Vital Signs: Using Probiotics to Help Medicine Go Down
A review of 82 trials concluded that probiotics - of varying sources and doses - significantly reduced the rate of antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
Well: Vital Signs: TV and Unhealthy Diets Have Stronger Link
TV viewing is linked not only with unhealthy snacking while watching, but also with less healthy eating habits at all times, a study finds.
Well: Sippy Cups and Other Little-Known Childhood Hazards
Bottles, pacifiers and sippy cups cause thousands of injuries to the mouth and teeth every year, and button batteries, those flat silver discs used in toys and home electronics, can cause serious harm when swallowed.
Personal Health: Personal Health: The Zen of Swimming
Swimming is second only to walking as the nation's most popular recreational activity, and its benefits can be enjoyed regardless of age or infirmity.
The Consumer: The Consumer: A TV Show Adds to the Muddle on HPV Testing
The girls of "Girls" are asking, and so is everyone else: What does it mean to be infected with HPV?
Personal Best: Personal Best: Can Runners Have 'Too Many Miles on the Tires'?
If you start racing when you are young, will you be slower in middle age than if you started when you were older?
Really?: Really? Red Wine as a Probiotic Delivery System
Known for its potential to protect against heart disease, red wine also aids digestive health, through probiotics, studies show.
HEALTH: The 20-Minute Workout
Gretchen Reynolds, the Phys Ed columnist, on the science of high-intensity interval training, or H.I.T., which scientists are finding can be as effective as longer endurance training.
HEALTH: In Love and Loss
Michael French has frontotemporal dementia, for which there is no treatment. As his condition deteriorated, his wife, Ruth, had to move him to a nursing home, where she spends most days.
Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?
Psychologists now believe fledgling psychopaths can be identified as early as kindergarten. The hope is to teach these children empathy before it’s too late.
The New Old Age Blog: A Twist in the Driving Debate
Researchers find that many older adults who stop driving hit the road again.
The New Old Age Blog: A Drug to Prevent Alzheimer's
Government officials announce plans to test a drug to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
The New Old Age Blog: The Shingles Vaccine Returns
The manufacturer of the shingles vaccine says production has been restored.
The New Old Age Blog: When Disaster Strikes the Nursing Home
Many nursing homes remain unprepared for a natural disaster, a federal report finds.
Letters: HPV and Oral Cancer (1 Letter)
Letter to the editor.
Letters: Consider the Parent, Too (2 Letters)
Letters to the editor.
Letters: That Unbearable Itch (1 Letter)
Letter to the editor.
Letters: Learning From Cuba (1 Letter)
Letter to the editor.
FOXNews.com
FOXNews.comFOX News Channel - We Report. You Decide.
Plugs for Obama Added Into Ex-Presidents' Bios
Administration defensive about editing official online presidential bios to link Obama's actions to past presidents
Gay Community Rips Plan To Name Ship After Activist
Plans to name Navy ship after late California lawmaker Harvey Milk questioned over his views on war
Vietnam War Hero isAwarded Medal of Honor
Spc. Leslie H. Sabo Jr., who died saving the lives of fellow troops, is honored with military's top recognition
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Jury convicts Steve Powell of voyeurism charges
Zimmerman had cuts, black eyes after shooting- Autopsy reportedly shows Trayvon Martin injured
Fed workers earned $439M in bonuses last year
'Terminator' actor Nick Stahl is missing, wife says
EXCLUSIVE: UN websites, social media have long-neglected security and privacy issues, report says
Edwards' defense rests without calling 'ex' factor
No motive determined in murder of kids by Fla. mom
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Scientific American - Health
Scientific American - HealthScience news and technology updates from Scientific American
Is Football to Blame for Players' Suicides?
High-profile suicides of professional football players have mounted in the past several years Terry Long (2005), Andre Waters (2006), Dave Duerson (2011) and Ray Easterling (2012) all killed themselves following retirement and bouts with diagnoses likely related to the thousands of hits they fearlessly underwent as players. The conditions vary but have overlapping qualities: post-concussion syndrome, depression, other mood disorders, personality changes, memory problems and dementia. Now with the loss of Pro Bowler Junior Seau, dead at 43 earlier this month by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest, a suicide has occurred in a Hall of Fame-bound player who reportedly never exhibited emotional pain. His body will be examined for signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition proposed to explain the football suicides and underlying mental illness.
