Health
Hearing is believing: Speech may be a clue to mental decline
Your speech may, um, help reveal if you're uh ... developing thinking problems. More pauses, filler words and other verbal changes might be an early sign of mental decline, which can lead to Alzheimer's disease, a study suggests. Researchers had people describe a picture they were shown in taped sessions… Read
'It's raining needles': Drug crisis creates pollution threat
They hide in weeds along hiking trails and in playground grass. They wash into rivers and float downstream to land on beaches. They pepper baseball dugouts, sidewalks and streets. Syringes left by drug users amid the heroin crisis are turning up everywhere. In Portland, Maine, officials have collected more than… Read
World's first child hand transplant a 'success'
The first child in the world to undergo a double hand transplant is now able to write, feed and dress himself, doctors said Tuesday, declaring the ground-breaking operation a success after 18 months. The report in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health provides the first official medical update on 10-year… Read
New way to see artery damage before heart disease sets in
Researchers have developed a new way to non-invasively peer into a person's arteries, detect inflammation, and possibly ward off heart disease before it becomes too severe to treat, a study says. Heart disease is the top killer of men and women in the United States, accounting for one in four… Read
Can a new lozenge help people quit smoking?
A new lozenge containing the amino acid L-cysteine is an effective, nontoxic smoking-cessation product, according to researchers in Finland. At least two U.S. experts are not convinced, however. The study was conducted by Dr. Kari Syrjanen who, along with five coauthors, works in Helsinki for Biohit Oyj, the company that… Read
Three cups of coffee a day keep the doctor away: studies
Coffee addicts and aficionados often say drinking the bitter liquid makes life worth living, but the habit may also help them live longer, according to two major international studies Monday. Experts cautioned, however, that the US and European reports, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, failed to show that… Read
How severe, ongoing stress can affect a child's brain
A quiet, unsmiling little girl with big brown eyes crawls inside a carpeted cubicle, hugs a stuffed teddy bear tight, and turns her head away from the noisy classroom. The safe spaces, quiet times and breathing exercises for her and the other preschoolers at the Verner Center for Early Learning… Read
Proper tools may help prevent medicine errors at home
Providing parents with picture-based instructions - and with dosing tools that closely match the amount of medication needed - may help reduce cases of medication overdoses in children, researchers say. Poorly designed medication labels and dosing tools lead to dosing errors, especially when parents are given large cups for small… Read
Pioneering cancer gene therapy by Novartis backed by U.S. panel
Novartis AG's pioneering cancer drug won the backing of a federal advisory panel on Wednesday, paving the way for the first gene therapy to be approved in the United States. An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration voted 10-0 that the drug, tisagenlecleucel, should be approved to treat… Read
Konica Minolta to acquire U.S. genetic testing firm
Konica Minolta Inc and Ambry Genetics Corp have announced the signing of a definitive agreement for a subsidiary of Konica Minolta to acquire Ambry. The transaction is partially funded by Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). The sum of $800 million will be paid upon closure, and there will be… Read
