Where science stands on ‘the fountain of youth’

Partial skull removal can save lives after injury
A controversial procedure that involves removing a portion of a patient’s skull can save lives when people have severe brain injuries, a new study finds

‘World’s smallest baby’ thriving after premature birth
Baby Emilia was delivered at 26 weeks after doctors feared she wasn’t getting enough nutrition, and at 8 ounces, some experts believe she’s the lightest preemie ever born.

Jiaogulan: The little-known herb that may be the secret to longevity
Standing on a verdant hillside far north in Thailand’s Chiang Rai region, I gaze out at rolling hills of jiaogulan, also known as the immortality herb.

FDA warns against widely used ovarian cancer screening test
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesdaywarned women and their doctors that current screening tests for ovarian cancer are unreliable and could lead to false diagnoses.

Doctors say Haiti ripe for large Zika outbreak, virus underreported
Posters warning of the dangers of Zika only reached Haiti’s health ministry in August, six months after the country reported an outbreak, in one example of delayed prevention efforts that have health experts worried a “large epidemic” is looming.

Dr. Manny: American citizenship should not be for sale
I know that immigrants built this country, and that today our society is the product of many different cultural influences coming together to create the American way of life.

Irregular heartbeat may be tied to more than just stroke risk
Atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat that’s already linked to an increased risk of stroke, may also be tied to higher risk of heart attack, heart failure, kidney disease and sudden death, according to a new research review.

Birth defects doubled in Brazil since Zika outbreak began, CDC says
Cases of birth defects in Brazil have doubled since the Zika virus outbreak began in the country, and data suggest that rise began in mid-2014— nearly a year before officials declared the epidemic— according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as US fails to track rising human toll
Josiah Cooper-Pope, born 15 weeks premature, did fine in the neonatal intensive care unit for the first 10 days of his life.

Newborn seen in viral photo hugging twin brother dies of rare disorder
One of the 11-day-old twin brothers whose first hug was captured in a recent viral photo has died of a rare disorder, his family announced Wednesday.

The FDA has failed the public by letting companies determine ‘safe’ food additives
Here’s a shocking fact about your food: A company can decide for itself that a chemical is safe to use in food and doesn’t have to tell the Food and Drug Administration, the agency charged with protecting our food supply.

Deconstructing the CDC’s superbug death estimates
In 2013, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released estimates of how many people in the country die every year from antibiotic resistant infections: 23,000.

Study suggests link between air pollution, Alzheimer’s
Air pollution has been linked to strokes, heart attacks, autism, and raised blood pressure.

Teen’s plan to die runs into opposition
Jerika Bolen made it very clear earlier this year that she was going to attend her prom, spend a final summer with her mom, and then end her life.

Drug shows promise treating one of the nastiest cancers
The trial was a small one, but a new study is raising hope that a new drug can fight a particularly deadly form of pancreatic cancer.

How counting helps: the HIV/AIDS model
The CDC documented the first AIDS cases in 1981.

High school football game postponed due to virus outbreak
An outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease has forced a New Jersey high school to postpone its season-opening football game.

US study finds Zika virus in tears of mice
A new study has found genetic fragments of Zika in the eyes and the tears of laboratory mice infected with the virus, a finding that offers a potential new route of human infection.

Tiny ‘fitbits’ to keep tabs on the body from within
Scientists are developing dust-sized wireless sensors implanted inside the body to track neural activity in real-time, offering a potential new way to monitor or treat a range of conditions including epilepsy and control next-generation prosthetics.