Our primal mind has no defense against the stressful world it now faces, and we are paying a terrifying price for it. The toll this takes is insidious as well as profound, and it must be appreciated if steps are to be taken to mitigate its effects...

Many older people in the U. S. population were chronically exposed to lead from paint and gasoline prior to the 1980s. To date, most of the research on lead and cognitive functioning in older age has focused on men, despite the fact that women live longer on average and therefore may be more likely to develop dementia over the course of their life span.

Bacterial communities called biofilms can quickly clog medical devices such as stents and catheters by forming 3-dimensional streamers that block flow. The finding will inform future approaches to prevent these deadly clogs....

The idle fields are illuminated by lights from his house, where several men bend intently over a low wooden table as they pore over satellite photographs and contour maps.

A low-cost vaccine against the dengue virus showed promise in an early-stage clinical trial. With further development, the vaccine may help ease the burden of dengue fever in developing countries....

There are legitimate questions about soy. To my mind, by far the most disturbing one stems from the fact that 90 percent of the U.S. soybean crop today is genetically engineered. Because so much Roundup is used on these crops, the residue levels in the harvested crops greatly exceed what, until very recently, was the allowable legal limit...

(Do you think your tap water is only water? Think again.) The major contaminants that the EPA re­quires testing for include benzenes, vinyl chloride, BPA, triclosan, DEET, mercury, cadmium, perchlorate, phthalates, DDT, PCBs, atrazine and other pesticides, E. coli and fecal coliforms. Other contami­nants...

Back in the 1980s, NASA reported some research it did on the value of indoor plants in cleaning up air quality. Over the years, researchers looked at more than 30 different plants to find the ones that are best at cleaning indoor air...

Women show more susceptibility to toxins. On one hand, women’s bodies have more fat, where toxins accumulate, so women are four times more likely to exhibit symptoms of chemical sensitivity than men.

BPA is in many of the products we eat and drink regularly. It is so common that the CDC estimates that 93% of Americans have BPA in their bloodstream. One of the most common products containing BPA and the one of most concern is canned food.

Last week, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards was finalized and will protect millions of families and, especially, children from air pollution. Before this rule, there were no national standards that limited the amount of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and acid gases power plants across the country could release into the air we breathe.

We are living in a world where environmental pollution has become part of life. Civilized humans today must live in cramped urban areas, drink contaminated water, take in polluted air, eat contaminated foods, and endure loud, disturbing noises. What can we do?

Warnings about the dangers of estrogen had been made sporadically for nearly 30 years. In particular, it was known that estrone, the form of estrogen in Premarin, could be associated with the development of endometrial cancer. Many of us don't recognize when we may have been given the wrong type of hormone. We are completely...

With temperatures rising in the East and Midwest, the number of deaths attributed to excessive heat exposure is climbing also. But most tragedies can be avoided by taking a few precautions