Not-so-total recall: Cargill’s got nearly a million pounds of tainted beef circulating.
Health & Wellness
Not-so-total recall: Cargill’s got nearly a million pounds of tainted beef circulating.
The August, 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics contains a study analyzing and confirming the positive effects of probiotics in maintaining immunity and preventing disease, particularly in children who experienced a significant decrease in cold and influenza incidences following sustained probiotic supplementation. The study also confirmed that probiotic supplementation decreased the length and severity of illness symptoms in those that did get sick, vindicating what has been known in the natural health community for years concerning probiotics.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted with 326 children between the ages of three and five separated into three groups that received one of three milk solutions twice a day for six months. The first group received milk containing the probiotic strain Lactobacillus acidophilus, the second group received milk containing L acidophilus as well as Bifidobacterium animalis, and the third group received plain milk with a placebo.
The results of the single and combination probiotic groups, respectively, were reductions in fever incidence by 53% and 72.7%, coughing incidence by 41.4% and 62.1%, and rhinorrhea incidence by 28.2% and 58.8%, relative to placebo. Duration of fever, coughing, and rhinorrhea were also reduced by 32% and 48%, respectively. Consequently, there were crucial reductions in both the use of antibiotics in the single and combination probiotic groups equaling 68.4% and 84.2% as well as in truancy days from group child care equaling 31.8% and 27.7%, respectively.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted with 326 children between the ages of three and five separated into three groups that received one of three milk solutions twice a day for six months. The first group received milk containing the probiotic strain Lactobacillus acidophilus, the second group received milk containing L acidophilus as well as Bifidobacterium animalis, and the third group received plain milk with a placebo.
The results of the single and combination probiotic groups, respectively, were reductions in fever incidence by 53% and 72.7%, coughing incidence by 41.4% and 62.1%, and rhinorrhea incidence by 28.2% and 58.8%, relative to placebo. Duration of fever, coughing, and rhinorrhea were also reduced by 32% and 48%, respectively. Consequently, there were crucial reductions in both the use of antibiotics in the single and combination probiotic groups equaling 68.4% and 84.2% as well as in truancy days from group child care equaling 31.8% and 27.7%, respectively.
A recent study assessing the correlation between socially stressed monkeys and cardiovascular disease may have important implications for humans. The research, conducted by Wake Forest University, focused on visceral (belly) fat, and its relationship to metabolic syndrome and heart disease.
Previously, Dr. Carol Shively and her team discovered that monkeys that are chronically stressed have a greater incidence of plaque buildup in the arteries; the current study was intended to discover why this is the case.
Previously, Dr. Carol Shively and her team discovered that monkeys that are chronically stressed have a greater incidence of plaque buildup in the arteries; the current study was intended to discover why this is the case.
© Gary Taxali
In 2004, Renee Dufault, an environmental health researcher at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), stumbled upon an obscure Environmental Protection Agency report on chemical plants' mercury emissions. Some chemical companies, she learned, make lye by pumping salt through large vats of mercury. Since lye is a key ingredient in making HFCS (it's used to separate corn starch from the kernel), Dufault wondered if mercury might be getting into the ubiquitous sweetener that makes up 1 out of every 10 calories Americans eat.
U.S. researchers say some people may be more susceptible to irrelevant stimuli than others.
The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, said the finding may help lead to therapies to help those easily distracted to focus better.
Principal study investigator Edward Vogel of the University of Oregon suspects people who are good at staying on focus have a good gatekeeper -- similar to a bouncer hired to allow only approved people into concert.
"Often, to be able to complete complex and important goal-directed behavior, we need to be able to ignore salient but irrelevant things, such as advertisements flashing around an article you are trying to read on a computer screen," Vogel says in a statement.
The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, said the finding may help lead to therapies to help those easily distracted to focus better.
Principal study investigator Edward Vogel of the University of Oregon suspects people who are good at staying on focus have a good gatekeeper -- similar to a bouncer hired to allow only approved people into concert.
"Often, to be able to complete complex and important goal-directed behavior, we need to be able to ignore salient but irrelevant things, such as advertisements flashing around an article you are trying to read on a computer screen," Vogel says in a statement.
