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In Focus

The Rise of Fake Medical News

More and more websites are peddling “alternative facts” to deceive the public and sell bogus cures. Fixes won’t be simple.

LAST WINTER, THE WEBSITE YourNewsWire published a story with this headline: “CDC Doctor: ‘Disastrous’ Flu Shot Is Causing Deadly Flu Outbreak.” Appearing during one of the worst flu seasons in years, the article quoted an anonymous physician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who warned that nearly all the people...

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In Depth

New Tools for Depression

At long last, new therapies—including heat treatments and psychoactive drugs—are offering relief for people with depression.

Knots in the Family Tree

In Utah extensive data on families and their genetic anomalies are helping unlock secrets about major diseases.

100 Year Shadow

A century after the worst plague in history, researchers seek a universal flu vaccine to head off a repeat of the disaster.

Tiny Marvels

Miniature versions of organs help scientists understand disease and fine-tune treatments in ways that work in mice can’t match.

A Future Defunded

There's no question that financial support for young scientists leads to medical breakthroughs. But now that formula is broken.

The Dawn of the Bionic Pancreas

Automated systems could soon take the guesswork out of managing diabetes. But will patients trust them with their lives?

Nano Arsenal

In theory, smart microscopic particles could evade defenders and home in on cancer targets. Will reality catch up to the hype?

A Code for Autism

Is risk of the disorder inherited, or do genes get scrambled in the womb? Researchers may be closing in on some answers.

Is Genetic Privacy a Myth?

Genetic tests and genome sequencing are generating terabytes of sensitive private data. How can they be kept safe?

When the Researcher Is the Subject

Self-experimentation has a long history in medicine. Should its practice today be shunned or embraced?

Special Treatment

Team care and structural changes could vastly improve the recovery of older patients. Yet institutions that implement such approaches remain rare.

Voice of the People

When patients demand more than science can provide, high-priced, ineffective treatments can reach the market.

The Blind Can See

Stem cells, gene therapy and devices that can beam images directly into the brain offer new hope to those without sight.

Living Forever

The science of senescence has struggled to translate life-extending research from animals to people. Now the pace is quickening.

Aftermath

Saving lives after a terrorist attack takes coordinated action, and hospitals are racing to improve their plans.

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Dispatches

A Delicate Matter

Fecal microbiota transplants run into a semantic crisis.

A Gentler Gene Edit

Re-engineered cells are making waves in cancer treatment. But there may be a safer way to achieve the same effect.

The Walk-In Genome Clinic

Consumers are curious about their DNA, and Bryce Mendelsohn thinks hospitals should give them answers.

False Starts

A failed birth control drug gives a boost to cancer treatment.

Finger to G_d

A patient seeks treatment while trying to observe the Sabbath.

Antibody Necklace

A unique collaboration between an artist and a biomedical engineer moves HIV research forward.

Second Opinion Summer 2018

Experts comment on the need for more research funding and better diabetes technology.

Is Cannabis a Cure for the Opioid Crisis?

Relaxed marijuana laws seem to cause a dip in prescription opioid misuse. But the picture isn’t that simple.

A Better PET

Expensive, clunky yet clinically invaluable, the positron emission tomography scanner is due for reinvention.

Salt: The New Sugar?

It seems as if salt should lead to weight loss, not weight gain. But a more complex metabolic picture is coming into focus.

Podcast: Mothers in Medicine

Women are significant contributors to research, but their careers are often cut short when they have children. What can be done to remedy this gender disparity?

Measuring Blood With Light

Some components of blood can be measured without a needle stick. Now an innovation in light-based methods could make even more of them visible.

The Methadone Blind Spot

Is the oldest treatment for opioid addictions being unjustly overlooked in the response to the current crisis?

The Coming of the Gene Switch

The concept of circuitry, borrowed from computer technology, could make the next generation of gene therapies more flexible and powerful.

Why Doctors Must Solve the Suicide Problem

As despair deaths reach historic levels in the United States, interventions at health care checkpoints may be the best way to bring them down.

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From Mass General

Shining a Light on Depression

Peter L. Slavin and Timothy G. Ferris highlight the need for new approaches to treating depression.

A (Small) Cause of Big Pain

Neurologist Anne Louise Oaklander investigates a cause of chronic pain that is treatable without opioids.

Investing in Our Future

Peter L. Slavin and Timothy G. Ferris discuss the importance of research funding.

After the Storm

Hurricane Maria shut down a factory where intravenous fluid bags were made. Why has this roiled a nation’s hospital system?

The Crisis in the Air

Slowing climate change is important for our health long term. But cleaning up polluted skies will also yield immediate health benefits.

Medicine in the Mix

The science of embedding medications in polymers opens new doors.

Sparkling Like (Nano) Diamonds

Tiny diamonds set loose in the body can promote a sharper MRI image.

Respect for Our Elders

Peter L. Slavin discusses the importance of giving older inpatients the proper care.

The Brain’s Beat

By studying the mysteries of anesthesia and how it affects the brain, Patrick Purdon may have found a new way to predict Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Untangling Chromatin

More than marvels of biological architecture, structures within the cell nucleus may be intertwined with aging itself.

Marching for Science

Peter L. Slavin discusses why funding research is key to America's future.

A Dream Deferred

Atheendar Venkataramani explores the detrimental effects that immigration policy can have on the mental health of undocumented immigrants.

Where Lost Diseases Go

A new, nationwide team of experts gives the toughest medical cases a chance at a breakthrough.

Second Chances

The Food and Drug Administration tries a fresh approach to medical devices suspected of falling short.

Still Restless

Restless legs syndrome continues to puzzle, even with the recent publication of the first clinical guidelines for the disease.

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Charts & Data

To Choose Death

Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act crosses the 20-year mark.

In Passing

How does a hospital keep patient details from getting lost in the shuffle?

To Catch a Protein

The world of protein imaging undergoes a chilly revolution.

The Next Zika

Vaccines are most helpful before an epidemic hits. So which diseases should researchers prepare for next?

ResearchKit

A software platform from Apple is helping medical researchers collect health data from any iPhone user

White Coats

The standard garb of the physician comes with surprising risks and benefits.

Unsound the Alarm

Hundreds of alarms compete for a clinician's attention. Can less noise mean better care?

Babel in the ICU

Machines in an ICU can't speak to one another—but what if they could?

The Changes We've Seen

Proto looks at trends in health care during the last 10 years.

Born Too Soon

Despite steady declines over the past decade, the U.S. still has one of the highest preterm birthrates in the developed world.

An Outbreak Told in Genomes

Rapid genetic sequencing maps an Ebola outbreak in fine detail.

20 Years After Apartheid

In the 1980s physician Miguel Ribeiro took stunning photographs of his South African patients. How has the nation’s health care fared in the years since?

Grand Theft Medical

The move to electronic medical records may be helping identity thieves.

Living Anatomy

Artist Danny Quirk paints the living structures of the body on live models.

The Lost Ward

Beds for psychiatric care are steadily declining. What can be done?

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