Snake oil?
There are many conflicting studies and reports about health supplements. Is Vitamin C worth taking or not? Does Echinacea kill colds? Am I missing out not drinking Goji juice, wheatgrass extract and flaxseed oil every day? Author David McCandless has created a visualization of scientific evidence of health supplements.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rs1z9XigUA[/youtube]
In France, A 75-year-old man has just been given the gift of life as a team of surgeons have successfully completed the transplant of the world’s first true artificial heart.
Continue reading… “A half-cow, half-electronic artificial heart has saved this Frenchman”
The average American adult requires between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every day.
According to a new study from Duke University, women need more sleep than men. The researchers have discovered that, compared to men, women experience more mental and physical consequences from inadequate rest. Besides giving half the population a legitimate reason to sleep in, the findings could also inspire new health recommendations for women at greater risk of heart disease, depression, and psychological problems.
If man-made organs were available, nobody would have to wait, or die waiting.
It might be hard to tally how much is a liver worth for someone on a waiting list for a transplant. But one nonprofit is now saying it’s willing to pay $1 million for a bioengineered liver.
Continue reading… “The Methuselah Foundation offers $1 million prize for a bioengineered liver”
Multivitamins don’t contain any proven health benefits.
If you take multivitamins, you may want to reconsider your morning routine. The latest issue of the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine, looks at the research and clinical trials and penned an editorial with a headline worth reading: “Enough is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Mineral Supplements.”
Obamacare does matters. But all of the debate about it misdirects attention away from massive collateral damage to patients. How massive is the damage?
Continue reading… “Preventable hospital error causes 440,000 deaths per year”
23andMe has been advertising that its tests offer diagnostic information for a variety of human conditions.
23andMe, the pioneering genetic screening service, has been told by the FDA that it “must immediately discontinue” marketing of its Personal Genome Service (PGS) until it receives FDA authorization.
Continue reading… “FDA orders 23andMe to stop selling genetic tests”
Now, for my next trick, I present hoover cat!
Quote of the Day: “Just the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” – Carl Sagan
The impact of most of these “chemicals of emerging concern” on the health of people and aquatic life remains unclear.
A new report by the International Joint Commission, a consortium of officials from the United States and Canada who study the Great Lakes has found that only about half of the prescription drugs and other newly emerging contaminants in sewage are removed by treatment plants.
Continue reading… “Only half of prescription drugs are removed by wastewater treatment plants”
Robotic surgery
What if you need a hysterectomy, and the surgeon wants to do the surgery with a robot? Instead of working directly with his hands, he will sit at a console manipulating a set of robotic arms outfitted with tiny surgical instruments.
Exercise during pregnancy alters the fetal brain.
According to new research, moderate exercise during pregnancy may boost your baby’s brain development. The research involving 18 moms-to-be and their babies found that “at 10 days, the children have a more mature brain when their mothers exercised during the pregnancy,” said study researcher Elise Labonte-LeMoyne, a Ph.D. candidate in kinesiology at the University of Montreal.
Continue reading… “Exercise during pregnancy may improve baby’s brain development”
Keeping people alert is a prized quality of caffeine in an world that is always on. Caffeine stimulates the pleasure centers in the brain. It is also mildly addictive and that could possible be two reasons ti add it to foods and drinks.
Continue reading… “Food industry adding larger doses of caffeine to more and more products”