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☆ What’s the Best Way to Treat I.B.S.?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Alice Callahan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Irritable bowel syndrome is one of the most common and perplexing conditions gastroenterologists treat. It affects an estimated 6 percent of people in the United States, with more women diagnosed than men, and causes symptoms so debilitating they can be hard to ignore, including abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea and constipation. Scientists don’t know exactly what causes I.B.S., and there is no cure, so the condition is often difficult to manage. But a new study, published today in the journal The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, offers clues for how best to find relief. The telltale symptoms of I.B.S.

Persons: Brian Lacy Organizations: Hepatology, Mayo Clinic Locations: United States, Jacksonville, Fla, Bloating

☆ A significant number of US 12th-graders report using delta-8 products, study says, and it may be a public health concern
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Delta-8 THC, or delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, is one of more than 100 chemical compounds found in the cannabis sativa plant. That’s at least one or two students in every average-sized high school class who may be using delta-8. Most of the participants were about 17 years old, so the study may not fully represent how many younger teens are using delta-8. There has been a general concern that the number of students using delta-8 has been growing, according to an editorial published Tuesday alongside this study. Calls to America’s Poison Centers about delta-8 products spiked 82% from 2021 to 2022, the group said in a recent report, with 3,358 exposures managed in 2022.

Persons: ”, Adam Leventhal, “ Dr, Nora Volkow, ” Leventhal, Jennifer Whitehill, Kelly Dunn, Renee Johnson, Harlow et, Scientists don’t, Dr, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN —, USC Institute for Addiction Science, Midwest, National Institute on Drug, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Johns Hopkins University, National Cannabis Industry Association, Scientists, Research, Get CNN, CNN Health, Centers

When Daniel Skousen scrubs at the ash and soot covering his Maui home, he worries about the smell. Crews have installed air quality monitors throughout town and are spraying a soil sealant to prevent toxic ash from being washed into the ocean or blowing around. The Hawaii Department of Health's Environmental Health Services Division also told Skousen's attorney it had no records about residential testing of contaminants to release. “If it smells like burned plastic or burned electrical cables, then probably those chemicals are in the air and not healthy,” Hertz-Picciotto said. Whether a home can be made safe enough for residency comes down in part to the resident's risk tolerance, Hayes said.

Persons: Daniel Skousen, ”, Bill Hayes, Hayes, Char, ” Hayes, Crews, Kellen Ashford, Shawn Hamamoto, ‘, ’ ”, Edward Neiger, ” Ashford, Andrew Shoemaker, it's, Shoemaker, Dioxins, Skousen, Irva Hertz, Davis, Picciotto, ” Hertz, He’s Organizations: Hawaii Department of Education, Environmental, Agency, Associated Press, Hawaii Department of Health, Hawaii Department of, Environmental Health, Health Department, U.S . Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, Lahaina Civic Center, World Health Organization, University of California, Hertz, Cooperative Institute for Research, Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Locations: Lahaina, Boulder County , Colorado, Maui, ” State, Skousen, “, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder

☆ Fingers Crossed: Flu Season Might Not Be So Bad This Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Sumathi Reddy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

There’s some good news about flu season this year. Doctors and scientists don’t expect the worst. The flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, where the cold-weather illness period wraps up as we head into ours, often serves as a harbinger of what’s to come for us. There, cases picked up a little earlier than usual in some countries but didn’t result in an especially large number of hospitalizations and deaths, say public health experts and doctors.

Organizations: Southern

In the past few months alone, researchers have linked Neanderthal DNA to a serious hand disease, the shape of people's noses and various other human traits. Research shows some African populations have almost no Neanderthal DNA, while those from European or Asian backgrounds have 1% to 2%. For example, Neanderthal DNA has been linked to auto-immune diseases like Graves’ disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The list goes on: Research has linked Neanderthal genetic variants to skin and hair color, behavioral traits, skull shape and Type 2 diabetes. Researchers found the skulls of domesticated dogs in Homo sapiens sites much further back in time than anyone had found before.

