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As levels of nighttime artificial outdoor light rise, so do the odds for a leading cause of vision loss, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Researchers found that people living in areas of that country with the highest levels of streetlights and other artificial light had more than double the odds for AMD, compared to those living in areas with the lowest levels. That risk remained even after they accounted for confounding factors such as sleep issues and depression, said a team led by Dr. Ahnul Ha. City dwellers may be at particular danger for macular degeneration, since the link between the...

More and more, it seems, San Franciscans need to watch where they step. And they’re not imagining things: There’s been an explosion in complaints about needles and feces on the streets and sidewalks. Reports of improperly discarded syringes have jumped 41 percent since last fiscal year, according to a recent city controller’s report. Complaints about feces have increased by 39 percent, with every district seeing a rise in the calls. And, in a trend that must be disturbing to residents who don’t live near the Tenderloin or SoMa, long perceived as epicenters of filth, there were big increases in complaints...

The federal government will soon treat married same-sex couples the same as heterosexual couples when they file for bankruptcy, testify in court or visit family in prison. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was preparing to issue policies aimed at eliminating the distinction between same-sex and opposite-sex married couples in the federal criminal justice system, according to excerpts from a speech prepared for a Saturday event organized by a prominent gay-rights group. “In every courthouse, in every proceeding and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States, they will strive...

Conner Mertens '17 came out as bisexual today in an article in Outsports magazine — the first college football player in the United States to do so publicly while still playing. In response to the announcement, his team — and the Willamette community — rallied around Mertens while he issued a statement to the media. Overwhelmed by well wishes, Mertens said via Twitter, "Absolutely humbled and speechless right now. If you know me, you know how crazy that second part is. I can't say thank you enough." A native of Kennewick, Wash., Mertens said in the Outsports article that he...

Everyone who's ever been on the lookout for a good deal knows that price is one thing, but value is another. Cheaper isn't always better; some things that cost more are worth it. That's especially true when it comes to medical treatment, where "one size fits all" and "cheaper is better" are very bad models. Sure, research studies can effectively answer the question of how the average person will respond to a particular course of treatment. But you can only obtain such an average by measuring individual responses, which vary tremendously. The "best" treatment for a particular patient can't be...

Whatever happened to reading, writing, and arithmetic? A government commissioned overhaul of elementary schools in the United Kingdom would make learning about blogging, Twitter, Wikipedia, and podcasting mandatory. National history? Well, that's covered in secondary school so it's up to the teachers to decide whether or not to teach it in elementary school. Oh, and they have to choose between teaching about World War II or Queen Victoria. Huh?

Fish Studies Answer Flood Question by Brian Thomas, M.S.* According to the Bible, the world before Noah’s Flood, including the oceans, must have been idyllic. That was destroyed by the year-long global deluge, during which the earth’s land mass broke into continents, massive amounts of sediment were deposited and then partially eroded, and new and perhaps deeper oceans became more salty from continental runoff. If this historical picture is accurate, then at least one area of confusion needs to be addressed: How did “saltwater fish” live through all that?...

President-elect Barack Obama Washington DC, Nov 23, 2008 / 07:48 pm (CNA).- Citing what they call America’s “promise of equality,” the Obama administration plans to push for homosexual rights by including protections of sexual orientation, “gender identity” and “gender expression” as civil rights. His office proposes expanding hate crimes statues and the adoption rights of homosexuals while supporting full civil unions for “LGBT couples” to give them “legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”The proposals are announced under the Civil Rights section of their agenda presented at Change.gov, the web site of the Obama campaign’s self-described...

LEARNING LESSONS FROM THE DUTCH News Analysis By David W. Virtue The Dutch Roman Catholic Cardinal Adrianis Simonis of Utrecht believes that the "spiritual vacuity" of Dutch society has left the Netherlands open to an Islamic cultural takeover. In a blistering attack on the state of the spiritual state of the country, the Cardinal said the nation was disarmed in the face of the Islamic danger. The rise of Islam, said the Cardinal is related to "the spectacle of extreme moral decadence and spiritual decline that we offer" to young people. Nowadays political leaders ask whether the Muslims will accept...

MONDAY, June 14 (HealthDayNews) -- Bananas, oranges, and other fruits may reduce the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness among older people. Scientists have found that people who ate at least three daily servings of fruit had a 36 percent lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than people who ate fewer than 1.5 servings a day. "This is the first good study that has some statistical value that documents what we've been thinking all along," said Dr. Robert Cykiert, a professor of ophthalmology at New York University School of Medicine in New York...

University of Kentucky eye researchers have identified mice with two unusual genes as the first animals likely to help crack the mysteries of the nation's leading cause of blindness for people 50 and older -- age-related macular degeneration. Finding an animal with the eye disease -- or something very similar, in this case -- is a crucial first step to test potential treatments, said Dr. Jaya-krishna Ambati, UK's director of ophthalmic research. Ambati led the research and wrote about the findings in November's issue of the journal Nature Medicine, published Sunday. "In medical research and vision research this is a...

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Dozens of former SARS patients in Hong Kong are suffering from bone degeneration, known as avascular necrosis, sources said Friday, throwing the spotlight back on the controversial cocktail of drugs used to treat many patients during the epidemic. "A substantial number of cases have already been proven. We are now trying to ascertain the severity," said Leung Ping-chung, an orthopedics specialist at the Prince of Wales Hospital, where the first wave of SARS infections in Hong Kong were treated. Almost all SARS patients in Hong Kong were treated with the anti-viral drug ribavirin and steroids earlier...

BOSTON (AP) _ To doctors' amazement, experimental new medicines are rescuing people from the brink of blindness so they can read and drive and sometimes even regain perfect vision. These lucky few are the first beneficiaries of an entirely new category of drugs that many hope will revolutionize the care of common eye diseases. Several competing medicines are in development, all based on similar principles. They are designed to stop the two top causes of adult blindness _ the ``wet'' form of macular degeneration, which affects the elderly, and diabetic retinopathy, the biggest source of blindness in working-age people. Vision...