It’s not easy being the brother or sister of an autistic child. “Typical” siblings sometimes feel embarrassed by or responsible for their autistic sib, or may feel jealous of all the attention he gets. Now researchers have found …
Lawsuit over Children Born the Wrong Color After IVF
A Northern Irish High Court judge has declined to award damages to a family who sued a health trust that provided in vitro fertilization (IVF) services for using the wrong sperm and causing their two children to be born darker …
Study: Walking Is a Brain Exercise Too
I am often teased for my stubborn habit of traveling by foot. I often walk the 3 mi. home from work rather than take the subway. When I visit less pedestrian-friendly cities, kindhearted motorists regularly pull over and offer me …
Forget Pain Pills, Fall in Love Instead
Do you believe that love conquers all? If you do, you probably won’t be surprised by the following study. It turns out that being in love can actually dull pain perception. What’s more, it works in a different way that painkillers do.
Canada Declares BPA Toxic. Is the U.S. Next?
Yesterday Canada—with very little fanfare—declared the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) a toxic substance, both to the environment and to public health.
How the Chilean Miners Will Cope: Q&A with a Trauma Expert
On Wednesday night, as the world watched, the last of the 33 trapped Chilean miners made it safely to the surface. After having spent more than two months underground in a collapsed mine, the men emerged remarkably physically …
Shockingly, Men’s Memory Is Affected By Attractive Women
You know that situation where a guy in a bar just keeps hitting on a woman who everyone else can tell is just not interested? Awkward. Turns out it may be that he just doesn’t remember what her body language has already said.
Down Syndrome Goes Viral, Thanks to a High School Touchdown
Recently, a Canadian couple insisted their surrogate have an abortion after learning that the fetus she was carrying had Down syndrome. Mired as they were in talk of bioethics and contract law, it’s doubtful that the parties …
Is Birth Control Preventive Medicine?
That’s the question federal officials will by answering in the next year as they continue writing regulations to implement the Affordable Care Act.
The Hispanic Mortality Paradox: Why Do Latinos Outlive Other Americans?
For the first time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has collected national life expectancy data for the Hispanic population, and backed up the surprising findings of past studies: the average life expectancy of a …
NYC to Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Stop Misleading Pregnant Women
You may have seen billboards or magazine ads for women’s clinics called crisis-pregnancy centers. Riding the F subway train in New York City, I regularly see a poster that features an anxious-looking teenage girl under the …
Q&A: Discussing the Dark Side of Medicine with Author Carl Elliott
Welcome to Mind Reading, Healthland’s new series of talks with authors of “brainy” books.
Study: College Students Drink More While Studying Abroad
College campuses are hotbeds of drinking activity, but new research suggests that students consume up to twice as much alcohol when they study abroad versus staying on campus.