Persons: We’re, ”, Mary Prendergast, Hugo Zeberg, Svante Paabo, Zeberg, It's, Graves, Homo sapiens, Chris Stringer, “, Rick Potts, Paabo, ” Zeberg, Raghavan, Potts, Denisovans, sapiens, Eleanor Scerri, Prendergast, Janet Young, Pat Shipman, John Hawks Organizations: Rice University, Karolinska, Research, Smithsonian Institution, University of Chicago, Germany’s Max Planck Institute, Geoanthropology, Canadian Museum, University of Wisconsin -, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Sweden, Melanesia, New Guinea, Fiji, Africa, Europe, Asia, London, Eurasia, Germany’s, University of Wisconsin - Madison

☆ What to know about Merkel cell carcinoma, Jimmy Buffett’s rare cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who died September 1, had Merkel cell carcinoma, a skin cancer that’s diagnosed in fewer than 3,000 people in the US every year. Merkel cell carcinoma happens when something makes them grow out of control. Merkel cell carcinoma typically shows up on a person’s face or neck or in other areas that are often exposed to the sun, like the arm. A Merkel cell carcinoma may be mistaken for a cyst, but cysts can be painful while these spots often are not. The American Cancer Society says cancer is detected in the lymph nodes of 1 in 3 people who have Merkel cell carcinoma.

Persons: CNN — Singer, Jimmy Buffett, Merkel, Friedrich Merkel, don’t, Merkel, Buffett, it’s, carcinoma, There’s, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, you’ll Organizations: CNN, US Center for Disease Control, American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, American Academy of Dermatology, CDC, CNN Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, US Dermatological Association, Environmental Locations: United States

Ms. Battle has been leading an effort to have businesses pledge not to finance seabed mining or source seafloor materials in their supply chains. Similarly, prominent banks in Britain, such as Lloyds and Standard Chartered, are refusing to do business with deep-sea mining entities. But critics say that the expense and logistics of mining in the remote ocean — and transporting metals back to land — raise doubts about whether deep-sea mining can be profitable. “This industry could start without being needed,” she said of deep-sea mining. But seabed mining supporters say that existing mining is worse for the environment, and deep-sea mining could help wrestle control of critical metals from China and Russia.

Persons: Barron, DealBook, it’s, Jessica Battle Organizations: ” Regulators, United Nations, World Wildlife Fund, BMW, Google, Samsung, Volvo, Volkswagen, Lloyds, Standard Chartered, International Energy Agency Locations: Britain, China, Russia

☆ Astronauts’ brains take a hit during long spaceflights
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Spaceflights lasting six months or longer take a toll on the brains of astronauts, and crew members may need to wait at least three years before returning to space, according to new research. Scientists compared the brain scans of 30 astronauts taken before spaceflights lasting two weeks, six months or a year with scans taken after they returned to Earth. During the analysis, the researchers determined that the degree to which the ventricles enlarged varied depending on how long the astronauts were in space. Seven of the astronauts with a shorter period of recovery between missions showed little ventricular enlargement after their most recent flight. However, astronauts have very specialized skill sets and training and there may be rationale to include them on additional missions before this time.”

Persons: CNN —, Artemis, ”, Rachael Seidler, Seidler, ” Seidler Organizations: CNN, International, Station, NASA, University of Florida, UF, Norman Fixel Institute, Neurological Diseases, “ Locations: ”

☆ Human metapneumovirus: Doctors say this is the most important virus you’ve never heard of
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, spiked this spring, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s respiratory virus surveillance systems. An underestimated threatStudies show that HMPV causes as much misery in the US each year as the flu and a closely related virus, RSV. Like those infections, HMPV can lead to intensive care and fatal cases of pneumonia in older adults. Leigh Davidson caught human metapneumovirus during a family celebration in early April. The new virus was dubbed human metapneumovirus.

☆ How a deadly bat virus found new ways to infect people
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

Scientists found bats with Nipah virus roosting near Sabith’s home. A search of the neighborhood led to a colony, near their house, of flying foxes, a common fruit bat. NETTING NIPAH: Researchers in Bangladesh use nets to catch bats and collect samples to find the Nipah virus in the wild. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainWhether Sabith ate contaminated fruit or somehow came into direct contact with a bat, the virus entered his cells. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainA year later, Chua’s team found the same strain of Nipah virus in flying foxes.

