Scientific American - Health & Medicine

Unearthing Anthrax's Dirty Secret: Its Mysterious Survival Skills May Rely on Help from Viruses--and Earthworms

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

NEW YORK--Using a pipette as a makeshift rolling pin, Raymond Schuch spent some of his lab time last summer pressing the guts out of earthworms that he had collected, fresh from Manhattan soil. For his efforts, The Rockefeller University microbiologist extracted what looked like just a small pile of dirt, but was actually a microcosm teeming with phages--viruses that infect bacteria. Schuch was on the hunt for phages that could kill anthrax and become anti-anthrax therapies , but what he discovered were viruses that enable this deadly bacteria to grow and survive when the going gets tough. [More]

What Happens in the Amygdala... Damage to Brain's Decision-Making Area May Encourage Dicey Gambles

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST

Imagine you've lost your job. You have some money saved, and a chance to double it with a gamble. But if you lose the bet, you'll forfeit everything. What would you do? [More]

Third-hand smoke contains carcinogens too, study says

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:01:00 EST

Anyone walking into a smoker's abode can tell you that the traces of tobacco use don't vanish when a cigarette or cigar is extinguished. But just what happens to this "third-hand" smoke once the air has cleared--and can it still be harmful? [More]

Researchers Identify Genetic Variant Linked to Faster Biological Aging

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:45:00 EST

There's no right answer when someone asks you: " How old do you think I am ?"

Faced with such a dilemma, most of us aim low--erring on the side of flattery rather than honesty. But the truth is, accurately guessing someone's age is a difficult task, perhaps best left to amusement park workers and street performers.

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Moving forward with electronic health records

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST

NEW YORK--Almost a year since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which earmarked some $19 billion to get electronic health records off the ground, most of the country's medical and research institutions are still primarily pushing paper. [More]

Are Coyotes or Humans the Perpetrators of Suburban Animal Attacks?

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST

A coyote howls, its characteristically pointed muzzle aimed high toward the night sky. But the moon is not visible over this brightly lit Target store parking lot in Matamoras, Penn.--only a glowing globe atop a metal pole casting its electric illumination on the pavement. [More]

Genetic Doping Next Athletic Cheat

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:42:08 EST

The Vancouver Olympics begin February 12th. And scientists are on high alert. Not just for well-known ways to gain an advantage, like steroids or blood doping. The researchers are also worried about what’s called genetic doping. It’s the latest in elite athletic cheating.

Researchers writing in the journal Science point to a few different types of gene therapy that could get hijacked for athletics instead of medical uses, like the treatment of obesity, diabetes or muscle disease. For example, genes for insulin-like growth factor could enhance muscle mass. And molecules that regulate the expression of genes may make athletes more energy efficient, or help create more slow-twitch muscle fibers.

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Readers Respond on "Squeezing More Oil from the Ground"

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

End or No End? In “ Squeezing More Oil from the Ground ,” Leonardo Maugeri, director of strategies and development of an international oil company, expresses the conventional view of his profession, assuming a world of near-infinite oil resources to be produced under market forces. Maugeri is particularly dismissive of our Scientific American article “The End of Cheap Oil” [March 1998]. It is difficult to find fault with at least its title, considering that the average price of oil over the preceding 10 years was $28 a barrel but rose to $45 over the ensuing decade to reach a peak of almost $150 in 2008.

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Athlete alert: Is genetic juicing set to replace steroids?

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:58:00 EST

When Olympic medals and multi-million-dollar contracts are at stake, athletes and coaches have been known to resort to drastic measures to strike gold. But as the steroid era evolves amidst increased testing and public hectoring, what other performance booster will enter the ring? [More]

Sperm cells' swimming secrets revealed

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:20:00 EST

The predictable swimming sperm featured in health class videos are rather uncharacteristic portraits of the life of these sex cells. [More]

Ghostbusters: Authors of a new study propose a strict ban on medical ghostwriting

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:45:00 EST

When students pawn someone else's work off as their own, they get expelled. But when some professors do the same thing, they get a "pat on the back," and maybe even a few extra bucks. Scientists credited for research articles that were secretly penned by ghostwriters from pharmaceutical companies often are not reprimanded for their misrepresentations; rather, their ranks and career trajectories often improve. [More]