The issue of professional football’s responsibility for these conditions and player suicides is explored in Headstrong , a play running this month at the Ensemble Studio Theater in Manhattan. The theater has a long-standing sponsorship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to produce shows that deal with science. (Last year with this funding, EST mounted Photograph 51 , which explored the role of Rosalind Franklin in the discovery of the structure of DNA .)
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Self-Worth Shattering: A Single Bomb Blast Can Saddle Soldiers with Debilitating Brain Trauma
The stress and suffering of combat are known to leave a lasting impact on military veterans, in some cases triggering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) . Researchers have now found an even more serious and debilitating mental condition, known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) , in veterans, particularly those injured by the concussive force of bomb blasts. [More]
Soot May Help Shift Tropics North
Soot may be responsible for the tropics expanding north , according to an analysis involving multiple computer models of the climate. By absorbing sunlight and trapping extra heat in the atmosphere, the tiny, black particles may be helping the poleward march of tropical conditions.
The research will be published in Nature on May 17. ( Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)
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Writing about patients: lessons from first year
Three years ago, before fully committing myself to the idea of going into medicine, I decided to shadow in a genetics outpatient clinic to help give me a clue of what it was about. When I met twelve -yea r-old Laura (not her real name), she was wearing denim overalls, white sandals, and a floppy green hat. During her evaluation, the resident I was shadowing asked her to remove them so that he could do a routine physical exam. Everything was shed except for the green hat, which she flatly refused to touch. Laura s mother, who was in the room with us, defended her daughter s obstinacy. She never takes that hat off. Can t you just do the exam with it on?
Laura and her green hat inspired a fiction story I later wrote about a young girl s building obsession with texture and color. Many other tidbits I had learned about her, however, never made it into the narrative. In a story, with words that I arranged, characters could behave any way I chose or undergo any experience I designed. I was able to add and subtract details to Laura s narrative as I wanted not necessarily to give it a happy ending, but to package it neatly, smooth out contradictions, and tie up loose ends. A twelve-year-old became a fifteen-year-old, a green hat became a red scarf, and most importantly, the doctors were able to give my character s illness a name. By writing a fictional story about a patient, I was able to fit pieces of her medical narrative together in satisfying ways I could not do in real life.
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Know Your Neurons: How to Classify Different Types of Neurons in the Brain's Forest
Previously, on Know Your Neurons: Chapter 1: The Discovery and Naming of the Neuron
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Microbes Annihilate the "Nature vs. Nurture" Debate
Most E. coli bacteria found in the body are harmless
The latest research into the genetics of the human microbiome is taking to a whole new level the old (and not always fruitful) argument about whether nature or nurture is a more important influence in our lives.
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10 Things Exome Sequencing Can t Do-but Why It s Still Powerful
Sequencing of the exome the protein-encoding parts of all the genes is beginning to dominate the genetics journals as well as headlines, thanks to its ability to diagnose the formerly undiagnosable.
The 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting honored the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel s coverage of a 4-year-old whose intestinal disorder was finally diagnosed after sequencing his exome. Once investigators assigned a gene to his symptoms, a bone marrow transplant saved his life. And a just-published study compared the exomes of 12 children with combinations of developmental delay, intellectual disability, and birth defects at the Duke University genetics clinic to reference exomes, revealing 7 mutations, 2 in genes not known to be associated with disease.
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#SciAmBlogs Tuesday - on that TIME cover..., stem cells, invasive beetles, drowned Cretaceous birds, onset of autism, and more.
- Eric Michael Johnson – Out of the Mouth of Babes
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The Football Concussion Crisis, Part 1
NFL Hall of Famer Harry Carson joins former NBC anchor Stone Phillips and pathologist Bennet Omalu for a discussion of chronic traumatic encephalopathy among football players. [More]
Out of the Mouth of Babes
Extended breastfeeding is the norm in most human and primate societies. So why are we the weird ones?
"Attachment (with respect to Martin Schoeller)" by Nathaniel Gold
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The Mathematician's Obesity Fallacy
As I write, this interview with mathematician Carson C. Chow is the number-one most-emailed story on the New York Times Web site. Chow, a researcher at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, had no experience in the health sciences before he came to study the problem of why so many Americans are overweight. “I didn’t even know what a calorie was,” he says.
