Story at-a-glance You’re absorbing plastic through the air, food and water daily. These microscopic plastic particles are being detected inside living tissue — lodged deep within organs, absorbed through your gut and circulating through your bloodstream. Emerging research has uncovered strong connections between this plastic exposure and conditions like high […]
Noise emitted by data centers can be heard and felt hundreds of feet away, and noise levels can reach up to 96 decibels — for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sound levels exceeding 85 decibels are considered dangerous and potentially damaging to human hearing, depending on the […]
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial has found that 200 milligrams of caffeine improves short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), a measure of how the brain integrates sensory input with motor output, according to a report published in a peer-reviewed journal. The study involved 20 healthy adults and used transcranial magnetic stimulation […]
Story at-a-glance Nearly 90% of people with dementia develop neuropsychiatric symptoms at some point during the disease, according to researchers in Communications Psychology.1 Anxiety sits near the center of that problem. In adults over 60, anxiety disorders rank among the most common mental health conditions, and each additional anxiety symptom almost […]
The Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the DRC. Licensed vaccines such as Merck’s Ervebo have since shown strong protection against the Zaire strain of Ebola. But no approved vaccine or specific antiviral treatment yet exists for the Bundibugyo strain, which […]
The psychiatric medication machine is churning faster than ever, and a growing chorus of voices from former patients to federal health officials is asking whether the cure has become the disease. At 14, Laura Delano sat in a psychiatrist’s office and heard words that would shape the next decade and […]
Herbicide mixtures widely used on industrial farms may damage the gut, disrupt healthy bacteria and trigger inflammation at exposure levels regulators currently consider safe, according to a new peer-reviewed study. Researchers say the findings raise urgent questions about how pesticide safety is evaluated, since regulators typically assess chemicals individually rather […]
The World Health Organization has declared a “global health emergency” after an Ebola outbreak surfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). So far, there are at least eight confirmed cases, 246 suspected infections, and 80 suspected deaths reported in DRC, along with two additional cases in Uganda. Red Cross […]
The FDA fired Tracy Beth Høeg, the agency’s top drug regulator and a staunch advocate for vaccine safety. It’s the latest in a string of high-profile exits from the agency, many of which followed the appointment of Chris Klomp as HHS’ No. 2 official, Reuters reported. TrialSite News suggested the […]
The ICU Before Sunrise The intensive care unit (ICU) was crowded before sunrise, again. After 40 years in medicine, I am not sure what “full” even means anymore. Every ICU now feels just one patient away from disaster. Patients wait in emergency departments for beds that do not exist. Another […]