Can you patent a human gene? The Supreme Court today seemed skeptical, raising questions about the legality of Myriad Genetic’s isolation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that signal an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. It’s a complex issue. Companies can’t patent abstract ideas, natural phenomena and laws of nature. But an appeals [...]
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A column in yesterday’s Sunday Review showed how closely the writer, Ian Urbina, hews to the agenda of his apparent mentor, Nicholas Kristof, in trying to scare Times’ readers about the alleged dangers of toxic, unregulated chemicals. Of course, as we have noted recently, it’s the “TSCA reform” silly season, when those who feel passionately that [...]
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There s more bad news for the apple-shaped people that is to say, folks who carry their body fat around their midsection, rather than in their hips and buttocks.
Being apple-shaped was already known to be a risk factor for a cardiovascular disease. Now a new study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology shows that even if they are otherwise healthy, people with who are apple-shaped are more likely to have kidney problems, according to a new study in the.

According to recommendations from the Canadian Diabetes Association, all patients with diabetes should begin taking statins at age 40 and blood pressure drugs at 55. These recommendations hold even for those patients who have no other risk factors. And, if a patient over 30 has had diabetes for 15 years or more, the Canadian experts recommend that he or she too should begin taking statins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGJlNJhC3B4

To drink, or not to drink, and if yes, how much has been a debatable topic, particularly when it comes to women s health. While alcohol in moderation has long been known to benefit the heart, bone and brain it is also known to boost the risk of breast cancer by 15% when compared to those who abstained.

Just a few days ago there were multiple news reports about a study in Nature Medicine by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic that suggested that there was supposedly one more reason not to eat red meat it contains high levels of the amino acid L-carnitine, which is metabolized by bacteria in the gut to give trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a substance that could play a part in atherosclerosis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkrUNwZbJB4
Sleep may not be on the list of priorities for a lot of teens, but maybe it should be. A new study published in the journal Pediatrics, found that increased sleep time may lead to a decrease in adolescent obesity, and those teenagers with the highest BMIs would see the greatest benefits.

For anyone who has been affected by depression it is no secret how devastating the disease can be for them and their families. But if the results from a small study published by a group at Germany s Bonn University Hospital hold up, there could be a radical transformation in the treatment of depression.

It's that time of year, the season when "reform" of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rises from the ashes, and stroller brigades and anti-technology "environmental" groups remind us that without a new chemical law, the sky will fall again.