Your Health

Tossing and turning in the light of the full moon? Maybe it's not just the light.

Don't Blame Your Lousy Night's Sleep On The Moon — Yet

3:10pm July 26, 2013

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Over drinks in the light of a full moon, a group of Swiss sleep researchers recently realized they could put a bit of folklore about the moon's disruptive effect on sleep to the test. The answer surprised them and didn't quite win over some other scientists in the field.

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Becca Besaw of Austin, Texas, and Christopher Robertson of Fort Worth, Texas, protest the state's new law restricting access to abortion at a rally in Dallas on July 15.

State Laws Limiting Abortion May Face Challenges On 20-Week Limit

4:57pm July 22, 2013

by Julie Rovner

States are setting an abortion limit at 20 weeks after fertilization, but that may clash with established standards for calculating the viability of a pregnancy. It could also open the new laws up to constitutional challenges.

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Pandoraviruses were discovered lurking in the mud of Chile and Australia, half a world apart.

World's Biggest Virus May Have Ancient Roots

6:14am July 20, 2013

by Geoff Brumfiel

The Pandoravirus is so big you can see it in an ordinary microscope. Scientists say its size may have helped fool amoebas and other potential hosts into eating it. But this virus doesn't pose a threat to humans. It's more of a Trojan virus than a surprise from Pandora's Box.

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Former Insurance Exec Offers An Insider's Look At Obamacare

3:59pm July 11, 2013

As we prepare for key provisions of the act to take effect, debate over what the law means persists. Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive and current senior policy analyst for the Center for Public Integrity, explains what will change, what will remain the same, and why he supports ObamaCare.

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Anne Jones, 62, and Robin Jones, 73, at their home in Menlo Park, Calif. He took a test that revealed proteins typical of Alzheimer's disease.

Finding Simple Tests For Brain Disorders Turns Out To Be Complex

1:17pm July 08, 2013

by Amy Standen

There are tests for heart attacks and diabetes, but few for brain disorders. Researchers are trying to change that, but are finding the hunt for biomarkers for mental illness to be a tough slog. Tests on the market, like ones for Alzheimer's, are not conclusive.

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Hospitals and organ banks could get more leeway in decisions about donations.

Proposed Changes In Organ Donation Stir Debate

11:55am June 24, 2013

by Rob Stein

Donation after cardiac death involves removing organs minutes after life-support has been stopped for patients who still have at least some brain activity. Is that enough time to make sure a person won't recover?

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A 13-year-old girl gets an HPV vaccination from Judith Schaechter, a pediatrician at the University of Miami, in 2011.

Vaccine Against HPV Has Cut Infections In Teenage Girls

10:18pm June 19, 2013

by Richard Knox

A vaccine against a virus that causes cervical cancer has cut infections among teenage girls by over half in the first four years of use, scientists report. Only about one-third of girls in that age group have received the recommended shots.

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How many calories in that bite? My Fitness Pal and other fitness and nutrition apps can help find the answer.

Patients Lead The Way As Medicine Grapples With Apps

10:39pm June 18, 2013

by Martha Bebinger

Smartphone apps can help count calories or detect a heart attack. People are embracing them to manage many aspects of their health. But medical apps are largely unregulated now, so there's no easy way to be sure which ones are trustworthy and which ones aren't.

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House Passes Bill That Would Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks

8:43pm June 18, 2013

by Julie Rovner

The legislation is one of the most far-reaching abortion bills in decades and follows the May murder convictions of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell. The bill, which would ban nearly all abortions starting 20 weeks after fertilization, is unlikely to ever become law.

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The Human Voice May Not Spark Pleasure In Children With Autism

11:31am June 18, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists and parents have long been baffled by the fact that children with autism often don't pay attention to human voices. Researchers say that may be because speech doesn't activate a reward system in the brain for those children the way it does for typical children.

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