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If you are "frightened stiff", not only does the intense fear seem to paralyze the body, it may even retard the blood flow. A study by medical scientists has shown that people with an acute anxiety disorder tend to suffer from higher levels of blood clotting than the psychologically healthy population. This finding may explain why patients with anxiety problems are at greater risk of dying from heart disease.

The code used by the malaria parasite to move essential proteins around inside its structure has been discovered. New results could allow the design of a drug which would confuse this communication process and kill the parasite, as well as providing insight into the parasite's evolution.

Squamous cell cancers of the head and neck that express a cell surface receptor, called CCR7, are less likely to respond to current therapies. Combining drugs that block this receptor with existing agents might improve patient outcomes.

Exposure to levels of radon gas typically found in 90 percent of American homes appears to reduce the risk of developing lung cancer by as much as 60 percent, according to a new study. The finding differs significantly from results of previous case-control studies of the effects of low-level radon exposure, which have detected a slightly elevated lung cancer risk (but without statistical significance) or no risk at all.

One day soon a biosensing nanodevice may eliminate long lines at airport security checkpoints and revolutionize health screenings for diseases like anthrax, cancer and antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Even more incredible than the device itself, is that it is based on the world's tiniest rotary motor: a biological engine measured on the order of molecules.

Researchers have found people with depression are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The risk of diabetes almost doubled for those who were taking a combination of antidepressants.

Scientists have for the first time isolated from the environment and fully characterized the organism that causes Buruli ulcer. The study lends support to the idea that the organism, Mycobacterium ulcerans, is transmitted to humans from environmental aquatic niches, rather than from person-to-person.

One day soon patients may spit in a cup, instead of bracing for a needle prick, when being tested for cancer, heart disease or diabetes. A major step in that direction is the cataloguing of the "complete" salivary proteome, a set of proteins in human ductal saliva, identified by a consortium of three research teams, according to a new article.

It is well established that Id1, a gene normally produced only in embryonic development, is reactivated in many "solid" cancers, or carcinomas. New research shows that by 'switching off' the Id1 gene, it is possible to induce a state of 'senescence', or permanent sleep, within a tumour, preventing it from growing or spreading.

A special type of magnetic resonance imaging can depict changes in blood volume in the brain that often precede cancerous transformation of brain tumors, according to a new study.