Featured – Page 3

Dietary Supplements Shown to Increase Cancer Risk

Written on April 22, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News.

While dietary supplements may be advertised to promote health, a forum at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2015 by University of Colorado Cancer Center investigator Tim Byers, MD, MPH, describes research showing that over-the-counter supplements may actually increase cancer risk if taken in excess of the recommended dietary amount. “We are not sure why this is happening at the molecular level but evidence shows...

5.3M Hens to Be Killed to Slow Bird Flu Outbreak

Written on April 21, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Health News, Personal Safety, USA News.

In an effort to stop an outbreak of bird flu that could devastate Iowa’s poultry population, state health officials announced they will destroy up to 5.3 million hens to keep the virus from spreading. The fast-moving virus was confirmed on Monday at a chicken laying facility in Osceola County, Iowa. The birds compromise nearly 10 percent of Iowa’s egg-laying poultry population, according to the Associated Press. However, officials are...

Protect Your Pooch From the New Dog Flu

Written on April 19, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Science News.

In recent weeks, an outbreak of H3N2 has sickened dogs in the Midwest. Two veterinarians with the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine who have first-hand knowledge of the virus share information about the virus, and also provide advice on protecting your dogs from H3N2 influenza virus, also known as just dog flu. – – – – – – – – – – – – Colin Parrish, professor...

Ebola Analysis Finds Virus Hasn’t Become Deadlier, Yet

Written on April 16, 2015. Posted in Featured, Science News, World News.

Research from The University of Manchester using cutting edge computer analysis reveals that despite mutating, Ebola hasn’t evolved to become deadlier since the first outbreak 40 years ago. The surprising results demonstrate that whilst a high number of genetic changes have been recorded in the virus, it hasn’t changed at a functional level to become more or less virulent. The findings, published in the journal Virology, demonstrate that the much...

What Can Parents Do To Prevent Further Spread of Measles?

Written on April 13, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Personal Safety.

Since December, there have been more than 130 confirmed cases of measles in the state of California, most of them connected to an outbreak that originated in a Southern California amusement park. Many of the infected persons were not vaccinated against the extremely contagious virus, which manifests itself through rash, fever and coughing. While thought to be eradicated in the U.S., the illness has been traced to travelers who were infected in...

Worms and Germs Lead to Better Immune Function

Written on April 13, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Science News.

A growing body of evidence in the medical community holds that greater diversity of bacteria and even worms in the digestive tract offers protection against a variety of allergic and autoimmune problems. Germs from healthy people can be used to heal people with digestive disorders and other conditions caused by the loss of their own germs, and worms that live in the gut, called helminths, have shown success in quelling inflammatory diseases. With...

New Ebola Study Uncovers Potential Drug Target

Written on April 10, 2015. Posted in Breaking News, Featured, Science News.

Every bit of news about a possible therapy is cause for excitement when it comes to Ebola, the deadly viral haemorrhagic fever that is still ravaging West Africa. Scientists at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute have hit on a candidate. In a new study in the journal Science, they suggest that tetrandrine, a compound found naturally in Stephania tetrandra, a climbing plant and component of traditional Chinese medicines, could effectively fight...

New Ebola Study Points to Potential Drug Target

Written on April 9, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News, Science News.

Opening the door to potential treatments for the deadly Ebola virus, scientists have found that a protein made by the virus plays a role similar to that of a coat-check attendant. The protein removes a protective coat from the virus’s genetic material, exposing the viral genome so that it can be copied, and then returns the coat, according to a new study led by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research, in...

Vanderbilt Joins National Effort to Speed Ebola Therapy Testing

Written on April 8, 2015. Posted in Featured, World News.

Vanderbilt University researchers have joined a multi-center effort led by Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. to accelerate development of potential antibody therapies against the often-lethal Ebola virus. On Wednesday, Inovio announced it had been awarded an initial two-year, $21-million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the U.S. Department of Defense, to support the project. Vanderbilt’s share...

New Tool to Diagnose Ebola Uncovers Some Surprises

Written on April 7, 2015. Posted in Featured, Health News.

Abdominal pain, fever and unexplained bleeding – which are commonly believed to indicate infection with the Ebola virus — are not significantly predictive of the disease, according to the results of a study examining a new Ebola Prediction Score published online Friday in Annals of Emergency Medicine (“Derivation and Internal Validation of the Ebola Prediction Score for Risk Stratification of Patients with Suspected Ebola Virus Disease”) http://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(15)00217-6/fulltext “Not...