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Health/Medicine (General/Chat)

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  • Frankenvirus emerges from Siberia's frozen wasteland

    09/12/2015 10:42:28 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 12 replies
    phys.org ^ | September 8, 2015 | STAFF
    Imaging of Mollivirus particles. (A) Scanning electron microscopy of two isolated particles showing the apex structure. (B) Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging of an ultrathin section of an open particle after fusion of its internal lipid membrane with that of a phagosome. (C) Enlarged view of the viral tegument of a Mollivirus particle highlighting the layer made of a mesh of fibrils (black arrow), resembling Pandoraviruses’ intermediate layer, and the underneath internal membrane (white arrow). Three ∼25-nm interspaced rings are visible around the mature particle. (D) Light microscopy (Nomarski optics 63×) imaging of a lawn of Mollivirus particles, some of...
  • Automakers commit to put automatic brakes in all cars [Braking News!]

    09/12/2015 10:37:46 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 35 replies
    phys.org ^ | September 11, 2015 | By Joan Lowy
    <p>Ten automakers have committed to the government and a private safety group that they will include automatic emergency braking in all new cars, a step transportation officials say could significantly reduce traffic deaths and injuries.</p> <p>But safety advocates were swift to criticize the effort as a backroom deal that allows automakers to avoid the possibility that the Transportation Department will impose a legal requirement for inclusion of the braking systems in cars and set binding standards for the technology.</p>
  • Could ALGAE cure blindness? Transplanting organism into the retina ‘could one day restore sight to…’

    09/12/2015 3:34:26 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 8 replies
    Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 13:15 EST, 11 September 2015 | Malden Davies
    An algae found commonly in ponds could provide a cure for blindness, according to one US biotechnology company. Retrosense, a Michigan-based firm, hopes to transplant a light-sensitive protein from a specific type of algae into the eyes of blind people, to restore their sight. The company will soon begin human clinical trials, after the transplanting process was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last month, WIRED reports. The algae, called Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, is a simple single-cell organism that lives in dirt and water. It cannot see, but has a primitive “eye-spot”, allowing it to sense where the sun...
  • Ulster scientists in breakthrough which could end curse of hereditary blindness (N. Ireland)

    09/12/2015 2:02:32 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 4 replies
    Belfast Telegraph ^ | 09/11/2015 | Laura Abernethy
    Ulster University scientists have made a remarkable breakthrough which it is hoped could cure hereditary blindness. They have discovered a treatment that can target the gene that leads to corneal dystrophy—a condition that causes cloudy deposits on the cornea. […] Currently, those with corneal dystrophy face a lifetime of treatment and the only option for those who go blind is a corneal transplant from a donor eye, but this has risks and varying success rates. […] But the new treatment, developed by scientists at the University’s School of Biomedical Science, currently involves just one injection into the eye, which destroys...
  • Mom of baby that accidentally drank vodka talks about what happened

    09/11/2015 5:48:38 PM PDT · by Extremely Extreme Extremist · 15 replies
    WISN.COM ^ | 11 SEPTEMBER 2015 | WISN.COM
    KENOSHA, Wis. —The Kenosha baby who survived after drinking vodka that was mixed in her bottle is home from the hospital, and her mother wants people to know how it happened. Natalee Kahl said there was a communication breakdown between herself and her boyfriend Monday night when he poured vodka into a clear plastic water bottle. Now she's home with her baby, Daviarre, and other daughter while their father is in jail.
  • Diet Beverage Drinkers Balance Benefit With Unhealthy Food

    09/11/2015 3:24:48 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 33 replies
    UPI ^ | Sept. 11, 2015 | Stephen Feller
    More than 90 percent of survey participants eat "junk" food every day, but researchers suggest that some people's choice of diet beverage is tied to guilt Drinkers of diet beverages were found to obtain more of their daily caloric intake from discretionary "junk" foods, likely canceling out the benefits of lower-calorie drinks, according to a new study. Nearly all of the participants in a large review of nutrition data at the University of Illinois consumed discretionary foods, though researchers said the explanation for some consumers of diet drinks may be tied to guilt for other eating habits. Discretionary foods...
  • Naltrexone -- A Drug That Can Cure Alcoholism Instantly

