Public Health
A new study finds that the heat setting you choose when doing laundry makes all the difference when it comes to killing dust mites. The researchers found that washing laundry in hot water--140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 ºC) or higher--kills all house dust mites, compared with just 6.5% of dust mites in laundry washed at 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 ºC), or warm water.
Hotter water temperatures are also more effective in removing dog dander and pollen, says lead researcher Jung-Won Park, M.D., Ph.D., of Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea.
There is an alternative to washing in hot water that’s also…
Women who eat apples and fish during pregnancy may reduce the risk of their children developing asthma or allergic disease, suggests a new study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, on Sunday, May 20.
The SEATON study, conducted at the University of Aberdeen, UK, found that the children of mothers who ate the most apples were less likely to ever have wheezed or have doctor-confirmed asthma at the age of 5 years, compared to children of mothers who had the lowest apple consumption. Children of mothers who ate fish once or more a week were less likely to…
The nighttime breathing disorder known as obstructive sleep apnea increases a person’s risk of having a heart attack or dying by 30% over a period of four to five years, according to a new study.
The more severe the sleep apnea at the beginning of the study, the greater the risk of developing heart disease or dying, according to “Obstructive Sleep Apnea is Associated with an Increased Risk of Coronary Artery Disease and Death” (Session B12; Abstract # 1090)presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference.
“While previous studies have shown an association between…
Analyzing 30 years of data detailing a large rabies virus outbreak among North American raccoons, researchers at Emory University have revealed how initial demographic, ecological and genetic processes simultaneously shaped the virus's geographic spread over time. The study appears online in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences.
"Our study demonstrates the combined evolutionary and population dynamic processes characterizing the spread of a pathogen after its introduction into a susceptible host population," says Leslie Real, PhD, Emory University Asa G. Candler professor of…
A key aspect of how embryos create the cells which secrete insulin is revealed in a new study published tomorrow (18 May) in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The researchers hope that their findings will enable the development of new therapies for diabetes, a condition caused by insufficient levels of insulin.
The research reveals that glucose plays a key role in enabling healthy beta cells, which secrete insulin, to develop in the pancreas of an embryo. Glucose prompts a gene called Neurogenin3 to switch on another gene, known as NeuroD, which is crucial for the normal development of…
Despite hundreds of families being told their children have peanut allergies every year, many of the children may be able to eat peanuts safely, a study by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Sydney Children's Hospital has found.
Peanut allergies occur in one in 200 infants, according to the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy.
"This is a really important finding," said Dr Brynn Wainstein, a Sydney Children's Hospital immunologist and MD candidate at UNSW.
"Because peanut allergies are potentially serious, requiring all sorts of restrictions,…
A challenging goal in biology is to understand how the principal cellular functions are integrated so that cells achieve viability and optimal fitness under a wide range of nutritional conditions. Scientists from the French research centers INRA and CNRS showed by genetic approaches that, in the model bacterium Bacillus subtilis, central carbon metabolism (which generates energy from nutrients) and replication (which synthesizes DNA), two key functions in the fields of nutrition and heredity, are tightly linked.
The discovered link involves the activity of a small region of the central…
Keeping at arm's length won't protect you from catching an infectious disease, according to new research by Queensland University of Technology which reveals airborne viruses can spread far and wide.
Professor Lidia Morawska, director of QUT's International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, said the study dispelled the myth that viruses emitted from humans only travel a metre in the air.
Professor Morawska and a team of QUT scientists have been studying the way droplets carring viruses are dispersed in the air when people speak, cough, sneeze and breathe.
"The current belief is that if…
A diet high in whole grain foods is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, according to an analysis conducted by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
"Consuming an average of 2.5 servings of whole grains each day is associated with a 21 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to consuming only 0.2 servings," said Philip Mellen, M.D., lead author and an assistant professor of internal medicine. "These findings suggest that we should redouble our efforts to encourage patients to…
Sales of herbal dietary supplements have skyrocketed by 100 percent in the United States during the last 10 years, but most people don’t consider evidence-based indications before using them, according to a University of Iowa study.
Two-thirds of people who use herbs don’t do so in accordance with guidelines, according to the article. Meanwhile, sales of herbal supplements reached $18.8 billion in 2003, up 100 percent from $8.8 billion in 1994. Those sales are subject to minimal federal regulations.
Physicians are concerned, says Aditya Bardia, M.D., lead author of the study and a resident…