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Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is associated with anemia or iron deficiency among children, according to a study. Vasile Valeriu Lupu, Ph.D. and colleagues examined the presence of anemia as a result of pediatric GERD in 172 children. The researchers found that 23 of the patients with GERD also had anemia, showing a moderate, significant correlation (r = −0.35). Cases with GERD also had significantly lower levels of serum iron (F = 8.46). "GERD is accompanied by a degree of iron deficiency that opens the way to iron deficiency anemia. Considering the fact that anemia can be one of the signs...

Two proteins ensure that cells can take up iron when needed. If both control proteins are switched off in mice, the animals develop severe anemia, as expected. At the same time, surprisingly, a cell type of the innate immune defense, the neutrophils, also dramatically decreases. Iron deficiency, a known defense mechanism against infectious pathogens, is a double edged sword, as it simultaneously curbs the defensive power of an important arm of the innate immune system. "This strong iron dependence of neutrophils was previously unknown. It possibly affects the immune defense against bacterial pathogens," says Bruno Galy. Interestingly, on the other...

The higher the water content, the higher the likelihood of contamination. Of particular note were 'blender' sponges, a type of egg-shaped makeup applicator that has become popular in recent years for applying foundation and contouring. These were the worst offenders, with the highest rate of fungal contamination. In total, the team examined 467 products - 96 lipsticks, 92 eyeliners, 93 mascaras, 107 lip glosses and 79 blender sponges. Makeup doesn't go 'off' like food. But the use-by dates aren't just there for funsies; the date on the packaging indicates the length of time preservatives in the product are expected to...

The superbug that infected nearly a dozen Americans who recently underwent weight-loss surgery at a Tijuana hospital had a particularly nasty genetic mutation that set off alarm bells after patients began showing up in hospitals and doctors officers with painful wounds.(Emphasis mine) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning this week, notifying the publicthat 11 Americans who traveled to Tijuana hospitals for weight-loss surgery had become infected with drug-resistant pseudomonus aeruginosa infections during their stays.

Fifteen years after the U.S. declared drug-resistant infections to be a grave threat, the crisis is only worsening, a Reuters investigation finds, as government agencies remain unwilling or unable to impose reporting requirements on a healthcare industry that often hides the problem. According to their death certificates, Emma Grace Breaux died at age 3 from complications of the flu; Joshua Nahum died at age 27 from complications related to a skydiving accident; and Dan Greulich succumbed to cardiac arrhythmia at age 64 after a combined kidney and liver transplant. In each case – and in others Reuters found – death...

A deadly bacterial outbreak is being investigated in Wisconsin with at least 44 reported cases, killing 18 people, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The rare infection results from a naturally occurring bacteria called Elizabethkingia anophelis, which are found in soil, fresh water and reservoirs, health officials said. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, chills or redness on the skin. The outbreak has primarily affected people over the age of 65 and everyone infected had a history of at least one serious underlying health condition, according to the Department of Health Services. State and federal health officials said...

"Health officials work to diffuse fears of national epidemic"“Gay” sex is becoming even more dangerous. Health officials are warning sexually active “gay” men about an outbreak of potentially deadly bacterial meningitis in Los Angeles and New York. The disease has infected 22 people in New York and caused seven deaths since 2010. Health officials in Los Angeles are testing to see if the strain infecting “gay” men there is the same one hitting New York. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation began offering free meningitis vaccines today after a “gay” man from West Hollywood was declared brain dead on Friday. Thirty-three-year-old lawyer...

The joke that's going around is that the Mayans got it wrong: The world is ending this year, not 2012. Here's the lates sign of that. A superbug is spreading around America, and has hit Southern California. LA Times: A dangerous drug-resistant bacterium has spread to patients in Southern California, according to a study by Los Angeles County public health officials. More than 350 cases of the Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP, have been reported at healthcare facilities in Los Angeles County, mostly among elderly patients at skilled-nursing and long-term care facilities, according to a study by Dr. Dawn Terashita,...

New research into primitive protective proteins from the immune systems of sharks could lead to more versatile drugs to battle diseases such as cancer and dangerous bacterial infections and to robust diagnostic kits that could easily leave the lab, an area of intense research following the anthrax attacks of 2001. In a study published Thursday online by the journal Science, researchers at The Scripps Institute in La Jolla, CA, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore determined that the structure of the primitive antibody that marks a difference between the immune systems of sharks and mammals is unusually simple. Ian...

Papers have been flapping with new headlines about the latest in a long line of alleged dinosaur ancestors of birds. This one is claimed to be a sensational dinosaur with feathers on its hind legs, thus four ‘wings’.1 This was named Microraptor gui—the name is derived from words meaning ‘little plunderer of Gu’ after the paleontologist Gu Zhiwei. Like so many of the alleged feathered dinosaurs, it comes from Liaoning province of northeastern China. It was about 3 feet (1 meter) long from its head to the tip of its long tail, but its body was only about the size...