Scientific American - Health & Medicine

NASA-funded monkey-radiation experiment raises hackles

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:59:00 EST

A nonprofit group that promotes animal rights in medical research has taken issue with a NASA grant funding an assessment of the long-term effects of radiation on monkeys. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), based in Washington, D.C., sent an appeal Thursday to NASA administrator Charles Bolden, urging that the radiobiology study, intended to test the effects of radiation encountered in long-range spaceflight, be suspended. [More]

Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite: Pest Management Proves More Effective than Pesticides

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:04:00 EST

In a large apartment building, it’s impossible to avoid the neighbors. You can hear the Bruce Springsteen that the tenant in 7B cranks while vacuuming, the kids in 8A directly above tromping around, and if someone decides to paint, the fumes reach everyone on the floor. So when a building supervisor notified owners in a sixty-unit co-op building in Brooklyn that one of the apartments had a bedbug infestation, Eddie Rosenthal feared that it was only a matter of time until the bugs spread to his home. [More]

MIND Reviews: Brainy Gifts

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Catch Some Slow Waves Zeo sleep monitor ($399) [More]

Breast Milk Is Best for Newborns, but the Bottle Is Fine, Too

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Dear EarthTalk: What are the pros and cons of feeding babies formula versus breast milk? And if I purchase formula, should I spend the extra money on the organic variety? --Suzy W., via e-mail [More]

"On-pump" heart bypass surgery beats out beating-heart technique

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:38:00 EST

The best bypass surgery choice may be to use a heart–lung machine, after all, according to a new study published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine . [More]

Newborns may start honing their mother tongue with their first cries

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:33:00 EST

The cry of newborn babies may seem like nothing more than inescapable shrills, but they could be infants' first attempts to imitate the language they hear while in the womb. [More]

An Elemental Solution: Using Zinc to Stave Off Childhood Diarrhea in Developing Countries

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:53:00 EST

Childhood diarrhea can be a tricky public health issue. Not only is it an unpleasant subject to discuss, but eradicating it, especially in poorer nations, can often mean expensive infrastructure projects and bigger battles than many strapped governments can take on. [More]

Is BPA Contaminating Your Soup?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:01:00 EST

New research results show the controversial plastics additive bisphenol A , or BPA, is commonly found in a wide range of canned foods, including some marked "BPA free" or organic.

"The findings are noteworthy because they indicate the extent of potential exposure," said Urvashi Rangan at Consumers Union , which publishes Consumer Reports and released the results yesterday.

[More]

How Threatened Are Killer Whales in the Wild?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Dear EarthTalk: How are populations of the world’s orca whales faring these days? Are we still in danger of losing them all in the wild? --J. Witham, Bangor, ME [More]

Sugar Negates Worm's Life-Extending Mutation

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:55:08 EST

[ The following is an exact transcript of this podcast. ]

For worms fed a sugary diet, life is sweet. But short. According to a new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism , consistently adding a small amount of sugar to a worm's regular diet of bacteria shortened its lifespan by 20 percent. The research was performed on C. elegans, tiny roundworms that typically live an average of two weeks.

[More]

Could we be on the verge of a new drug to treat lupus?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Systemic lupus is the most common form of the autoimmune disease, lupus , which afflicts about five million people worldwide and causes a slew of symptoms including fever, pain and swelling. Now, sufferers of systemic lupus may be closer to a new drug to treat their symptoms, according to the results of a study announced yesterday. If approved for the market, the drug, which was developed by Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and GlaxoSmithKline, would be the first new treatment for lupus in nearly half a century. [More]

Could Eating Too Much Soy Be Bad for You?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Seeking healthful foods, Americans are eating more soy than ever. But recent research with animals shows that consuming large amounts could have harmful effects on female fertility and reproductive development. [More]

Obama lifts U.S. ban on foreign HIV-positive travelers

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:10:00 EST

People with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) will no longer be prohibited from visiting or immigrating to the U.S., the White House announced Friday. [More]

Apnea Treatment Improves Golf Game

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:55:08 EST

[ The following is an exact transcript of this podcast. ]

The 12 million Americans with sleep apnea stop breathing for short periods during the night, sometimes hundreds of times. Now a new study finds that a good motivator for some apnea sufferers to get treatment could be improved athletic performance. Because golfers with obstructive apnea who regularly used the machine that keeps them breathing lowered their handicap by up to three strokes.

[More]

Does Vitamin D Improve Brain Function?

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

The push to prevent skin cancer may have come with unintended consequences--impaired brain function because of a deficiency of vitamin D. The “sunshine vitamin” is synthesized in our skin when we are exposed to direct sunlight, but sunblock impedes this process. And although vitamin D is well known for promoting bone health and regulating vital calcium levels--hence its addition to milk--it does more than that. Scientists have now linked this fat-soluble nutrient’s hormonelike activity to a number of functions throughout the body, including the workings of the brain.

“We know there are receptors for vitamin D throughout the central nervous system and in the hippocampus,” said Robert J. Przybelski, a doctor and research scientist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “We also know vitamin D activates and deactivates enzymes in the brain and the cerebrospinal fluid that are involved in neurotransmitter synthesis and nerve growth.” In addition, animal and laboratory studies suggest vitamin D protects neurons and reduces inflammation.

[More]

TED MED: The power of the mind over the body

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:36:00 EST

TED MED[www.tedmed.com] wrapped up with compelling personal stories that celebrated the power of the human mind to help the body endure or to reach physical achievements. The sold-out meeting in San Diego, held for the first time in five years, had during the past four days covered a spectrum of themes, including research on engineering life to create cures and regenerative medicine , the need to collect information about a patient’s environment , the personalization of health care , the quest to slow aging , and technologies, such as robots , to make it more practical for the elderly to extend their years at home. [More]

Idle Moments Turn into Tons of Air Pollutants at Schools

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EST

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Does Morning Sickness Mean Smart Kids?

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST

A new study shows a correlation between nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and the long-term neurocognitive development of those kids. [More]

TED MED: Grandma's little robot helper

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:17:00 EST

For Colin Angle, the statistics make the case clear. Institutional care for the elderly costs an average of more than $10,000 per month, about equal to “the mortgage payment for a $2 million home.” At the same time, three out of four seniors want to continue living at home. To do so, many may need support from their adult children--who themselves are strapped for time while juggling the demands of work and family. “Something has to give in order for that to work,” Angle told the audience yesterday at the TED MED conference, which is being held this week in San Diego. “What am I going to do? Well, what about robots?” [More]

Flu vaccine: A shortage that didn't have to be?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:52:00 EST