Analyzing thousands of tissue samples from surgical procedures carried out around the United Kingdom (UK), researchers have estimated that the number of people carrying variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob prions to be double previous estimates. Reported in the British Medical Journal, the survey is likely the most robust prevalence measure to date across a wide range of age […]
Analyzing several years’ worth of pharmaceutical advertisements, researchers found that 6 out-of 10 claims in prescription drug ads on television were misleading or false and over-the-counter drug ads were even less reliable. The analysis, appearing in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that potentially misleading claims are prevalent throughout consumer-targeted drug advertisements on television. […]
The relaxation of marijuana laws in Colorado has caused a surge in the number of young children treated for accidentally eating marijuana-laced cookies and candies, according to a new study by medicos from the University of Colorado. The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, looked at numbers of unintentional ingestions in patients under the age of […]
An investigation into the purported health risks associated with electromagnetic fields has shown that media reports alone may cause suggestible people to develop symptoms of a disease. Electromagnetic hypersensitivity has been the focus of previous studies, but scientists are still divided as to whether everyday electromagnetic fields (EMF) have any physiological effects. People who believe […]
Somewhat counter-intuitively, protected areas of Africa where numbers of humans are limited appear to also be hotspots for the exchange of fecal matter between animals and humans. “The research identifies the coupled nature of humans, animals, and the natural environment across landscapes, even those designated as protected,” said Kathleen Alexander, an associate professor of wildlife […]
The vast majority of new, emerging or re-emerging human diseases are caused by pathogens from animals, according to the World Health Organization. But a widely accepted theory of risk reduction for these pathogens is likely wrong, according to a new study by researchers from the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. The dilution effect theorizes […]
Outbreaks of norovirus (also known as the winter vomiting bug) are frequently linked to the consumption of fresh food, but identifying where the virus first came from is difficult, if not impossible. Now, a new study published in theInternational Journal of Food Microbiologyindicates that contaminated water used to dilute pesticides may be how norovirus enters […]
While heroin overdoses have declined, overdoses from prescription opioids such as oxycodone (marketed as Oxycontin) increased seven-fold in New York City over a 16-year period. The Columbia University researchers behind a new study analyzing the prescription opioid epidemic say it is especially prevalent among higher-income whites. The findings appear in the journalDrug and Alcohol Dependence. […]
Long-term use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) appears to severely impact a user’s ability to accurately recall the shapes and spatial relationships of objects, say medicos from McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Their study, appearing in the journalDrug and Alcohol Dependence, used a variety of tests to determine whether steroid users developed cognitive defects due […]
For the first time, scientists have found ticks infected with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever on migratory birds that fly between Africa and Europe. The Swedish researchers who made the discovery say the ticks could be the source of contagion behind recent hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Southern Europe. Details of this new disease vector appear in the […]