Cold Comfort: Young Women with Cancer Can Freeze an Ovary to Keep Kids in the Picture

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:15:00 EST

As chemotherapy and radiation treatments improve, children with cancer are living longer. The average five-year survival rate for a range of childhood cancers increased from 58 percent to 81 percent between 1975 and 2005, according to statistics from the National Cancer Institute . But although many of these children now survive cancer-free into their reproductive years, their fertility might not. In young women and girls, direct radiation and chemotherapy drugs can stop egg production by the ovaries--meaning that along with the tumor, hopes for pregnancy are often eradicated. [More]

Low serotonin levels may prompt mysterious sudden infant death syndrome

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:01:00 EST

The most common cause of death of U.S. infants before their first birthday is the nebulous complication known as sudden infant death syndrome (or SIDS), according to the Mayo Clinic. The underlying causes of this condition , in which no immediate cause of death is revealed in an autopsy, remain unknown, vexing scientists and parents alike. [More]

Less than a pretty face: Brain scans show how a disorder leads individuals to perceive themselves as ugly

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:01:00 EST

Despite living in a culture obsessed with physical flawlessness, most people in the U.S. have a relatively realistic perception of their own form and face--blemishes, bulges and all. About one to two percent of the population, however, suffers from a recognized psychological illness, known as body dysmorphic disorder (or BDD), which causes them to be preoccupied with physical defects that they think make them look repugnant. Such tendencies can lead some people to extreme and frequent plastic surgeries and even suicide. [More]

Chemical Exposure Linked to Attention Deficit Disorder in Children

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST

Children exposed in the womb to chemicals in cosmetics and fragrances are more likely to develop behavioral problems commonly found in children with attention deficit disorders, according to a study of New York City school-age children published Thursday. [More]

Poisoned Shipments: Are Strange, Illicit Sinkings Making the Mediterranean Toxic?

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

In October 2009 the government of Italy announced that a wreck discovered off the southwestern tip of the country is the Catania , a passenger vessel sunk during World War I--and not the Cunski , a cargo ship loaded with radioactive waste, as alleged by district authorities from nearby Calabria. Few locals are reassured, says Michael Leonardi of the University of Calabria. He and others maintain that the putative Cunski is still out there and is just one of numerous ships full of poisonous garbage that a crime syndicate has scuttled in the Mediterranean Sea. Such a startling allegation, if true, would not only damage the tourism and fishing industries along this idyllic coast but also compromise the health of Mediterranean residents.

Processing and safely storing waste from the chemical, pharmaceutical and other industries can cost hundreds, even thousands, of dollars per ton--which makes illegal disposal highly profitable. According to the Italian environmental organization Legambiente, some waste shippers that have operational bases in southern Italy have been using the Mediterranean as a dump. While acknowledging that “no wreck has yet been found that contains toxic or radioactive waste,” physicist Massimo Scalia of the University of Rome, La Sapienza, who has chaired two parliamentary commissions on illegal waste disposal, argues that other vidence makes their existence “beyond reasonable doubt.”

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Are courtrooms and toxic torts the new side of public health?

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:38:00 EST

NEW YORK--The inspiring story of Erin Brockovich's legal battle with Pacific Gas and Electric Company for contaminating drinking water ended with a $333-million settlement to families in Hinkley, Calif., exposed to the company's hexavalent chromium waste, not to mention blockbuster acclaim for Brockovitch. [More]

Sewer or Septic?: When It Comes to Sewage, Most People Prefer to Share the Burden

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Dear EarthTalk: What’s better for the local ecology, sewers or septic tanks? --T. H., Darien, Conn.

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Running barefoot is better, researchers find

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:25:00 EST

Mother Nature has outpaced science once again: the bare human foot is better for running than one cushioned by sneakers. What about those $125 high-tech running shoes with 648 custom combinations? Toss 'em, according to a new study published online January 27 in the journal Nature ( Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group). [More]

Genetic testing may become a new weapon in the fight against chimpanzee smugglers

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:45:00 EST

DNA testing could be used as a tool to help fight smuggling of endangered chimpanzees, according to a study published this week in the journal BMC Ecology . [More]