    09/11/2015 1:25:51 AM PDT · by UnwashedPeasant · 110 replies
    vanity | 9/11/2015
    For many people, the drug Naltrexone is an instant cure for alcohol cravings. It is available cheap as a 1-pill-per-day generic drug or as an expensive 1-injection-per-month specialty drug. If you or someone you know is an alcoholic, check it out. It is an opioid receptor antagonist. Its effectiveness depends on whether you have a specific expression of an opioid receptor gene. For some people, it works instantly and there is zero craving. For other people, it is less effective or does not work at all. It appears to work for most American Indians, Asians (60-70%), some whites (30%), and...
  • Prayers please

    09/10/2015 9:36:45 PM PDT · by Lee Enfield · 43 replies
    My youngest daughter is on her way to the hospital, she just took a handful of pills.
  • Prayers please

    09/10/2015 9:36:45 PM PDT · by Lee Enfield · 54 replies
    My youngest daughter is on her way to the hospital, she just took a handful of pills.
  • How Ben Carson Saved a Four-Year-Old Boy’s Life

    09/10/2015 5:59:44 PM PDT · by Steelfish · 41 replies
    National Review ^ | September 10, 2015 | Elaina Plott
    How Ben Carson Saved a Four-Year-Old Boy’s Life by Elaina Plott. September 10, 2015. Thirty years ago, Dr. Ben Carson removed a tumor from Christopher Pylant’s brain. Neither man has ever forgotten it. In nearly all of his speeches on the campaign trail, Ben Carson sketches the following scene: When a four-year-old boy was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1985, doctors across the city of Atlanta told his parents to prepare for the end. But the couple, armed with what Carson calls “an unshakeable faith,” journeyed with their son from Georgia to Johns Hopkins University’s Pediatric Neurosurgery Center in...
  • A Nick in Time: How Shaving Evolved Over 100,000 Years of History

    09/10/2015 2:06:19 PM PDT · by Gamecock · 64 replies
    Gizmodo ^ | 3/18/2014 | Andrew Tarantola
    p class="first-text" data-textannotation-id="87e8f54959434042c67291d39538e085">Removing unwanted body hair has been a part of human hygiene since the dawn of history. Over the centuries, this practice has served to denote everything from high-ranking social status to acts of contrition. And as the tradition of shaving has evolved in step with global culture, so too have the tools of the trade. Shaving in the Stone Age Flaked obsidian was equally useful as a hand ax and shaving stone. Image: farbled Advertisement While our early ancestors are routinely depicted as scraggly vagabonds, in the unending winter of our last Ice Age, facial hair was a...
  • A Hypothesis That Will Make You Uncomfortable

    09/10/2015 12:54:24 PM PDT · by Rusty0604 · 47 replies
    Market Ticker ^ | 09/09/2015 | Karl Denniger
    New research suggests that half of all U.S. adults have diabetes or pre-diabetes. Almost 40 percent have pre-diabetes, meaning elevated blood sugar levels that could lead to full-fledged disease. Studies have shown lifestyle changes can delay or prevent diabetes in these people. Let's cut the crap and define "lifestyle changes" because it's simple: Stop eating fast carbohydrates. You've been systematically lied to about what should be on your plate. The old "food pyramid" was not only wrong it was basically inverted from reality with one exception -- "sweets." Breads and cereals, as with starchy vegetables like potatoes, are virtually indistinguishable...
  • To Abortion Advocates, the Safety of Women is Secondary to the Safety of Legal Abortion

    09/10/2015 9:57:52 AM PDT · by Morgana
    redstate.com ^ | September 9th, 2015 | Leon H. Wolf (Diary)
    One of the most infuriating things about the abortion debate in this country is that the pro-abortion side is championed by such stupid and intellectually dishonest arguments. Granted, that’s not as infuriating as all the dead unborn children, but it’s still plenty infuriating. One of the prime examples of this is the completely absurd argument that health related abortion regulations are somehow detrimental to the health of women. Mother Jones (of course) takes up this argument in an article with the screaming headline, “The War on Women is Over – And Women Lost.” Like all such articles, this one is...
  • Texas Couple Convinced Doctors Gave Them the Wrong Baby

