Medicine & Drugs, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 31, 2006

Why Marijuana Impairs Memory

Scientists may have just found out why marijuana impairs memory and why the brain's natural versions of the drug might help against epilepsy. The active ingredient of marijuana, THC, is known to impair memory and to bind to areas of the brain linked to memory, such as the hippocampus. Still,...

Oct 31, 2006

Coffee to Maggots: Top 10 Bad Things That Are Good For You

Top 10 Bad Things That Are Good For You (Image credit: Dreamstime)Beer quells heart disease and chocolate staves off cancer? Though often tagged with a disclaimer, studies that tell us to eat, inhale and generally indulge in bad stuff is music to our ears. So go ahead and enjoy these...

Feb 28, 2006

Don't Laugh: Just Think About It

If you're down in the dumps, you might just think about watching a funny movie. A new study suggests that the mere expectation of laughter makes us feel good. Researchers split people into two groups. One group was told they'd be watching a funny movie, the other was not. Blood...

May 31, 2009

Marijuana Damages DNA and May Cause Cancer

A lot of studies have shown marijuana is not good for you. It can fry the brain and contribute to psychosis. The latest one finds convincing evidence that marijuana smoke damages the genetic material DNA in ways that could increase the risk of cancer. Toxic substances in tobacco smoke can...

May 31, 2009

Potential New Drugs Put at 970 Million

Millions of new and useful drugs remain undiscovered. All chemists need to do is mix the right stuff. That's the view of a new study that analyzes the chemical universe to identify existing molecules that could be combined into as-yet unknown chemicals. The researchers estimate there are at least 970...

Mar 31, 2009

Laughter Is Indeed Good Medicine

Nobody can say if laughter is the best medicine, but it certainly seems to help. So suggests a new but very small study of diabetes patients who were given a good dose of humor for a year. Researchers split 20 high-risk diabetic patients —all with hypertension and hyperlipidemia (a risk...

Nov 30, 2011

Doh! Top Science Journal Retractions of 2011

Bad science papers can have lasting effects. Consider the 1998 paper in the journal the Lancet that linked autism to the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. That paper was fully retracted in 2010 upon evidence that senior author Andrew Wakefield had manipulated data and breached several proper ethical...

Aug 31, 2011

Why Laughter May Be the Best Pain Medicine

Laughing with friends releases feel-good brain chemicals, which also relieve pain, new research indicates. Until now, scientists haven't proven that like exercise and other activities, laughing causes a release of so-called endorphins. Very little research has been done into why we laugh and what role it plays in society, study...

May 31, 2011

Arsenic in Chicken Leads to Stopped Drug Sales: FDA

The company that manufactures an animal drug that has been used since the 1940s to fatten up chickens is voluntarily halting sales of the drug, following a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report. Alpharma, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc., will voluntarily suspend U.S. sales of the animal drug 3-Nitro (Roxarsone)...

Mar 31, 2011

Restless Legs Syndrome Drug Receives FDA Approval

Seventy-four-year-old Marilyn Butterfield shakes her legs when she sits down for dinner. She shakes her legs when she sits down to read, and she shakes her legs in her bed when she lies down to sleep. She's that woman who is standing at the back of the movie theater to...

Mar 31, 2011

Painkillers Reduce Antidepressants’ Effect, Study Suggests

Painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen could decrease the effectiveness of certain antidepressant medications, a new study suggests. Mice given both an anti-inflammatory drug (also called an NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI, a type of antidepressant) scored worse on a test measuring antidepressant effectiveness...

Jan 31, 2011

Marijuana's Active Ingredient Improves Cancer Patients' Appetites

The active ingredient in marijuana, called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), increases the appetites of advanced cancer patients and improves their sense of taste, according to a new study. Seventy-three percent of cancer patients who took THC pills every day for 18 days reported an increased appreciation for food, compared with 30 percent...

Nov 30, 2012

Pill Color Matters to Patients

Brand-name drugs come in distinct colors, but their generic equivalents often come in different colors, depending upon the manufacturer. And that may affect whether or not a person takes the medication, according to a pilot study. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that patients are up to...

Jul 31, 2012

Spray-on Powder Uses Nitric Oxide to Fight Deadly Bacteria

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. A new compound that releases nitric oxide when exposed to light offers a treatment to help those infected by the potentially lethal bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. Resistant to most antibiotics, A. baumannii enters the body...

Sep 30, 2013

Possible Treatment for Marijuana Abuse Found

Boosting levels of a naturally occurring compound in the brain could prevent people who abuse marijuana but are trying to quit from relapsing, a new study suggests. Researchers studying drug-addicted rats and monkeys found that a substance called kynurenic acid blunted the rewarding effects of THC, the active ingredient in...