Free Republic

Braised Sea Cucumber Food New research from the University of South Australia suggests that sea cucumbers, a marine delicacy loved across Asia, could play a significant role in preventing diabetes. The study revealed that processed dried sea cucumber with salt extracts can inhibit the formation of Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs), compounds associated with an increased risk of diabetes and its complications, such as heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, kidney disease, and cancer. ********************************************************** A new study reveals that sea cucumbers can inhibit the formation of a compound linked to an increased risk of diabetes. The research opens possibilities for the...

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has said he escaped unhurt after a drone attack on his home inside Baghdad's high-security Green Zone. A drone laden with explosives struck the building, injuring six of his bodyguards in an apparent assassination attempt, officials said. Mr Kadhimi called for "calm and restraint from everyone". The attack, which comes after violent unrest over recent election results, was condemned by both the US and Iran. Security sources say three drones were used in the attack, launched from near Republic Bridge on the River Tigris, but two were shot down. No-one has said they carried out...

Doctors at a Tokyo hospital examined a patient complaining of throat irritation and discovered a 1.5-inch worm living in her tonsil. Photo courtesy of The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene ======================================================================= July 14 (UPI) -- A team of Japanese doctors shared details of the case of a woman suffering throat irritation who actually had a live worm inside her tonsil. The doctors said in a study published in the July issue of The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene that the 25-year-old woman came into St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo complaining of throat irritation five days...

Raw fish is a Japanese delicacy - however, this sashimi fish might have been a little too fresh. Customers were eating at a restaurant in Japan when they noticed the fish they were served was moving. One customer took out their camera and started recording. First they saw the fins twitching. Then, the twitching turned into wiggling. The customers started screaming when the fish flopped off the plate.

Anthony Franz says an undercooked salmon salad gave him a 9-foot-tapeworm, and in August he sued the Chicago restaurant that served it to him. If Franz’s tapeworm tale holds water – and the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the restaurant disputes his account – then it’s just one more data point to add to a growing urban tapeworm problem. Once the bane of rural Japanese villagers, a paper in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases reports on the spread of the the salmon tapeworm Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense. The parasite, which can reach lengths of 39 feet (12 meters), has been steadily...

Reporting from Tokyo -- Veteran chef Yutaka Sasaki has a plan to remove the fear of eating one of the most poisonous fish on the planet: He wants to feed it to the emperor. The blowfish, known here as fugu, carries a deadly neurotoxin with no known antidote. An average-sized fugu is chock-full of the poison tetrodotoxin -- in its blood, liver and even its sex organs, Sasaki says. But he scoffs at the centuries-old ban on the Japanese monarch eating the delicacy, sought after by many Japanese as daring cuisine. "The prince and other royalty have eaten fugu, so...

A man who frequently walked naked in the garden of his home to harass a couple living next door has been arrested, police said. Toshio Shoji, 62, a pensioner from Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, is accused of violating a Kyoto prefectural ordinance that prohibits people from creating a nuisance. Shoji admitted to the allegations during questioning. "I got furious when they complained to me that I was standing naked, so I did it to harass them," he was quoted as telling investigators. Between May 18 and June 14, Shoji kept watch on a 48-year-old self-employed man and his 47-year-old wife living...

Teenager Kills Teacher at Elementary School From Times Wire Reports A 17-year-old boy armed with a sashimi knife stabbed a teacher to death and wounded two other adults at his former elementary school, then stood in the faculty lounge and smoked a cigarette with the bloody blade still in his hand. [snip]