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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY

Lou Gehrig May Not Have Had Lou Gehrig's Disease

A new study suggests that some patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, might have developed similar symptoms due to concussions and other brain trauma.

In other biomedical news, doctors found that patients with terminal lung cancer who began receiving palliative care immediately upon diagnosis lived longer and their quality of life was better than those who received standard care.

Nature News looked at research into how an 1,800-year-old herbal mix helps spare cancer patients some of the gastrointestinal side effects of chemotherapy.

New Scientist published the second installment in an investigation of the use of DNA evidence in the courtroom. When forensic analysts agree that someone could be a match for a piece of DNA evidence, the statistical weight assigned to that match can vary enormously.

Elsewhere, a study found that one in five American teenagers now suffers from some type of hearing loss. Most cases of hearing loss are slight, researchers said, but the increase is still alarming.

And a new study suggests that human preferences have dramatically altered the structure and position of the brain in certain dog breeds, potentially modifying their sense of smell and behavior as well.