“The entire world is currently looking for effective solutions to disinfect the Coronavirus. The problem is that in order to disinfect a bus, train, sports hall, or plane by chemical spraying, you need physical manpower, and in order for the spraying to be effective, you have to give the chemical time to act on the … Read more
A study has now shown that residents of the Mid-Ohio River Valley had higher than normal levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), based on blood samples collected over a 22-year span (1991-2013). The exposure source was likely drinking water contaminated by industrial discharges upriver. The researchers identified three known industrial sources who discharge PFOA into the … Read more
At least one person has died and it is believed at least 10 others are affected by a new outbreak in the northernmost province of the Congo. It has been 3 years since the West African Epidemic peaked. The epidemic killed over 11,000. Read more
A 25% improvement in the black death rate since 1999 was reported by the CDC this week. They analyzed for age-specific trends among 4 age groups: 18 to 34, 35 to 49, 50 to 64 and 65 and older. Whites, who live 4 years longer than blacks on average, have seen worse death rates since … Read more
According to scientists, the number of Americans drinking PFAS-contaminated water may be much higher than the 6 million figure initially reported. A recent Harvard Harvard study found that almost across 30 states tested, 194 of 4864 water supplies contained PFASs (perfluoroalkyl substances) — a chemical that has been around for 60 years and which is used for nonstick … Read more
“Zika is now here,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Saturday. Although many Americans had brought back infection from abroad already — over 1,600 known cases — until several infected people were recently tested for other transmission methods, no known cases of U.S. mosquito-borne Zika had existed, although it … Read more
A team of researchers has succeeded in creating mini insulin-producing organs that can be implanted into a diabetic animal to maintain glucose levels, progress towards what they consider the future of regenerative medicine. The cells the researchers found are best at producing insulin when reprogrammed are pylotic cells — cells from the lower region of the stomach, … Read more
In China last year, approximately 2.8 million people died of cancer, and 4.3 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed, according to a new study by researchers at the National Cancer Center in Beijing. The new figures are based on newly available information: several population registries have been made available through China’s National Central Cancer … Read more
The Zika virus, which has caused a surge in infant birth defects in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years, and which has now spread to the U.S., is carried by a type of mosquito common in the Southern states, according to Dr. Albert Icksang Ko, an epidemiologist at Yale. “The mosquito vector for Zika is genus … Read more
“Virgin soil” hypothesis of African tuberculosis burden now challenged by new “European wave” hypothesis Ethiopia is a hotspot for tuberculosis infection, ranking third among African countries and eighth in the world for TB burden according to the World Health Organization. But, say researchers who have analyzed the genomes of 66 TB strains and reported their … Read more
Health products expected to be of the highest quality — those sold in America’s top drugstore and retail giants — are actually often worthless and sometimes harmful, according to a cease and desist letter sent to GNC, Target, Walgreens and WalMart by the New York State attorney general’s office after authorities tested the stores herbal … Read more
Weight loss surgery curbs the sweet tooth by acting on the brain’s reward system, according to a study published November 19 in Cell Metabolism. The researchers found that gastrointestinal bypass surgery, which is used to treat morbid obesity and diabetes, reduced sugar-seeking behavior in mice by reducing the release of a reward chemical called dopamine in … Read more