Medical Treatments

A simple blood test can analyze bits of fetal DNA leaked in the mother's bloodstream. It's less risky than invasive alternatives like amniocentesis, but it doesn't tell as much about fetal health.

Drugs can tamp down the hallucinations and delusions associated with schizophrenia, but at a cost. A newer approach to treatment aims to teach people to tune out the distractions instead.

Measles infected hundreds of children at a Philadelphia church whose members didn't believe in modern medicine. In a rare step, health officials moved to compel the families to vaccinate the kids.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug that thwarts some enzymes breast cancer cells use to evade treatment with estrogen-blocking drugs.

Humiliation, fear and unpredictability all turn up the volume on pain, research shows. And meditation can turn down pain's intensity, according to scientists who are starting to figure out why.

Is the FDA being sexist or appropriately cautious in requiring stringent evidence that the latest pill works and is safe? Women's advocacy groups aren't sure.