The number of deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide in 2017 hit the highest level since the collection of federal mortality data started in 1999, according to an analysis by two public health nonprofits, the Trust for America’s Health and the Well Being Trust. To reach their conclusion, the two groups parsed the latest available…
Efforts to end the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the second largest such epidemic ever, are failing because outside organizations have alienated the communities, leading residents to avoid medical care and even to attack treatment centers, Dr. Joanne Liu, the international president of Doctors Without Borders, said on Thursday. She included her…
Sleep is an important part of the daily life cycle of most animals — including humans. But when an animal sleeps, it leaves itself defenseless in the face of danger. So, what makes sleeping so important that we all take this risk? What effect does sleep have on individual brain cells? Research, both old and…
What is considered “early” to experience menopause? — Dr. Alicia Hendley (@AliciaMHendley) October 25, 2018 Short Take Before the age of 40. [Have a question about women’s health? Ask Dr. Gunter yourself.] Tell Me More The defining phenomenon of menopause is cessation of ovulation (producing an egg), which results in a drastic reduction in the…
As a palliative care doctor, I spend much of my time face-to-face with pain and suffering, debilitating disease and death. When I began my training, I thought I was comfortable with the idea of mortality, and with the notion that fighting death at all costs wasn’t the sole purpose of medicine. But I hadn’t expected…
IMAGE: Zinia Jaman, a Purdue University doctoral student in chemistry, prepares a reactor system as part of the process for making generic lomustine using a continuous manufacturing method. The Food and… view more WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Food and Drug Administration wants the pharmaceutical industry to get away from making drugs using the traditional batch…
Scientists have shed light on how healthy cells develop by identifying the role of key molecules involved. The components, known as R-loops, are formed during cell development and have been shown to play an important role in the process. The latest finding overturns previous thinking that R-loops, formed from the genetic material that makes up…
Too much time in front of the bedroom TV deprives the child of more enriching developmental activities and may explain, in part, less optimal body mass, poor eating habits and socio-emotional difficulties as a teenager, says the study, published Dec. 26 in Pediatric Research. “The early years are a critical period in a child’s development,”…
CAMBRIDGE, MA — Many types of cancer could be more easily treated if they were detected at an earlier stage. MIT researchers have now developed an imaging system, named “DOLPHIN,” which could enable them to find tiny tumors, as small as a couple of hundred cells, deep within the body. In a new study, the…
Concerns about the addictive nature of e-cigarettes–now used by an estimated 1 out of 20 Americans–may only be part of the evolving public health story surrounding their use, according to data being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 68th Annual Scientific Session. New research shows that adults who report puffing e-cigarettes, or vaping, are…