Deborah Block November 18, 2015 A new full body PET scanner is being developed that could revolutionize how scientists see the inner workings of the human body, possibly leading to the development of better and safer drugs to target diseases such as cancer, heart disease and brain disorders. Unlike X-rays and MRI’s, which provide images […]readmore
Jessica Berman November 12, 2015 As they get older, many people develop a “spare tire” or roll of fat around the middle. Now comes word that so-called central obesity could dramatically increase the risk of death. A new study found that normal weight or skinny people with so-called spare tires, where the circumference of their […]readmore
Carol Pearson Americans are taking more prescription medicines than ever before. What’s more, an increasing number of Americans are taking more than one drug, mostly to treat diseases related to obesity. These were the findings of a study led by Elizabeth Kantor at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Kantor, now at Memorial […]readmore
VOA News November 05, 2015 Heroin and prescription drug overdoses have reached epidemic levels in the United States, surpassing car accidents and firearms as the leading cause of injury deaths, an annual assessment by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has found. «Sadly, this report confirms what we’ve known for some time. … Drug abuse is ending too […]readmore
VOA News October 29, 2015 Being married reduces mortality after heart surgery, according to a new study. Writing in the journal JAMA Surgery, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that patients who are divorced, separated or widowed had around a 40 percent higher risk of dying or “developing […]readmore
LONDON—Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder show signs of improvement after playing a video game for 30 minutes a day rather than taking a pill, the U.S. company developing the treatment said Wednesday. Diagnoses of ADHD have risen in recent decades; some 9.5 percent of children aged 3-17 in the United States had the condition […]readmore
VOA News October 29, 2015 2:03 PM For many, drinking alcohol and smoking go together well, but new research may finally show why. Writing in the Journal of Neurochemistry, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine found that nicotine “cancels out the sleep-inducing effects of alcohol.” Previous research has shown that more than 85 […]readmore
VOA News The sizzling high temperatures that sent the heat index – a combination of temperature and humidity – up to 73 degrees Celsius in Iran this past summer could become the rule by the end of the century rather than the exception, according to new research. The reason? Climate change, says a team of […]readmore
Eating processed meats such as ham, sausages, bacon and hot dogs can cause cancer, says the World Health Organization, which adds that eating red meat probably does too. The report, by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer evaluated more than 800 studies from several continents about meat and cancer. The experts found that […]readmore
Over the next 50 years, it’s expected that Alzheimer’s disease and dementia will strengthen their grip on older adults worldwide. Researchers are studying vitamin D to see if it can slow the onset of dementia Vitamin D comes from the sun and from some foods like nuts, lentils and fatty fish. Researchers have found that […]readmore