After 10 years, researchers have finally come up with what appears to be a safe vaccine against Hantavirus, the rodent-borne microbe that killed dozens of Americans last year in unexpected outbreaks, particularly in the Southwest. The main drawback to such an approach in humans is the potential danger of injecting even a weak virus into healthy people. An overall analysis of 20 earlier studies has shown that diabetics are more prone than most people to cancer of the pancreas, a usually lethal malignancy. Until now, the only known risk factor for pancreatic cancer has been smoking. The bacterium Helicobacter pylori, now recognized as a primary cause of stomach ulcers and possibly some stomach cancers, has been discovered for the first time in drinking water in South America, suggesting that it may be hard to eradicate.
Black people are significantly more likely than whites to have enlarged hearts, says a new study.
That may help explain their higher death rate from heart disease. Time Inc. All rights reserved.