If, the next time you're investing vast amounts of time in Facebook, you detect an ominous wave of loathing emanating from your partner, close the network and refocus your attentions because, chances are, jealousy is about to rear its ugly head.
More pointedly, a new study conducted by team of psychology researchers claims that prolonged one-to-one time with Facebook can create relationship rage and jealous investigation in ignored partners and potentially damage relationships with regard to the widespread online availability of personal information.
The study, entitled Does Facebook bring out the green-eyed monster of jealousy? was carried out by researchers for the CyberPsychology & Behaviour journal, and saw them polling a total of 308 college students (75 percent of which were female) about the Facebook habits of both themselves and their partners.
More pointedly, a new study conducted by team of psychology researchers claims that prolonged one-to-one time with Facebook can create relationship rage and jealous investigation in ignored partners and potentially damage relationships with regard to the widespread online availability of personal information.
The study, entitled Does Facebook bring out the green-eyed monster of jealousy? was carried out by researchers for the CyberPsychology & Behaviour journal, and saw them polling a total of 308 college students (75 percent of which were female) about the Facebook habits of both themselves and their partners.
Hispanics who move to the U.S. are at greater risk for getting cancer than those living in their countries of origin, whether they're from Mexico, Puerto Rico or Cuba, according to a study.
Cancer rates of Hispanic immigrants living in Florida were 40 percent higher than those of compatriots in their home countries, said researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Hispanics had overall lower rates of cancer than non-Hispanics, according to a study published today in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Cancer rates of Hispanic immigrants living in Florida were 40 percent higher than those of compatriots in their home countries, said researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Hispanics had overall lower rates of cancer than non-Hispanics, according to a study published today in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
The Iowa Department of Public Health has announced the first confirmed human case of West Nile virus in the state this year.
The health department said Friday that the case was a middle-aged woman in Clayton County who was not hospitalized.
Health officials say statewide surveillance has also found an increased number of mosquitoes infected with the virus. They're cautioning residents to get rid of mosquito breeding areas and to use insect repellent outdoors.
The health department said Friday that the case was a middle-aged woman in Clayton County who was not hospitalized.
Health officials say statewide surveillance has also found an increased number of mosquitoes infected with the virus. They're cautioning residents to get rid of mosquito breeding areas and to use insect repellent outdoors.
With the specter of an H1N1 flu resurgence this fall -- and 55 million students preparing to return to the nation's classrooms -- federal officials on Friday released new guidelines for schools that address how to keep the flu from spreading and describe under which circumstances they should consider closing.
Good hygiene is key, they say: Students and staff need to wash their hands frequently, and cough and sneeze into a tissue or shirt sleeve. Sick kids and teachers should be given protective gear and isolate themselves from the rest of the school until they can go home.
Once home, they need to stay put until 24 hours after their fever breaks -- a departure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) previous guidelines, which recommended a seven-day seclusion period.
"We absolutely must continue to make prevention our collective business," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said.
Good hygiene is key, they say: Students and staff need to wash their hands frequently, and cough and sneeze into a tissue or shirt sleeve. Sick kids and teachers should be given protective gear and isolate themselves from the rest of the school until they can go home.
Once home, they need to stay put until 24 hours after their fever breaks -- a departure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) previous guidelines, which recommended a seven-day seclusion period.
"We absolutely must continue to make prevention our collective business," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said.
The number of people who have reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of being directly exposed to the World Trade Center attacks has increased over time, according to a new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, based on a survey of 50,000 people conducted five to six years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Overall, 19 percent of those surveyed in 2006-7 said they had developed post-traumatic stress symptoms in the five to six years after the attack, up from 14 percent in the first survey done of the group, two to three years after the attack. The increase was seen across the board - in rescue workers, office employees, residents and passers-by - but the sharpest jump was reported in the rescue workers.
Overall, 19 percent of those surveyed in 2006-7 said they had developed post-traumatic stress symptoms in the five to six years after the attack, up from 14 percent in the first survey done of the group, two to three years after the attack. The increase was seen across the board - in rescue workers, office employees, residents and passers-by - but the sharpest jump was reported in the rescue workers.
