Health & Medicine

Vital Signs: "We Can Take His Heart Out, Remove the Tumor, and Put It Back In"

A patient’s heart tumor is all but inaccessible to 
his surgeons. The only way to deal with it: 
Remove the heart and operate on it outside the body. 05.09.2012

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Science 
Fraud

The geniuses who fudged data, the cheaters who did it in plain sight, and the frauds who got away with it 05.08.2012

The Beating Heart Donors

They urinate. They have heart attacks 
and bedsores. They have babies. They may even feel pain. 
Meet the organ donors who are “pretty dead.” 05.02.2012

The Big, Overlooked Factor in the Rise of Pandemics: The Human Vector

One secret to 
fighting pandemics 
is knowing 
their real cause: 
disease factories 
built by people. 04.26.2012

Our Wonderful Age of Abundance, in 9 Striking Infographics

Technology is driving us toward 
an era of exhilarating freedom,
 economic opportunity, and the profound gift of health. 04.24.2012

6 Creepy-Crawlies We Hate But Couldn't Do Without

You might think the world would be better off without the bacteria that cause acne and strep throat. You'd be wrong. 04.18.2012

Numbers: The Majority of Minors Have Faced Mental Illness

04.17.2012

Juicers, Trippers, and Crocodiles: The Dangerous World of Underground Chemistry

Steroids, narcotics, and psychedelics are flowing freely from underground labs around the world. 04.16.2012

Turning Lymph Nodes Into Liver-Growing Factories

If your liver fails, having 40 small but functional livers scattered around your body might be the next best thing. 04.11.2012

Vital Signs: Boys and Brains and Genes

A hyperactive five-year-old is having trouble fitting in at school. Does he have ADHD, or could his 
behavior be a clue to a deeper, genetic problem? 04.04.2012

You Can Teach an Old Drug New Tricks

Side effects of the skin cancer drug bexarotene include headaches, weakness, joint pain . . . and a possible cure for Alzheimer's? 03.21.2012

Numbers: The Critical Distraction Index

When you're in open-heart surgery, what is the technician up to? 03.21.2012

The Lethal Gene That Emerged in Ancient Palestine and Spread Around the Globe

A long line of discoveries shows the history and biology of the world's most studied piece of DNA, a mutation that causes breast cancer. 03.05.2012

Of Mice and Men and Medicines

Drugs that alleviate symptoms of psychological illness in mice often wind up producing human treatments. There is just one small problem: Their mental breakdowns look nothing like ours. 02.24.2012

There's a Shot for That

Medical researchers are working 
on new kinds of vaccines 
that could cure everything from 
diabetes to nicotine addiction.

 02.15.2012

Strong Medicine, Bitter Pills

Statistics show that prescription drugs are a surprisingly threat to young children. 02.09.2012