Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists explain how a previously unknown and dangerous virus carried by tics has been responsible for seasonal outbreaks of the disease in six of China’s most populated provinces. The disease first came to attention five years ago, when large numbers of farmers in central China began falling […]
The bacteria that live in the human gut may be doing quite a bit more than simply helping us digest food. Researchers have observed that bacteria in the digestive tract also appear to be exerting some level of control over the metabolic functions of organs such as the liver. The finding, in the journal Bio, […]
Researchers have found that cell phone use is associated with increased brain glucose metabolism (an indicator of brain activity) in the region closest to the antenna, but they say that the finding is of unknown clinical significance. The research, appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Asociation, notes that past studies of the association […]
The “hygiene hypothesis” suggests that increased hygiene and sanitation is linked to higher rates of asthma, allergies and autoimmune disorders. Now, one researcher says the differences in boys’ and girls’ play-styles could explain why women are at greater risk of asthma, allergies, and autoimmune disorders such as Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Oregon State University’s […]
The current issue of the journal High Altitude Medicine & Biology contains an analysis of mortality data that reveals a striking correlation between living at higher altitudes and suicide risk. A multi-institute research team examined cause-of-death data from all 2,584 U.S. counties between 1979 and 1998 and found that, as a group, people living at […]
Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced researcher who claimed a link between MMR vaccine and autism, planned a secret multi-national business offering alternative vaccines and therapeutic services based on his now-discredited research. The plans are revealed by investigative journalist Brian Deer in the current issue of the British Medical Journal. Drawing on documents obtained under the Freedom […]
The same European researchers who devised a forensic test to tell a person’s age from a sample of their blood have now created a test to reveal a person’s hair color from their blood or saliva. The findings appear in the journalHuman Genetics. The researchers, from Erasmus MC University, say that on the basis of […]
