Up to one fifth of airline passengers become sick with colds or flus. Are there ways to decrease these infections? Yes. A new Finnish study points out the problems and perils of airport security in a peculiarly microbiological way. The Study Researchers from The National Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare and the University of […]
Fat Future
Will today’s millenials become the fattest generation in American history? If what is happening to British youngsters is a guide, future American adults may suffer from unprecedented levels of cancer and diabetes. Cancer Research UK recently released a study showing Britons born between 1980 and 1995 will by middle age be 70% overweight or obese. And that’s […]
Want to Lose Weight? Ask Your Gut
Want to lose weight, particularly body fat? Choose the right gut bacteria. They’ve already chosen you. But can you select them? A recent study in Copenhagen checked gut bacteria before starting some overweight people on a half year diet. Using a crude measure of different bacteria populations (high Prevotella to Bacteroides ratio,) the high ratio group who ate […]
Is Your Brain Like a Muscle?
Grow your muscle, grow your brain. For decades it’s getting clearer – physical activity leads to more brain cells. But how? And why? A recent paper in Cell Metabolism, ably reported by Gretchen Reynolds, shows the advantages of cross-species research. Work with mice, monkeys and humans demonstrated something jocks sensed long ago – your legs talk […]
Depression Treatment Stinks. What Will Work Better?
Too Important Depression may be the second or third most prominent cause of medical disability in the world. Yet overall treatment effectiveness is modestly better than placebo. Why? The reasons range from guild restrictions to blinkered thinking. Almost everything considered in depression treatment lies in two categories – drugs or talk therapies. But: 1. Since at […]
