| News Capsules - January-February - Page 3 |
Discover Amoeba That
Eats Brain Tissue
Six individuals have been killed
this year by an amoeba that lives
in lakes but can enter the body
through the nose and attack the
human brain where it feeds until it
dies. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention says the
heat-loving amoeba does better in
warm water, so is expected to
become a more important pest as
the climate warms. People
become infected when they wade
through shallow water and stir up
the bottom. If they allow water to
shoot up the nose, the amoeba
can latch onto the olfactory nerve.
—(Racine) Journal Times
(9/29/07)
Scientists Find a Role
For the Appendix
Surgeons and immunologists at
Duke University Medical School
believe the appendix in humans
produces and protects good
germs in the gut. When diseases
such as cholera or amoebic
dysentery clears the gut of useful
bacteria, the appendix can
“reboot” the digestive system and
cultivate the good germs. Once
thought to be useless, the
appendix needs to be removed
from people when it becomes
infected, but it is not needed as
much in industrialized societies as
it is in less developed countries—
(Racine) Journal Times (10/6/07)
Eats Brain Tissue
Six individuals have been killed
this year by an amoeba that lives
in lakes but can enter the body
through the nose and attack the
human brain where it feeds until it
dies. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention says the
heat-loving amoeba does better in
warm water, so is expected to
become a more important pest as
the climate warms. People
become infected when they wade
through shallow water and stir up
the bottom. If they allow water to
shoot up the nose, the amoeba
can latch onto the olfactory nerve.
—(Racine) Journal Times
(9/29/07)
Scientists Find a Role
For the Appendix
Surgeons and immunologists at
Duke University Medical School
believe the appendix in humans
produces and protects good
germs in the gut. When diseases
such as cholera or amoebic
dysentery clears the gut of useful
bacteria, the appendix can
“reboot” the digestive system and
cultivate the good germs. Once
thought to be useless, the
appendix needs to be removed
from people when it becomes
infected, but it is not needed as
much in industrialized societies as
it is in less developed countries—
(Racine) Journal Times (10/6/07)
Prepared If Smallpox
Makes a Comeback
Smallpox, which had killed
countless people throughout
history, was officially declared to
have been vanquished in 1979,
still the only disease with that
distinction. An aggressive 12-year
campaign of vaccination by the
World Health Organization was
credited with the happy results.
However, after having been
suspended in 1982, production of
the vaccine resumed briefly a few
years ago because of fears
bioterrorists might be able to use
smallpox as a weapon. If smallpox
does reappear, scientists are
confident they know how to stop it.
—Discover (December, 2007)
Get Your Kids Their
Shots or Go to Jail
A long line of parents lined up
outside a Maryland courthouse in
order to prove that their children
had received required school
vaccinations. They had been
threatened with potential 10-day
jail sentences. Two months into
the school year, school officials in
Prince George’s County had
discovered more than 2,000
students in the county did not
have the required vaccinations,
but many parents complained
their children had been
vaccinated but the officials had
misplaced the records.—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(11/18/07)
Makes a Comeback
Smallpox, which had killed
countless people throughout
history, was officially declared to
have been vanquished in 1979,
still the only disease with that
distinction. An aggressive 12-year
campaign of vaccination by the
World Health Organization was
credited with the happy results.
However, after having been
suspended in 1982, production of
the vaccine resumed briefly a few
years ago because of fears
bioterrorists might be able to use
smallpox as a weapon. If smallpox
does reappear, scientists are
confident they know how to stop it.
—Discover (December, 2007)
Get Your Kids Their
Shots or Go to Jail
A long line of parents lined up
outside a Maryland courthouse in
order to prove that their children
had received required school
vaccinations. They had been
threatened with potential 10-day
jail sentences. Two months into
the school year, school officials in
Prince George’s County had
discovered more than 2,000
students in the county did not
have the required vaccinations,
but many parents complained
their children had been
vaccinated but the officials had
misplaced the records.—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(11/18/07)
Cheney’s Heart Shocked
Vice President Dick Cheney’s
heart was shocked back into a
normal rhythm on November 26
during a 2½ operation. The
procedure was described by
doctors as a low-risk standard
procedure. Cheney, 66, who has
a history of heart problems, was
found to have an irregular
heartbeat when seen by doctors
at the White House due to a
lingering cough from a cold.—www.
msnbc.com (11/26/07)
One-Third of Sick Days
Due to Mental Issues
Each year adult Americans can
be expected to miss 1.3 billion
days of school and work due to
depression, anxiety or other
psychological disorders,
according to a report in the
Archives of General Psychiatry.
That figure amounts to about a
third of all sick days and is slightly
more than the 1.2 billion days lost
to back and neck pain. Experts
say more needs to be done to
treat mental disorders.—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(10/8/07)
Statin Drugs Shown
To Prevent Heart Attacks
Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs
can help prevent heart attacks for
at least 10 years after people stop
taking them. This is the
conclusion of the world’s first long-
term study of the leading type of
medication. The research followed
up a Scottish study that showed
the drug Pravaschol substantially
lowered the heart attack risk for
five years. The new study
appeared in the New England
Journal of Medicine.—Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (10/11/07)
Vice President Dick Cheney’s
heart was shocked back into a
normal rhythm on November 26
during a 2½ operation. The
procedure was described by
doctors as a low-risk standard
procedure. Cheney, 66, who has
a history of heart problems, was
found to have an irregular
heartbeat when seen by doctors
at the White House due to a
lingering cough from a cold.—www.
msnbc.com (11/26/07)
One-Third of Sick Days
Due to Mental Issues
Each year adult Americans can
be expected to miss 1.3 billion
days of school and work due to
depression, anxiety or other
psychological disorders,
according to a report in the
Archives of General Psychiatry.
That figure amounts to about a
third of all sick days and is slightly
more than the 1.2 billion days lost
to back and neck pain. Experts
say more needs to be done to
treat mental disorders.—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(10/8/07)
Statin Drugs Shown
To Prevent Heart Attacks
Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs
can help prevent heart attacks for
at least 10 years after people stop
taking them. This is the
conclusion of the world’s first long-
term study of the leading type of
medication. The research followed
up a Scottish study that showed
the drug Pravaschol substantially
lowered the heart attack risk for
five years. The new study
appeared in the New England
Journal of Medicine.—Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (10/11/07)
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