Meanwhile: Forget the Easter Bunny. Let’s Celebrate the Easter Bug.
Image Wendy MacNaughton is a graphic journalist based in San Francisco. You can find her via website and Instagram.
Medical News Today: Seaweed extract may help design new drugs
Researchers have found that marine Actinobacteria, a family of bacteria that lives in seaweed, may have antimicrobial and anticancer properties. Scientists are looking to kelp in the search for novel drugs. Many people think of microbes as organisms that cause disease, but humans host billions of microbes that are essential to our life. Microbes include…
Tacos. Tequila. Telenovelas. Nairobi Embraces Its Mexican Soul.
On New Year’s Eve, as people around the world celebrated with a kiss or a glass of champagne, some partygoers in Nairobi celebrated a different way: with 12 grapes, one for each month of the year, as the clock ticked down to midnight. This Mexican tradition, which dates back to the Spanish colonial period and…
Prostate Drugs May Raise Diabetes Risk
Two commonly used drugs for treating an enlarged prostate may increase the risk for Type 2 diabetes. Benign prostate hypertrophy, or B.P.H., may cause difficulty in urinating or increased frequency and urgency of urination. A study published in BMJ examined the use of two similar drugs often prescribed for the condition, finasteride (Proscar) and dutasteride…
Rites of Passage: ‘Will You Stay With Me Until I Die?’
I was mainlining pretzels in my office kitchen as I waited for Julie to arrive. Whenever she was late, I would think the worst. Should I check on her between sessions or let her call if she needed me because I knew she had trouble asking for help? Should therapists’ boundaries be different — looser…
Preliminary study suggests mercury not a risk in dog foods
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, recently investigated levels of methylmercury in a small sampling of commercial dog foods and found good news for dog owners. Of the 24 diets tested, only three were positive for low concentrations of total mercury, and only one of those contained detectable methylmercury. The study was published in…
New book on next-generation sequencing in medicine from CSHL Press
IMAGE: DNA molecules on an abstract technology-based background, illustrating the applications of biochemistry and genetic theory. view more Credit: Artwork credited to vector artist whiteMocca and reprinted with permission from Shutterstock (ID: 663251594). Cold Spring Harbor, NY — Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHLP) announced the release of Next-Generation Sequencing in Medicine, available on its website…
A mother lode of protection
Between 60 and 95 percent of adults worldwide are infected with herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) or both. For the vast majority, these infections are nothing more than a periodic nuisance, causing cold sores or genital lesions. But for newborns, these viruses can have devastating consequences: severe damage to the…
Asian nations in early tobacco epidemic: study
IMAGE: From left, Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, Jae Jeong Yang, PhD, Danxia Yu, PhD, and colleagues are studying smoking patterns and associated deaths in Asian countries. view more Credit: Photo by Susan Urmy Asian countries are in the early stages of a tobacco smoking epidemic with habits mirroring those of the United States from past decades,…
Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center announces $200K Challenge winners
BOSTON — Entrepreneurs developing new technologies to treat blood clots, congestive heart failure, incontinence and more were the big winners at the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center $200,000 Challenge, an annual pitch competition that showcases cutting-edge innovations in the medical-device and biotech fields. The center, known as M2D2, is a partnership between UMass Lowell and…