This kind of outsider’s perspective can be invaluable when attacking a problem as difficult and entrenched as the epidemic of obesity in the U.S. Chow relates the story of starting work at the institute a division of the National Institutes of Health and finding a mathematical model created by a colleague that could predict “how body composition changed in response to what you ate.” The problem, as Chow describes it, was that the model was complicated: “hundreds of equations,” he told the Times . “[We] began working together to boil it down to one simple equation. That’s what applied mathematicians do.”
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Car Commutes Can Counter Conditioning
The average American car commuter spends a total of about 50 minutes each day getting to and from work. Some spend hours stuck in heavy traffic. Others may enjoy clear roads, but long drives from suburbs to the city.
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TEDMED: Tougher topics to chew on
With earlier posts about TEDMED, I hope I whet your appetite and energized you to take on the tougher topics. There were several talks that either particularly resonated with me or that left a sour aftertaste.
Ivan Oransky , executive editor of Reuters Health, offered excellent perspective on the current trend of treating preconditions more aggressively, noting facetiously that subclinical acne is the easiest type to treat. He focused on the medicalization of even trivial problems leading to unnecessary interventions. I was immediately reminded of the fine NPR story, How A Bone Disease Grew To Fit The Prescription , which vividly described osteopenia having been created as a new disease.
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The Most Exciting Moment of My Scientific Career
Thumbi Ndung’u left Kenya 1995 to study medicine at Harvard. He later returned to Africa on a mission to exploit HIV’s vulnerabilities. Now the head of the HIV Pathogenesis Program at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Ndung’u spoke with Scientific American contributor Brendan Borrell about a research breakthrough early in his career that helped set the pace for the Kenyan’s ongoing study of genes in the immune system that may help to fight AIDS and lead to a vaccine. When asked which moment has been the most exciting of his young career, Ndung’u responded:
“The most exciting moment for me was when I succeeded in developing the first molecular clone of HIV subtype C as a graduate student at Harvard in the late 1990s. HIV subtype C is the most common subtype in the world. About 50 percent of all infections are caused by subtype C, but developing an infectious clone was difficult for reasons that we don’t fully understand.
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Your Microbiome Community Brings New Meaning to "We the People"
“No man is an island, entire of itself,” wrote English poet John Donne. Nearly four centuries later science is gaining a fuller appreciation of just how literally true that is.
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Empowering the Body to Fix Its Parts
Over the past few months, we have been flooded with emails from distressed parents asking whether their deaf child will be able to hear one day.
With each new email comes a poignant story about a child whose world is silent. It is estimated that hearing loss affects 11% of school age children and even mild loss may adversely influence school performance, cognitive development and language acquisition. The most common type of hearing loss, sensorineural, is the result of injury to the hair cells of the inner ear s Organ of Corti, most commonly due to infections, medication, noise and aging.
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Not-So-Quick Fix: ADHD Behavioral Therapy May Be More Effective Than Drugs in Long Run
Before stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall began their rise to popularity in the 1970s, treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) focused on behavioral therapy. But as concerns build over the mounting dosages and extended treatment periods that come with stimulant drugs, clinical researchers are revisiting behavioral therapy techniques. Whereas stimulant medications may help young patients focus and behave in the classroom, research now suggests that behaviorally based changes make more of a difference in the long-term.
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#SciAmBlogs Monday - decaying aluminum, living photography, science movie consultant, octopus on ice, ugliest experiments, and more.
Today we are happy to announce the newest blog at #SciAmBlogs – check out Molecules to Medicine!
And as usual on Mondays, we have the new Image of the Week .
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Living Photography
Image of the Week #42, May 14th, 2012:
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What Are Science's Ugliest Experiments?
When I teach history of science at Stevens Institute of Technology, I devote plenty of time to science’s glories, the kinds of achievements that my buddy George Johnson wrote about in The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008). George helps us appreciate what Galileo did with inclined planes, Newton with prisms, Pavlov with dogs, Galvani with frogs, Millikan with oil drops, Faraday with a magnet and coil of wire. (When George demonstrated Faraday’s experiment on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report , Stephen Colbert found the experiment so shocking that he blurted out, “Mother——!”) But I tell my students about science’s missteps, too, to remind them that scientists can be as flawed as the rest of us mortals. In that negative spirit, here are five experiments that I consider to be especially hideous, horrible, immoral in short, ugly.
Walter Freeman and Transorbital Lobotomies
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