☆ Bat lands worldwide are besieged, seeding risk of a new pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

This collision – bats and humans competing for resources on territory long the domain of the bats – could trigger the next pandemic. As people destroy bat habitats worldwide, they are unwittingly helping bat-borne viruses mutate, multiply, and infect other species, including homo sapiens. For millennia, bat viruses lurked across the forests of West Africa and in other undisturbed parts of the world but posed little threat to humanity. They’re potent proliferators: Some roost tightly together and in close quarters with other bat species. Each of the bat viruses analyzed by Reuters has epidemic potential, according to the World Health Organization.

☆ CDC is talking to airlines about wastewater testing in planes. New reports support that strategy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Aria-Bendix-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Aria Bendix | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The U.S. has been monitoring for the coronavirus in wastewater since the CDC launched its National Wastewater Surveillance System in September 2020. But that testing mainly involves wastewater from households or buildings, not samples from airports or planes. Previous Covid-19 wastewater surveillance has shown to be a valuable tool, and airplane wastewater surveillance could potentially be an option," CDC press officer Scott Pauley told NBC News. Politico first reported that the agency is considering airplane wastewater testing. As of October, more than 1,250 sites were conducting wastewater testing across the U.S.

☆ New Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in slowing disease but may contain significant risks, study shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

An experimental Alzheimer’s drug modestly slowed the brain disease’s inevitable worsening, researchers reported Tuesday — but it remains unclear how much difference that might make in people’s lives. Now the companies are providing full results of the study of nearly 1,800 people in the earliest stages of the mind-robbing disease. Also, lecanemab recipients were 31% less likely to advance to the next stage of the disease during the study. The trial is important because it shows a drug that attacks a sticky protein called amyloid — considered one of several culprits behind Alzheimer’s — can delay disease progression, said Maria Carrillo, chief science officer for the Alzheimer’s Association. Eisai said Tuesday the deaths can’t be attributed to the Alzheimer’s drug.

Two new omicron subvariants have overtaken BA.5 as the prevailing versions of the coronavirus in the U.S.BA.5 became dominant in July, then consistently accounted for the majority of new Covid infections until last week. The two together make up around 44% of new Covid infections, whereas BA.5 makes up just 30%. BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 cases are also rising in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe. Both of the subvariants are considered part of the BA.5 family — they're sublineages that evolved from BA.5. "There’s nothing in the signature of the clinical cases that are being reported that suggests that anything is changing in terms of symptoms with these omicron subvariants," Pekosz said.

☆ Remote undersea volcano believed to be erupting in Pacific Ocean
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

HONOLULU — A volcano is probably erupting deep beneath the Pacific Ocean in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, but scientists don’t know for sure because it’s so inaccessible. All indications are that the Ahyi Seamount began erupting in mid-October, the U.S. Geological Survey said Monday. The Ahyi Seamount is one of a long string of submarine seamounts at the northern edge of the Northern Mariana Islands. Ahyi seamount is a large conical submarine volcano. “There are no local monitoring stations near Ahyi Seamount, which limits our ability to detect and characterize volcanic unrest there,” the agency said.

☆ Uganda's Ebola outbreak sees a worrisome increase in infections after spike in cases over the weekend
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A top World Health Organization official in Africa said last week that Uganda’s Ebola outbreak was “rapidly evolving,” describing a challenging situation for health workers. Ugandan health authorities have confirmed 75 cases of Ebola since Sept. 20, including 28 deaths. Fears that Ebola could spread far from the outbreak’s epicenter compelled authorities to impose an ongoing lockdown, including nighttime curfews, on two of the five districts reporting Ebola cases. Uganda has had multiple Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2000 that killed more than 200 people. The 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people, the disease’s largest death toll.

☆ Water's edge: the crisis of rising sea levels
▼ + stars: | 2014-09-04 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +20 min

But sea levels have been rising for 100 years in Baltimore.”ROCKET SCIENCEThe irony is evident at Wallops Flight Facility. Yet this bastion of climate research has been slow to apply the science of sea level rise to its own operations. Reviewers from state and federal agencies criticized the 348-page document for failing to adequately take rising sea levels into account in the project design and impact, or to temper future plans for expansion. Joshua Bundick, Wallops’s environmental planning manager, explained that he distilled the issues “down to only the highest points,” and sea level rise wasn’t among them. The cost to American taxpayers of repeated destruction of the parking lot and causeway from rising sea levels would only increase, Fish and Wildlife officials said.

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