Health & WellnessS


Attention

CDC expert gets West Nile bug -- literally

Judy Fortin
CNN
Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:30 UTC


Lyle Petersen
©CNN
Lyle Petersen, a CDC expert who was infected with West Nile virus, says, "it will ruin your summer."

Atlanta, Georgia -- All Lyle Petersen wanted to do was get his mail.

In the time it took him to walk down his driveway in Fort Collins, Colorado, chat briefly with a neighbor and return to his house, Petersen got infected with a potentially serious mosquito-borne illness called West Nile virus. Within hours of being bitten, he said, he began to feel symptoms he recognized.

And how was he sure so quickly? Petersen, as director of the division of vector borne diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is one of the foremost experts in the world on the condition. A blood test confirmed his suspicion.
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Health

Over 100 children sick with stomach bug in East Siberia


RIA Novosti
Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:46 UTC
A total of 108 people in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in East Siberia have been diagnosed with yersiniosis, a stomach infection, a spokeswoman for the local consumer rights watchdog said.

Yersiniosis is an infection contracted through eating undercooked meat, milk, water or vegetables contaminated by the bacteria. The disease, which usually occurs in young children, typically develops from four to seven days after exposure and may last up to three weeks.

"Of the 108 people, 96 children and one adult have been hospitalized," Natalya Krasnopeyeva said.
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People

Flashback Stress during childhood increases the risk of allergies


Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research
Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:30 UTC
Stress events during childhood are increasingly suspected of playing a role in the later development of asthma, allergic skin disorders, or allergic sensitisations. Dramatic life events like the death of a family member, serious illnesses of a family member or the separation of parents, but also harmless events like for example moving house are suspected of increasing the risk of allergies for the children affected.

The immune system obviously plays a mediator role between stress on the one hand and allergies on the other. Since these mechanisms had hardly been understood before, researchers attempted to identify stress-related factors showing an influence on the immune system, in the context of an epidemiological study (LISA).
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Pills

Flashback Scientists uncover potential key to better drugs to fight toxoplasmosis parasite


Indiana University
Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:25 UTC
Discoveries by Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have opened a promising door to new drugs for toxoplasmosis and other parasites that now can evade treatments by turning dormant in the body.

Their findings help explain how the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis transforms into a cyst form that resists drugs and the body's immune system, yet can emerge from its dormant state to strike when a patient's immune system is weakened.

Led by William J. Sullivan Jr., Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology, and Ronald C. Wek, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, the research team found a cellular signaling system that takes hold when the parasite is stressed, enabling it to transform into the cyst surrounded by a protective barrier.

The signaling system identified by the IU team could serve as a target to block the transformation into the cyst form or to attack the parasite while in the cyst form. Their report was published in the June 13 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

The Toxoplasma gondii parasite converts from an active state to the inactive cyst state when it is stressed, for example, by heat from fever. Stress response mechanisms have been well studied in yeast and other organisms, but the pathways used by the toxoplasmosis parasite had not been determined.
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Syringe

Colorado: First cases of West Nile virus confirmed

Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post
Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:59 UTC
The state reports its first two infections and urges steps to avoid mosquito bites.

The West Nile virus is here and Colorado residents are being urged to take precautions.

The first two cases of West Nile this season were reported Friday by state health officials. The two patients, in Boulder and Logan counties, are recovering from the virus, officials said.
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Attention

Fluoride could go on ballot throughout Central Nebraska, US

Mark Coddington
The Grand Island Independent
Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:53 UTC
Towns throughout Central Nebraska are leaving it up to voters to decide whether to opt out of the Legislature's new mandate to fluoridate all water in municipalities with 1,000 or more people.

Comment: State wide smoking ban (sorry, local communities can't opt out of this one) and mandated fluoride in the water. The Nebraska Legislature had quite a year in 2008.

Ah, Nebraska, The Good Life.

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People

Homosexual behavior due to genetics and environmental factors


Queen Mary, University of London
Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:44 UTC
Homosexual behavior is largely shaped by genetics and random environmental factors, according to findings from the world's largest study of twins.

Writing in the scientific journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, researchers from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm report that genetics and environmental factors (which are specific to an individual, and may include biological processes such as different hormone exposure in the womb), are important determinants of homosexual behavior.

Dr Qazi Rahman, study co-author and a leading scientist on human sexual orientation, explains: "This study puts cold water on any concerns that we are looking for a single 'gay gene' or a single environmental variable which could be used to 'select out' homosexuality - the factors which influence sexual orientation are complex. And we are not simply talking about homosexuality here - heterosexual behavior is also influenced by a mixture of genetic and environmental factors.
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Health

Smoky skies threaten health in fiery California


Associated Press
Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:58 UTC
Hundreds of lightning-sparked wildfires have turned the air of Northern California into an unhealthy stew of smoke and ash, forcing the cancellation of athletic events and other outdoor activities.
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Bulb

The lunatic fringe: Is moonlight the miracle cure?

Jason Oddy
The Independent
Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:42 UTC
Deep in the Arizona desert, a bizarre machine is offering new hope to sufferers from conditions ranging from eczema to cancer. How does it work? By the light of the silvery moon...
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Bulb

Flashback Too Many Choices Can Spoil the Research


Chicago Journals
Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:56 UTC
The more choices people get, the less consistent they are in making those choices, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. The study's findings may affect the way researchers examine consumer choices.

Authors Jordan J. Louviere (University of Technology, Sydney), Towhidul Islam (University of Guelph, Ontario), Nada Wasi, Deborah Street, and Leonie Burgess (all University of Technology, Sydney) examined choice experiments, where researchers study which brands or products consumers prefer. The research found that experiments that are considered "statistically efficient" (asking complex questions of fewer respondents) lead to less consistency in participants' choices.
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