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Medicine
CDC: More Adults Are Aware and Treating Their High Blood Pressure
The rate of high blood pressure among American adults has plateaued over the last 10 years, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But compared to 10 years ago, more of those …
Study: Heavy Smoking in Midlife Hikes the Risk of Alzheimer’s
As if anyone needed another reason for quitting: a new study found that heavy cigarette use in middle age more than doubles the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia down the road.
Anxiety Keeps Some Smokers from Quitting
Breaking news! Nervous people smoke more than other people. More breaking news: they also find it harder to quit. Those may not be the kinds of insights that get the attention of the Nobel committee, but a new study in the …
Black Men With High Blood Pressure, See Your Barber?
Black men have the highest rate of hypertension-related death of any group in the U.S. (three times the rate of white men), partly because high blood pressure goes untreated in so many African Americans.
Radiation May Be a Greater Cancer Risk for Adults Than Doctors Thought
From the sun’s ultraviolet rays to the weak cosmic exposure we get on plane flights to the screening tests that doctors recommend, our bodies are constantly bombarded with small but relatively consistent doses of potentially …
Lungs Have Bitter Taste Receptors That May Help Treat Asthma
Most people aren’t wild about things that taste bitter, and there may be an evolutionary reason for that: bitter taste receptors on the tongue may have developed to help warn people away from eating toxic plants. So imagine the …
Kids, Cancer and Clinical Trials: Parents Are Confused
Fifty years ago, a diagnosis of childhood leukemia meant you needed to start planning your child’s funeral. Now it’s got an 85% cure rate, largely due to advances attributed to information gleaned from pediatric clinical …
How a Scorpion’s Poison Could Help Heart Patients
There are toxins, and then there are toxins. If you’ve had bypass surgery, the powerful margatoxin — courtesy of the scorpion — might one day save your life. But don’t go hunting for the little critters yet — not until …
Marathon Running Can Damage the Heart — But Only Temporarily
As grueling — and potentially painful — as running a marathon can be, most people assume that completing one is a good thing overall, for your heart and your health.
Here’s the Secret About Long Life: It Doesn’t Come in a Pill
Good news travels fast, but dubious news travels faster, especially if it heralds a possible nostrum to vanquish age. An article in the Oct. 21 issue of the British mass-market newspaper, the Daily Mail, suggested that DHEAS, a …
Diabetes Rates Expected to Soar
Experts have been projecting a rise in diabetes cases for years now, owing largely to the growing number of overweight and obese individuals, who are at higher risk of developing the disease. But never before have the numbers …
Another Use for Breasts: Medical Experiments
A fascinating, if wonky, story in this month’s Wired looks at an unexpected side benefit that breast enhancement may have wrought. It turns out that boobs, apart from being a source of nourishment for the young and a good way to …