Individualized Genetic Tests = Fail

Kira Peikoff compares three different personal genetic testing services and finds them lacking.

Personalized Medical Advice

Nouveau medical advice or snake oil?

Flu and Antiviral Drugs

Antiviral drugs reduce flu deaths.

Nuts

Longer life through nuts

"Sex keeps us healthy"

Food for thought: "Sex keeps us healthy" and marriage increases the life expectancy of men but decrease it in women!

Camels and MERS

Don't kiss your dromedary!

Rare But Deadly Acetaminophen Side Effect

1.Starts with flu-like symptoms.
2. Followed by rash, blistering and sloughing off of skin.
3. Stop taking the drug if you think you are having this reaction.

Egg Yolk and Heart Disease

Lecithin in egg yolk can also result in production of TMAO

22 New Bird Flu Deaths

Bird flu (H7N9) update

Red Meat and Heart Disease

A chemical in red meat, carnitine, is bad for your heart.


Red meat contains carnitine.
Bacteria in the gut break down carnitine and produce TMAO.
TMAO stimulates cholesterol accumulation in blood vessels.
Cholesterol clogs blood vessels and leads to heart disease.
Supplement pills including carnitine may also be bad for you for similar reasons.

Bird Flu Update, More Deaths

Six bird flu deaths, 20,000 birds culled

H7N9 Bird Flu Kills 3 in China

A different bird flu is affecting and killing people in China. The first reported cases of H7N9 have killed 3 of 4 people known to be affected. There is no evidence of person to person transmission yet.

Sugar in Your Diet

Sugary Effects

Olive Oil and Weight Loss

The Scent from Olive Oil is Sufficient to Satiate, Facilitating Weight Loss

Gut Bacteria and Weight Loss

The Bacteria in your gut can help you control your weight.

Cheap Meat/Drug Resistant Germs

Antibiotics used to increase meat production selects for drug resistance germs:

Food for Thought

What religions tell us about over eating.

Coral Reefs and Drug Discovery

Coral Reef Biodiversity May Hide Tomorrow's Medicines

Comparing Fresh and Dried Blueberries

Comparing the nutritional value of fresh and dried blueberries

Preventing Cancer With a Vaccine

A vaccine to prevent some types of cancer, this should be a no-brainer

From Humid Air to Drinking Water

Providing Drinking Water from Air

Monster Energy

Just the highlights paraphrased from this article by Jacque Wilson, CNN:
1) Monster Energy is currently sold as a dietary supplement.
2) There have been "... 20 adverse event reports about Monster products; five are linked to a death."
3) Monster Energy drinks will now be sold as beverages or food.
4) Adverse events for products sold as beverages or food are not reported.

I feel so much safer.


Monster Energy Drink to be rebranded as a beverage, not a dietary supplement

Early Detection of Cancer Using Scent Hounds

Dogs can be trained to detect cancer.

Invitro Fertilization with Three Parents

Creating babies with DNA from dad and two moms.

Aspirin and Melanoma

More benefits from aspirin

Azithromycin and Heart Disease

Heart problems exacerbated by the antibiotic azithromycin

Internet Searches Reveal Adverse Drug Interactions

Monitoring internet search engines can provide an early warning of drug interactions leading to adverse side effects.

Pregnancy and Fish Oil Supplements

Fish oil might prevent some premature births.

Bienvenidos Hummingbirds

March 1, 2013 I set out the welcome sign for my hummingbirds. Last year dad arrived back from Mexico on May 3rd. I don't expect them for awhile but I am ready.

Scientific Link of Sugar and Diabetes

Sugar Causes Diabetes!

1) The more sugar you eat, the more likely you are to develop diabetes.
2) Calories from sugar are worse for your health than those from other sources.
3) There is no difference between high fructose corn syrup and cane sugar, for causing diabetes.

Scientific Unintended Consequences

As a scientist, there are lots of cool things we can do in the laboratory to prevent or cure disease. Some of these things when practice in the real world can come back and bite us in the ass. I am not saying that we should not therefore procedure with the real world experiment but that we should think about their ramifications and make contingency plans.



Just because we can ....

Health Care of the Future

There are numerous ethical issues dealt with in this article. For example, if you are Steve-Jobs-rich, you can afford it. Insurance will not pay for it. Note: Steve Jobs died anyway. The patient in this article is still alive.

Whole genome sequencing - Identifying mis-expressed genes as targets for therapy

A New Sars-like virus

To date there is a high death rate among patients, 50% (6/12).
It is unlikely to be easily transmitted from person to person.
Symptoms: Serious respiratory infection, fever, cough.
Most infections have come from the middle east.

Patient dies in UK

Of Mice and Men

When it comes to disease, mice are not like man. 150 drug trials and 17 billion dollars later, we now know why.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/science/testing-of-some-deadly-diseases-on-mice-mislead-report-says.html

Frank Bruni on Immigration

"Their countries of origin tend to be different from those of the illicit arrivals in my grandfather’s day. Their skin might be darker. But they’re really his kin. My kin. And to see them as some new breed of takers or moochers is to deny history and indulge in a cynical generalization, tinged with an insidious racism, whose targets simply change over time."


Frank Bruni -The New York Times on Immigration

Breakthroughs for Treating Malnutrition

Denise Grady writes in the NYTimes about two very important scientific studies! Do not over interpret the use of antibiotics. The real take home message is there are good and bad bacteria in your gut. We need to learn how to encourage the good and eliminate or limit the effects of the bad.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/health/antibiotics-can-save-lives-of-severely-malnourished-children-studies-find.html?hpw&_r=0

FDA approves antisense drug to fight high cholesterol

FDA approves antisense drug to treat Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia

Risk Assessment: Attention to low risk dangers has benefits.

Risk Assessment

Heavier People Seem to Live Longer

Meta-analysis - Being fatter may lead to a longer life!!! I do not believe this but it is what this study suggests.

Thoughts on Good and Bad Food

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/what-you-think-you-know-but-dont-about-wise-eating/?ref=health

Fighting Bed Bugs

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/pill-could-join-arsenal-against-bedbugs/?ref=health