Pharmaceuticals1121 articles archived since 1845

How Drug Company Money Is Undermining Science

The pharmaceutical industry funnels money to prominent scientists who are doing research that affects its products--and nobody can stop it

December 2012 Briefing Memo

Placebos Work Better on Stoics

Placebo painkillers do less for people who tend toward hostility and work best for the naturally resilient. Karen Hopkin reports

Our Drugs Make Fish Flounder

Contraceptives and antidepressants can reduce fish reaction times and reproductive rates

Misfolded Protein Transmits Parkinson's from Cell to Cell

A link between cell death and protein clumps opens a new pathway to possible treatment

Mechanism of General Anesthesia Involves Disrupting Brain Communication

A rapid onset of slow-oscillation brain waves has now been linked to anesthesia's comalike state

Hepatitis E Vaccine Debuts

A Chinese biotech partnership's vaccine success raises hopes for prevention of overlooked diseases, including hepatitis E, which claims 70,000 lives annually

Disrupted Sleep Might Signal Early Stages of Alzheimer's

People who report sleeping restlessly, feeling tired during the day and taking sleep medication were more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's within the next two years, a study finds...

U.S. Government Has Little Authority to Stop Unsafe Cosmetics

Beauty products are largely unregulated, according to this special report

Flu Shots May Not Protect the Elderly or the Very Young

Despite government recommendations, there is little evidence that flu vaccines help individuals older than 65 or younger than two

High Levels of Antibiotic Resistance Genes Found in Major Midwest Watershed

The South Platte River system picks up microbial genes for resistance to sulphonamide and tetracycline antibiotics as its waters flow past human settlements

Poison Nil: Snake and Scorpion Antivenoms Set for First Update in 60 Years

The National Autonomous University of Mexico has become a global leader in developing a new generation of treatments for bites from poisonous critters, some of which have cleared FDA hurdles...

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors, which are the portals by which information about the environment reaches the interior of cells and leads to their responses...

Worrying Trends Confronted in Prescription Drug Abuse

Physicians struggle to curb the growing number of lethal overdoses

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent

Snake Venom Contains Potent Painkiller

The black mamba's venom has a special ingredient: a painkiller as potent as morphine. Christopher Intagliata reports

Botox Fights Depression

The wrinkle treatment prevents face muscles from registering negative emotions

Fish Oil Supplement Research Remains Murky

Polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids are important parts of a healthy diet, but supplement studies have numerous sampling problems

October 2012 Briefing Memo

Herbal Menopause Supplement Often Contains Other Species, DNA Bar Coding Reveals

Genetic analyses found herbs similar to black cohosh were being sold in commercial preparations of the popular remedy, possibly explaining mixed results and casting doubt on supplement label accuracy...