    09/09/2015 8:56:38 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 24 replies
    KFOR ^ | SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 | Dallas Frankllin
    A Texas couple left the hospital convinced they’d been given the wrong baby—and as it turns out, they were right. Mercedes Casanellas and her husband, Richard Cushworth, are both missionaries from Texas who were working in Latin America. In May, while the couple was in El Salvador, Casanellas says she gave birth to a baby boy at a private hospital. Before the couple returned to their Dallas, Texas home, Casanellas says she felt something wasn’t right. She says the baby she was handed at the hospital looked different from the one she held in the delivery room. Finally, after three...
  • Toddler Turned Away From Hospital on Day of Surgery for Rare Heart Condition Because of 'Cutbacks'

    09/09/2015 4:50:59 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 35 replies
    Toddler (2) turned away from hospital on day of surgery for rare heart condition because of 'cutbacks' (Link Only)
  • “I Have Not Taken a Shower in Over 12 Years:” Here’s What a Chem. Engineer Suggests We Try Instead

    09/09/2015 4:03:12 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 90 replies
    KFOR ^ | SEPTEMBER 7, 2015 | Dallas Frankllin
    A Massachusetts company says spraying live bacteria on your skin is all you need to keep clean. “I have not taken a shower in over 12 years,” Dave Whitlock said. Whitlock, a chemical engineer and MIT grad, says he doesn’t miss bathing at all. “No one did clinical trials on people taking showers every day. So what’s the basis for assuming that that is a healthy practice?” Whitlock said. In fact, what Whitlock does believe is healthy is restoring good bacteria to our skin that our ancestors enjoyed long ago — bacteria that’s been slowly stripped away by excessive cleaning....
  • Sex and masturbation may hamper Ebola eradication efforts

    09/09/2015 12:41:00 PM PDT · by Smokin' Joe · 18 replies
    Yahoo! news ^ | Sept. 9, 2015 | Tom Miles
    Isolated flare-ups of Ebola may point to a higher risk of transmission via the semen of male survivors than previously thought, undermining hopes of ending West Africa's deadly outbreak by the end of the year. The World Health Organization's advice is that all male survivors should be tested three months after the onset of symptoms and then monthly until they know they have no risk of passing on the virus through their semen,...
  • Need recommendation for getting rid of black eyes (vanity)

    09/09/2015 11:14:08 AM PDT · by taxcontrol · 84 replies
    None ^ | September 9th, 2015 | Self
    So I was assaulted downtown Denver Sunday night. I ended up in the ER but was released later that night. I am fine, dealing with a concussion and some needed orthodontic work, but other than some soreness I'm ok. The good news is the police caught the guy and he is now facing felony assault charges. He hit me from behind with a bottle knocking me out and I hit my head on the curb (6 stitches). The bad news is the swelling from my forehead has now shifted down to my eyes. The are puffy and appear bruised (black...
  • Is melatonin an answer for sleepless kids?

    09/09/2015 8:50:36 AM PDT · by rickmichaels · 35 replies
    Maclean's ^ | September 7, 2015 | Rebecca Eckler
    My 11-year-old returned from overnight camp with stories about wakeboarding and new friendships. She also came back with an unusual story about the nurse’s office and sleep aids for campers. My daughter has always had a hard time falling asleep, especially during the school year. She tells me, “I lie in bed and can’t stop thinking about what happened and what I could have done differently. Then I think about tomorrow and I keep worrying about not falling asleep.” She’s apparently not alone. At camp, she says, a lot of kids went for a nightly visit to the nurse for...
  • More Teens Using E-Cig Devices to Vaporize Pot, Researchers Say

    09/09/2015 3:19:37 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 40 replies
    ABC News ^ | Sep 7, 2015, 2:13 PM ET | Gillian Mohney
    Teens are increasingly turning to electronic cigarettes not to get their tobacco fix, but instead to inhale pot. A new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics found that teens have devised ways to turn e-cigarettes into devices for hashish oil, marijuana, wax and other cannabis products. Researchers surveyed 3,847 Connecticut high school students about their drug and e-cigarette use and found that students using e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis was 27 times higher than the adult rate. According to the study, 5.5 percent of the students surveyed had used an e-cigarette to vaporize cannabis. In total, nearly 30 percent of...