Author: Lauran Neergaard
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Experiment seeks to head off Type 1 diabetes
PITTSBURGH – The doctor had barely pulled away the needle when a blister appeared on Tracey Berg-Fulton’s abdomen: An experimental shot was revving up the 24-year-old’s immune system – part of a bold quest to create a vaccine-like therapy for diabetes. “If we’re right, that is what’s going to stop Type 1 diabetes,” said Dr.…
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A taste of help to keep cancer patients’ pounds up
WASHINGTON – The statistic is shocking: Severe malnutrition and weight loss play a role in at least one in five U.S. cancer deaths. Yet nutrition too often is an afterthought until someone’s already in trouble. A move is on to change that, from hospitals that hire gourmet chefs to the American Cancer Society’s dietitians-on-call phone…
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In early Alzheimer’s, when to give up the car keys
WASHINGTON – Scientists are creating tests to show when it’s time for people with early Alzheimer’s disease to stop driving. It’s one of a family’s most wrenching decisions, and as Alzheimer’s increasingly is diagnosed in its earliest stages, it can be hard to tell when a loved one is poised to become a danger. Factor…
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Officials: ‘bad science’ links vaccines, autism
WASHINGTON – Bitter feuding over a possible link between vaccines and autism won’t go away despite a strong rejection of that theory by a special federal court.Thousands of families were hoping to win compensation and vindication through three test cases presented to the court. They contended that a combination of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine plus other…