Health & Medicine
- Health & Medicine
Chicken poses significant drug-resistant Salmonella threat
More than one-in-five retail samples of raw chicken collected in Pennsylvania hosted Salmonella, a new study found — twice the prevalence reported in a 2007 U.S. Food and Drug Administration survey. And where the bacteria were present, more than half were immune to the germicidal activity of at least one antibiotic. Nearly one-third were resistant to three or more.
- Health & Medicine
Drumming up anthrax
Mention anthrax and about the last thing that comes to mind is whether there’s a drum in the room. Yet tom-toms — or at least the stretched animal hides on their heads — can sometimes spew toxic anthrax spores into the air. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently highlighted the case of a previously healthy 24-year-old woman who nearly died, last December, after attending a “drumming circle” in New Hampshire.
- Health & Medicine
Beneficial bacteria may protect babies from HIV
No one argues that when it comes to feeding baby, mom’s milk is best. But mothers infected with HIV, the AIDS virus, face a dilemma: Because some of their virus can be shed in breast milk, babies risk becoming infected as they drink it. Two research teams are now investigating a germ-warfare strategy to treat such vulnerable infants.
- Health & Medicine
Brain has emotional sense
Scientists have found regions that may be involved in storing the sights, smells, and sounds of emotional memories.
- Health & Medicine
Violent dreams may predict illness in advance
A sleep disorder can precede neurodegenerative disease by decades.
- Health & Medicine
Gut bacteria reflect dietary differences
A comparison of African and European children concludes that high-fiber, low-fat diets cultivate healthier intestinal microflora.
- Tech
Cashiers may face special risks from BPA
“People working at places that use thermal paper can have continual contact with bisphenol A. And if they knew, I think they would be horrified,” notes Koni Grob, an analytical chemist with an official government food laboratory in Zurich, Switzerland. He’s describing the thermal paper commonly used throughout Europe and North America to print store receipts.
- Health & Medicine
‘Housekeeping’ proteins may set aging limit
Aging cells may seal their fate by keeping worn-out proteins when they sprout offspring.
- Health & Medicine
Coffee perks up memory and balance in geriatric animals
Millions of Americans start their day with a cup of coffee and then reach for refills when their energy or attention flags. But new research in rats suggests that for the aging brain, coffee may serve as more than a mere stimulant. It can boost memory and the signaling essential to motor coordination.
- Health & Medicine
Diet and behavior changes may slow Alzheimer’s
A new study in dogs finds that antioxidants and enriched lifestyle can ward off symptoms, and suggests brain plaques may not be the cause of the disease.
- Health & Medicine
Separating wheat from chaff in celiac disease
Three partial proteins may trigger the T cell immune reactions that cause the symptoms of this intestinal ailment, new research shows.
- Health & Medicine
Good vibrations: A greener way to pasteurize milk
Many people like the taste of raw – as in unpasteurized – milk. The problem, of course, is that germs may infect raw milk, so food safety regulations require that commercial producers heat-treat their milk. But food scientists at Louisiana State University think they’ve stumbled onto a tastier way to sterilize milk. They bombard it with sound waves.
