Tuesday, 7 February, 2012

When hospitals run out of anesthetics, antibiotics and cancer drugs, should we blame or thank the “gray-market”?

People with a genetic case of dwarfism in Ecuador don’t get cancer or diabetes, and a new study links that benefit to the genetic changes we see when calories are severely restricted. Could blocking growth hormone in adulthood lead to serious health benefits?

The psychedelic ’60s are over, but how do hallucinogens transform consciousness? Can psychedelics treat distress? Psilocybin produces mystical experiences that seem to relieve the terror of terminal illness and soothe post-traumatic stress disorder. Ecstasy may ease obsessive-compulsive disorder. What are we learning now that the bans on psychedelic research are easing?

The science behind medical marijuana is emerging. Some tests show that it dulls pain in cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and AIDS. Why is medical marijuana so difficult to explore? What’s coming to the market?

Until now, getting a picture of genetic change in a tumor over time has been next to impossible. A new study reveals that cancer’s genetic tangle gets more complicated with time.

A technology that revolutionized medicine and genetics gets the big Nobelian Nod. Cancer. Heart disease. Obesity. Research into virtually every major disease has gotten a boost from the Knockout Nobel!

30 years ago, a legendary biochemist said vitamin C could cure cancer. Har, har, said the scientific establishment. Now a mouse study shows C fighting two cancers. Did brilliant scientist and peace activist Linus Pauling get it right?

All things considered, the war against cancer is going better than that other war in progress at the moment — even though cancer research gets a lot less money.

Cooling failure blamed in aftermath of giant quake. What are the health effects of low-level radiation? Lessons from Hiroshima and Chernobyl.

The bad news: New science suggests nicotine, not just tar, is the smoking gun in cigarette-related disease. The good news: There are plenty of ways to quit.