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Researchers find clues that depression may speed brain aging
WASHINGTON (AP) — Memory and thinking skills naturally slow with age but now scientists are peeking inside living brains to tell if depression might worsen that decline — and finding some worrisome clues. Depression has long been linked to certain co...
Year in space put US astronaut's disease defenses on alert
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly a year in space put astronaut Scott Kelly's immune system on high alert and changed the activity of some of his genes compared to his Earth-bound identical twin, researchers said Friday. Scientists don't know if the changes w...
No stethoscope for pain: Scientists seek real way to measure
WASHINGTON (AP) — Is the pain stabbing or burning? On a scale from 1 to 10, is it a 6 or an 8? Over and over, 17-year-old Sarah Taylor struggled to make doctors understand her sometimes debilitating levels of pain, first from joint-damaging c...
Experimental app might spot drug overdoses in time to help
WASHINGTON (AP) — Too often people die of an opioid overdose because no one's around to notice they're in trouble. Now scientists are creating a smartphone app that beams sound waves to measure breathing — and summon help if it stops. The app is stil...
AP-NORC Poll: Most support gene editing to protect babies
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Americans say it would be OK to use gene-editing technology to create babies protected against a variety of diseases — but a new poll shows they'd draw the line at changing DNA so children are born smarter, faster or taller. A...
Cuba health mystery: Diplomats had inner-ear damage early on
MIAMI (AP) — American diplomats affected by mysterious health incidents in Cuba showed damage in the inner ear shortly after they complained of weird noises and sensations, according to their earliest medical exams, publicized Wednesday. The d...
Next generation of biotech food heading for grocery stores
WASHINGTON (AP) — The next generation of biotech food is headed for the grocery aisles, and first up may be salad dressings or granola bars made with soybean oil genetically tweaked to be good for your heart. By early next year, the first foods from...
Cross talk: Federal agencies clash on cellphone cancer risk
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two U.S. government agencies are giving conflicting interpretations of a safety study on cellphone radiation: One says it causes cancer in rats. The other says there's no reason for people to worry. No new research was issued T...
Appendix removal is linked to lower risk of Parkinson's
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists have found a new clue that Parkinson's disease may get its start not in the brain but in the gut — maybe in the appendix. People who had their appendix removed early in life had a lower risk of getting the tremor-inducing...
AP-NORC Poll: Many caregivers neglecting their own health
WASHINGTON (AP) — Skipping your checkup but not grandma's? Caring for an older loved one is a balancing act, and a new poll shows that too often it's the caregivers' health that's neglected. The survey, by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public...
Finding answers for patients with rarest of rare diseases
WASHINGTON (AP) — The youngster's mysterious symptoms stumped every expert his parents consulted: No diagnosis explained why he couldn't sit up on his own, or why he'd frequently choke, or his neurologic and intestinal abnormalities. Then they t...
No easy answers on best heart check-up for young athletes
WASHINGTON (AP) — What kind of heart check-up do young athletes need to make the team? A large study of teenage soccer players in England found in-depth screening didn't detect signs of trouble in some athletes who later died — yet allowed others at...
Ultrasound jiggles open brain barrier, a step to better care
WASHINGTON (AP) — A handful of Alzheimer's patients signed up for a bold experiment: They let scientists beam sound waves into the brain to temporarily jiggle an opening in its protective shield. The so-called blood-brain barrier prevents germs a...
AP-NORC Poll: If DNA shows health risks, most want to know
WASHINGTON (AP) — Would you want to know if you harbor a gene linked to Alzheimer's or another incurable disease? A new poll finds most Americans would. Some 17 percent of Americans already have undergone at least one kind of DNA test, and 52 p...
NIH ends alcohol study, citing funding, credibility problems
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is shutting down a study that was supposed to show if a single drink a day could prevent heart attacks, saying ethical problems with how the research was planned and funded undermine its credibility. The N...
Sexual harassment rampant in science, culture change urged
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sexual harassment is rampant in academic science, and colleges and universities that train new scientists need a system-wide culture change so women won't be bullied out of the field, a national advisory group said Tuesday. In f...
New evidence that viruses may play a role in Alzheimer's
WASHINGTON (AP) — Viruses that sneak into the brain just might play a role in Alzheimer's, scientists reported Thursday in a provocative study that promises to re-ignite some long-debated theories about what triggers the mind-robbing disease. The f...
US seeking 1 million for massive study of DNA, health habits
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wanted: A million people willing to share their DNA and 10 years of health habits, big and small, for science. On Sunday, the U.S. government will open nationwide enrollment for an ambitious experiment: If they can build a large e...
Study finds obesity robs the tongue of taste buds in mice
WASHINGTON (AP) — Packing on pounds seems to dull people's sense of taste, and puzzled researchers turned to mice to figure out why: Obesity, they found, can rob the tongue of taste buds. If Tuesday's findings pan out, "this could be a whole new k...
Report: Abortion is safe but barriers reduce quality of care
WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortions in the U.S. are very safe but getting one without facing delays and false medical information depends on where women live, says a broad examination of the nation's abortion services. Friday's report from the National A...
Superagers' youthful brains offer clues to keeping sharp
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's pretty extraordinary for people in their 80s and 90s to keep the same sharp memory as someone several decades younger, and now scientists are peeking into the brains of these "superagers" to uncover their secret. The work is t...
Scientists aim at joint injuries that can trigger arthritis
WASHINGTON (AP) — Arthritis isn't always from the wear and tear of getting older — younger adults too often get it after suffering knee or ankle injuries. Now researchers are hunting a way to stave off the damage, by targeting the little energy fac...
Cancer from cellphones? New studies say no need to hang up
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two government studies that bombarded rats and mice with cellphone radiation found a weak link to some heart tumors, but federal regulators and some scientists say don't worry — it is safe to use your device. They still do. Pre...
Tiny implant opens way to deliver drugs deep into the brain
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists have created a hair-thin implant that can drip medications deep into the brain by remote control and with pinpoint precision. Tested only in animals so far, if the device pans out it could mark a new approach to t...
Gov't scientists scramble to save research ahead of shutdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's premier medical research institute is in "a scramble" to prepare for a partial government shutdown that could ruin costly experiments and leave sick patients unable to enter cutting-edge studies, Dr. Anthony Fauci of t...
