Health & WellnessS

Info

Flashback Vaccine not virus responsible for Spanish flu

Ryle Dwyer writes on the horror of the 1918-20 pandemic which the propaganda says was caused by Spanish flu (Irish Examiner, May 1 [2003]).

How did they know it was the virus of Spanish flu that killed millions of civilians and soldiers? This disaster occurred when viruses were unknown to medical science. It took a British science team to identify the first virus in man in 1933.

Bulb

Worm Study Sheds Light On Human Aging, Inherited Diseases

Microscopic worms used for scientific research are living longer despite cellular defects, a discovery that is shedding light on how the human body ages and how doctors could one day limit or reverse genetic mutations that cause inherited diseases, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.

In the first formal study of its kind, researchers manipulated the metabolic state of genetically engineered lab worms called C. elegans and discovered a window of high-efficiency cellular processing that enabled the worms to slow their rate of aging. The findings could one day contribute to the creation of gene therapies to reverse or lessen the effects of mitochondrial diseases, the largest family of human genetic diseases, said lead study author Shane Rea of CU-Boulder's Institute for Behavioral Genetics in Boulder, Colorado.

Bad Guys

Flashback Big Pharma Targets Poor Children Of Afghanistan With Dangerous Vaccines

Afghanistan has begun its latest drive to vaccinate millions of children under five against the crippling polio virus, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) officials have said.

The three-day campaign is the fifth in Afghanistan this year and was launched Sunday by the Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), with the support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International and other partners.

Wine

Hormone makes strong emotions memorable

There is a biological reason why events that occur in tandem with emotions such as fear, anger and joy are far more memorable, a U.S. study found.

Researchers at The John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and New York University have identified a hormone that is released during emotional arousal; they believe the hormone "primes" nerve cells to remember events.

Life Preserver

Scientists: Appendix protects good germs

Some scientists think they have figured out the real job of the troublesome and seemingly useless appendix: It produces and protects good germs for your gut. That's the theory from surgeons and immunologists at Duke University Medical School, published online in a scientific journal this week.

For generations the appendix has been dismissed as superfluous. Doctors figured it had no function, surgeons removed them routinely, and people live fine without them.

People

Higher infections for babies in pools

Research in Germany linked higher infection risks, especially for diarrhea, to babies who swam in pools during their first year of life.

However, the study, published in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, found no increased risks for atopic diseases -- which is when the immune system is dysregulated, resulting in allergic inflammation.

People

Bilberry studied as anti-cancer substance

British researchers are investigating whether an extract from bilberries -- already known to help with night vision -- can prevent or delay some cancers.

©PlantExplorers

Andy Gescher and colleagues at the University of Leicester, is leading an investigation to carry out clinical trials with the commercially produced substance Mirtoselect -- extracted from bilberries -- with the cooperation of patients about to undergo surgery for colorectal and liver cancer.

Black Cat

My psychopathic sweetheart: he may seem the ideal mate, but the romantic predator's narcissism eventually surfaces

The courtship is always a whirlwind. He is handsome, charming, confident. His love letters are filled with longing. The flattery flows. You are smart. You are beautiful. You are his ideal love.

Master of the grand gesture, he whisks you off on romantic weekends. Mid-Atlantic, he pulls out a little present for you, just as the stewardess fills your glasses with wine.

You have no idea that he is a psychopath: deeply narcissistic, devoid of real feeling, a romantic predator. Why would you? He is your dream man.

Comment: Apart from the excellent books sited in the article, we recommend this reading list on the subject of psychopathy as well, "that can help the layperson understand psychopaths, narcissists, and their own vulnerability."


Info

Got calcium? UWM researcher finds that food labels confuse consumers

Consumers often don't get nutritional information they need.

Current food labeling leads to under-consumption of calcium, according to this study. Those who were taught how to translate the information consumed more. Researchers believe the same is true for other beneficial nutrients.

Question

Workplace woe: Are abusive bosses or inferior employees to blame?

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Considerable attention, both in blogs and in popular media, has been given to abusive bosses over the past few years. (See the Web sites HateBoss.com and WorkRant.com, for example.) Less discussed are employees' responses to such behavior. How do employees react to abusive supervisors" Do they simply take what is dished out, or do they actively seek to change the situation"

Comment: The study the way it is described appears to blame the victim of workplace abuse. The researchers would do well to read the book Snakes in Suit by Hare and Babiak.