The story of the man who re-grew a finger using "pixie-dust" has captured the imagination of many this week.But a number of scientists have cast cold-water over the claims - and said it may have been a "natural" miracle. (BBC)

On the House floor on Thursday, Democrats and Republicans alike cited anecdotes and polls illustrating that people feel they should not be penalized because they happened to be born at higher risk for a given disease. (New York Times)

The sharply contrasting health care visions of Republican John McCain and his Democratic presidential rivals offer the promise of a grand campaign debate — if the candidates find room on a crowded agenda. (Reuters)

Your toothpaste may be a pesticide. So might your electric razor, your computer keyboard, and your child's teddy bear. These products, and scores of others, combine one of the world's oldest disinfectants-silver-with one of its hottest new industries: nanotechnology. The

Grounded in research at the Dartmouth Medical School, slow medicine encourages physicians to put on the brakes when considering care that may have high risks and limited rewards for the elderly, and it educates patients and families how to push

Genetic testing may sound like a bit of science-fiction, but go online and you'll find at-home kits for everything from diabetes to Alzheimer's. Now, the market is expanding to include tests for psychiatric conditions like bipolar disorder that critics say

The British doctor who pioneered test-tube babies has forecast that within decades stem-cell technology will make it possible to grow replacements for virtually any part of the human body. (Times Online)

Much opposition focus on a bill to ban human cloning in Ohio is to change the bill to ban only so-called reproductive cloning - but not so-called therapeutic cloning, plus the feared effect of this ban on research jobs and

Now, an influential group of physicians has drafted a grimly specific list of recommendations for which patients wouldn't be treated. They include the very elderly, seriously hurt trauma victims, severely burned patients and those with severe dementia. (Boston)

THE embryonic stem cell debate is over," declared Charles Krauthammer in The Washington Post last November. His comments followed the invention of genetic reprogramming, in which the addition of four genes turns human skin cells into pluripotent stem cells. The

American Journal of Transplantation Vol 8, Issue 5 is now available by subscription only.Articles include:"Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism: A Commentary on the Global Realities" by D. A. Budiani-Saberi and F. L. Delmonico, 925-929"First Things First: Laying the Ethical and

Everyone's genes spell out a risk for some disease, and a coming anti-discrimination law is about to give genetic testing a boost.But discrimination is just one hurdle. The bigger quandary: Doctors don't yet know how many of the genetic tests

The research is already starting to change nosology, as the field of disease classification is known. Seemingly dissimilar diseases are being lumped together. What were thought to be single diseases are being split into separate ailments. Just as they once

By my count, during Mr. Obama's tenure in the state Senate, 18 different laws came up for a vote and passed that imposed new mandates on private health insurance. Mr. Obama voted for all of them.As a presidential candidate, Mr.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 299, No. 15, 16 April 2008) is now available by subscription only.Articles include:"Palliative Care for Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: "I Would Like a Quick Return to a Normal Lifestyle"' by

Fewer than half the patients previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder based on a comprehensive, psychiatric diagnostic interview -- the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV.

Ho ho, ha ha ha," students in a fitness class at the University of Michigan Health System chant repeatedly while clapping their hands and walking around the room. They're just getting warmed up; in the next half-hour, they will stretch

Older adults with low blood levels of vitamin D and high blood levels of a hormone secreted by the parathyroid glands may have a higher risk of depression, according to a new report. About 13 percent of older individuals have

Brain-training efforts designed to improve working memory can also boost scores in general problem-solving ability and improve fluid intelligence, according to new research. Many psychologists believe general intelligence can be separated into "fluid" and "crystalline" components. Fluid intelligence --- considered

In September 1859, a solar flare erupted so intense that the explosion itself was visible to the human eye. A ferocious geomagnetic storm ensued in which Northern Lights descended as far south as Cuba, the Bahamas and Hawaii. Meanwhile, telegraph