Public Health

Joanna Dolgoff covers new research on how obesity spreads through social contact over at Huffington Post. I'm sure this comes as a huge surprise to those of us who have watched our waistlines spread along with the waistlines of our friends. Well, at least until we lose sight of our friends because they can no longer get out of their house and we can no longer get out of ours. Research is not inherently a bad thing (despite some people's reaction to it), even when it seems blindingly obvious research to conduct. Look at Baron Cohen's latest showing that techies have higher rates of…

Too lazy to exercise?  In a world full of concern about global warming and estrogen in rivers and anti-vaccine hippies trying to bring back polio, science has some good news for a change; even if you are sedentary, a glass of red wine may offset some of the effects just like exercise would. A new study in the FASEB Journal suggests that resveratrol in red wine may prevent the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle, which is good news for couch potatoes and even astronauts. The report describes experiments in rats that simulated the weightlessness of spaceflight, during which the group…

Given the news recently about yet another E. coli outbreak, you may be concerned E. coli is not just a plague in 'organically' processed and prepared vegetables but perhaps in regular steak  - and you would be correct. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food safety studies have already cooked up data about the movement of E. coli into "subprimals," the meat from which top sirloin steaks are carved. Their focus is on what happens to the E. coli when subprimals are punctured-as part of being tenderized-and the effect of cooking on survival of those microbes.   USDA microbiologist…

Other than wasting away due to illness, there is no shortcut to weight loss.   You can, of course, simply not eat at all and that will work but if you resume your old habits you would gain the weight back and the drastic changes to your body might do harm. Some people are motivated to lose weight - as long as it can happen right now.  And any number of gimmicks and diet programs will help, if you just buy the book or the meals.    But the failure rate is far greater than the success rate because, ordinarily, if people had the discipline to stick to a weight loss plan, they…

Bhutanese Medical System: The Bhutanese medical system goes well beyond the notion of medicine in the narrow western sense. It forms a part of their culture and tradition, in which "Buddhism" is the prevailing influence. Health and spirituality are inseparable and together they reveal the true origin of any sickness. The art of healing is, therefore, a dimension of the sacred life style of Bhutanese people. The system of medicine used in Bhutan is known as "Sowa Rigpa". Today, this medical system is practiced in many countries, but owing to its origin and development in ancient Tibet, it is…

Name- Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar Periwinkle) (fig.-1) is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascar. Synonyms include Vinca rosea (the basionym), Ammocallis rosea, and Lochnera rosea; other English names occasionally used include Cape Periwinkle, Rose Periwinkle, Rosy Periwinkle, and "Old-maid". In the wild, it is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture.[3] It is also however widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world.[4] It is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant…

Anti-science progressives in a culture war over food insist modern agriculture - including where we precisely modify changes in genetics instead of letting high-energy cosmic rays do it randomly - is bad.   But a group of anthropologists say it isn't just modern agriculture feeding billions that is bad. Apparently farming has been a health negative for mankind since it began. When agriculture ramped up worldwide around 10,000 years ago, people separated by imposing geographical barriers and differing type of crops all kept one thing in common: their height and overall health declined.…

The National Toxicology Program has released its latest warning on things that 'give' you cancer and they include two things people come into contact with every day. If you have walked into a new house and smelled that 'new house' smell, you are now ingesting a carcinogen, according to the report.   Let the lawsuits begin.   The issue is formaldehyde and they say, as they also said about carcinogens in their previous 11 reports, that the science is clear, but it turned out that the science in second-hand smoke was more cultural politics than data and the risk from tanning beds in…

E. Coli - Tracing The Source In a few words, most reports are false, and the timidity of men acts as a multiplier of lies and untruths.Clausewitz E. coli, or Escherichia coli, was named in 1919 in honor of its discoverer Theodor Escherich a few years after his death.  It is a very common bacterium which is found as a part of the normal gut flora of animals.  There are very many strains only a few of which are likely to cause illness in humans.  Some strains, such as E. coli O104:H4, the strain identified in the current outbreak, release toxins which can cause food poisoning.…

Americans spend what I consider a long time getting breakfast, though nutritionists say it is "the most important meal of the day" - 13 minutes a day, it turns out.   I say a long time because mine takes 30 seconds; during the week I eat Raisin Brain or some wheat things or whatever else my wife purchased that doesn't have hearts, moons or diamonds.(1) I am, apparently, becoming a rare breed.    We may be witnessing the end of cold cereal.    Sales of cereal fell almost 3% in the last year.  Still a handsome $6 billion market but a dwindling one, since those…