News Stories relating to "medicine"

How can drugs which were prescribed to millions of people turn out to be worthless? A lot of it has to do with the fact that drug companies do their own testing and are not always candid about the results.

Do Home Remedies Work?

Do ancient cures work? Now that it's flu season, this is a question that a lot of people want answered.

Some simple home remedies do work. For instance, chicken soup can ease cold symptoms, and duct tape can remove warts.

We've recently reported on subliminal ads on TV, but the constant barrage of advertisements for new medicines are anything but subtle! Do the prescription drug ads we see on TV make us think we're sick when we're not? These ads are part of the new "empowered patient" movement, which means that doctors have lost some of their professional clout...

What if victims of terrorism, who have had their limbs hacked off, could grow a new one? What if a paralyzed person could grow a new spine?or someone with heart disease could grow a new heart? This might be something that actually comes true, in the not-so-distant future.

Scientists are studying zebrafish to see how it's done. If a...

Three of the most commonly-used medicinal herbs are Echinacea purpurea, Astragalus membranaceus, and Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice). Doctors who tested them found them to be effective in boosting blood lymphocytes, which are essential to the body's immune system. They also found that the extract of a mushroom commonly found in the woods of North...

The FDA has warned cosmetics companies that their products contain a lot of potentially dangerous, untested ingredients. They're especially worried that when we mix several of these ingredients together, such as put on lotion before putting on makeup, we may be mixing these chemicals together into a dangerous combination. Well, at least soap is...

From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, bloodletting?bycutting or using leeches?was one of the major "cures" usedby doctors. It was abandoned in the mid-20th century afterantibiotics were invented. It seems primitive and dangerousto us today, but scientists have found that there was areason behind it.

Microbiologist Eric P. Skaar has...

Some heavily advertised products actually do you more harm than good. A recent study shows that sunscreens are totally worthless, but using them makes people complacent, so they spend more time in the sun, which can lead to skin cancer. And taking too many antacids can lead to dangerous food allergies.