NIH

For people 50 and older at a high risk for heart disease or stroke, an aggressive approach to treatment has advantages. But there are risks, too.

Aggressive Lowering Of Blood Pressure Carries Risks As Well As Benefits

8:10pm November 09, 2015

by Scott Hensley

The group of patients that was treated more intensively did 25 percent better than the one that was treated to the traditional target. But some side effects nearly doubled with intensive treatment.

Human stem cells, in this case made from adult skin cells, can give rise to any sort of human cell. Some scientists would like to insert such cells into nonhuman, animal embryos, in hopes of one day growing human organs for transplantation.

Should Human Stem Cells Be Used To Make Partly Human Chimeras?

6:37pm November 06, 2015

by Rob Stein

The National Institutes of Health has issued a moratorium on funding work that puts human stem cells into nonhuman embryos. The concern is that hybrids might develop human brain cells, sperm or eggs.

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Health & Safety

Congress Weighs Budget Cuts For Wide Range Of Health Programs

11:09am September 09, 2015

by Julie Rovner

As federal lawmakers return to work, they faces tough choices about the budget, worrying advocates for medical research, teen pregnancy prevention and other health initiatives.

National Institutes of Health funding has been flat for years.

Health & Safety

Bill To Boost Medical Research Comes With A Catch

12:11pm July 10, 2015

by Richard Harris

The House of Representatives has approved a bill that would increase National Institutes of Health funding and ease rules for the approval of new drugs. But the Senate may not go along.

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Glenn Lightner in 2012 at age 13. His father searched clinicaltrials.gov for years, to no avail, hoping to find a promising experimental cancer treatment that might save his son's life.

Results Of Many Clinical Trials Not Being Reported

4:51pm April 12, 2015

by Richard Harris

Federal law requires publicly funded medical researchers to promptly report the results of many experimental treatments. But few are doing so, a review shows, and patients may be hurt.

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An American who contracted Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone was admitted to the hospital at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda early Friday.

Patient With Ebola Is Admitted To NIH Hospital In Maryland

12:48pm March 13, 2015

by Bill Chappell

An American health care worker who contracted Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone is now receiving care at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.

Truvada can dramatically reduce the risk of HIV infection when taken as a preventative medicine — if taken every day. Studies are underway to determine if young people are likely to take the pill consistently.

Would A Pill To Protect Teens From HIV Make Them Feel Invincible?

11:08am March 13, 2015

by Rafael Johns

Trials are underway to see how effective a pill approved for HIV prevention in adults may be for teenagers. But some worry Truvada could end up encouraging reckless sexual behavior among young people.

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U.S. funding for medical research by source, 1994-2012. (Data were adjusted to 2012 dollars using the Biomedical Research and Development Price Index.)

U.S. Funding of Health Research Stalls As Other Nations Rev Up

8:32am January 15, 2015

by Richard Harris

It's not just government-sponsored medical research that's dwindled in the last few years in the U.S. Drug firms have curbed their investment, too, especially in early-stage hunts for new drugs.

Postdoctoral researcher Jennifer Foulke-Abel holds the gut-on-a-chip inside the lab at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Researchers Create Artificial Organs That Fit In Your Hand

4:16pm January 05, 2015

by Richard Harris

Scientists are growing mock organs made of human cells to better study diseases and help test drugs. Researchers at Johns Hopkins are working on a gut-on-a-chip.

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Avian influenza, or bird flu, causes an infectious and contagious respiratory disease. In the lab, several scientists have made the H5N1 strain more contagious, a controversial line of research.

U.S. To Temporarily Halt Funding For Controversial Virus Research

6:07pm October 17, 2014

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The federal government will suspend funding while it reviews the potential risks and benefits of certain experiments with three viruses: SARS, MERS and influenza.