Rob Stein

Research Reveals Yeasty Beasts Living On Our Skin

Rob Stein — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:18:00 +0000

Scientists have completed an unusual survey: a census of the fungi that inhabit different places on our skin. It's part of a big scientific push to better understand the microbes that live in and on our bodies.

"This is the first study of our fungi, which are yeast and other molds that live on the human body," says Julie Segre, of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who led the survey.

Trillions of microbes live everywhere in and on our bodies. Most of these viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms are harmless.

Scientists Clone Human Embryos To Make Stem Cells

Rob Stein — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:03:00 +0000

Scientists say they have, for the first time, cloned human embryos capable of producing embryonic stem cells.

The accomplishment is a long-sought step toward harnessing the potential power of embryonic stem cells to treat many human diseases. But the work also raises a host of ethical concerns.

"This is a huge scientific advance," said Dr. George Daley, a Harvard stem cell scientist who wasn't involved in the work.

Parents' Saliva On Pacifiers Could Ward Off Baby's Allergies

Rob Stein — Mon, 06 May 2013 07:43:00 +0000

That word "microbiome" — describing the collection of bacteria that live in and on our bodies — keeps popping up. This time, researchers say that children whose parents clean their pacifiers by sucking them might be less likely to develop allergic conditions because of how their parents' saliva changes their microbiomes.

That's the word from a small study of 184 Swedish babies published in this week's issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Gut Bacteria's Belch May Play A Role In Heart Disease

Rob Stein — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:01:00 +0000

Scientists have discovered what may be an important new risk factor for heart disease.

How Much Does It Hurt? Let's Scan Your Brain

Rob Stein — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:17:00 +0000

Scientists reported Wednesday that they had developed a way to measure how much pain people are experiencing by scanning their brains.

The researchers hope the technique will help doctors treat pain better, but the work is also raising concerns about whether the technique might interfere with doctors simply listening to their patients.

Now, when someone is in pain, a doctor has no way to judge its severity except to ask questions, a method that often is inadequate.

"We all have trouble communicating our pain and other feelings under different circumstances," says Yukiyasu Kamitani, a researcher at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan.

Philosophers, poets and psychologists have long shared a fascination with dreams.

China's Air Pollution Linked To Millions Of Early Deaths

Rob Stein — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:25:00 +0000

More than 1 million people are dying prematurely every year from air pollution in China, according to a new analysis.

"This is the highest toll in the world and it really reflects the very high levels of air pollution that exist in China today," says Robert O'Keefe of the Health Effects Institute in Boston, who presented the findings in Beijing this week.

Alarm has been growing in recent years about the air in China.

Bioethics Panel Warns Against Anthrax Vaccine Testing On Kids

Rob Stein — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:16:00 +0000

A controversial government proposal to test the anthrax vaccine in children would be unethical without first conducting much more research, a presidential commission concluded Tuesday.

"The federal government would have to take multiple steps before anthrax vaccine trials with children could be ethically considered," Amy Gutmann, who chairs the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, tells Shots.

Americans More Distracted Behind The Wheel Than Europeans

Rob Stein — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:10:00 +0000

U.S. drivers are much more likely than Europeans to drive while distracted, federal health officials report Thursday.

Nearly 69 percent of Americans who drive say that they talked on their cell phones while driving at least once in the previous month, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's a lot higher than what was reported by Europeans in another survey. Only 21 percent of British drivers reported chatting on their cell phones while behind the wheel, for example.

Infections With 'Nightmare Bacteria' Are On The Rise In U.S. Hospitals

Rob Stein — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Federal officials warned Tuesday that an especially dangerous group of superbugs has become a significant health problem in hospitals throughout the United States.

These germs, known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, have become much more common in the last decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the risk they pose to health is becoming evident.

"What's called CRE are nightmare bacteria," Dr.

Pediatricians Urged To Treat Ear Infections More Cautiously

Rob Stein — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 08:26:00 +0000

Hoping to reduce unnecessary antibiotics use, the American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday issued new guidelines for how doctors should diagnose and treat ear infections.

Every year, millions of parents take their children to the pediatrician for ear infections, and most of them end up going home with antibiotics.

Flu Vaccine Has Been Feeble For Elderly This Season

Rob Stein — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:54:00 +0000

This year's flu vaccine appears to be doing a unusually poor job of protecting the elderly, federal health officials reported Thursday.

Overall, this year's flu vaccine appears to be only about 27 percent effective for people ages 65 and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

But, perhaps more important and more concerning, it looks like it's only about 9 percent effective in protecting people 65 and older against the

Popular Workout Booster Draws Safety Scrutiny

Rob Stein — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 21:04:00 +0000

Richard Kessinger loves to hit the gym. But some days he needs a little something to get him pumped up for his weightlifting routine.

"You might be a little bit sore. You might be tired. You might have had too many beers the day before," says Kessinger, 23, of Arlington, Va. "So you might start putting up a set and you get a few reps in and you're like, 'I'm not feeling this. I can't keep going.' "

So Kessinger sometimes swallows something called DMAA, which is short for dimethylamylamine.

Aging Poorly: Another Act of Baby Boomer Rebellion

Rob Stein — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:32:00 +0000

Baby boomers have a reputation for being addicted to exercise and obsessed with eating well.

But that story didn't jibe with what physician Dana E. King and his colleagues see walking through the door of their family practice every day in Morgantown, W.Va.

"The perception is that the baby boomers are very active — they are, you know, climbing up mountains, and they are a very healthy bunch," says King, a professor in the department of family medicine at the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

To Fight Addiction, FDA Advisers Endorse Limits On Vicodin And Similar Painkillers

Rob Stein — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:47:00 +0000

A key federal panel Friday recommended placing new restrictions on Vicodin and similar prescription painkillers.

At the conclusion of an emotional two-day hearing, the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted 19-10 to recommend the agency change how drugs that contain the opioid hydrocodone are classified as controlled substances.

If the agency goes along with the panel's recommendation, which is typical but not required, the drugs would be more stringently regulated, moving to so-called Crohn's disease, a chronic digestive disorder, since he was a teenager.

"So he was prescribed, you know, Lortab, or Vicodin or whatever.

CDC: Flu Season Is Especially Tough On The Elderly

Rob Stein — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 18:49:00 +0000

Federal health officials say this year's flu season shaping up to be especially severe for the elderly.

According to the latest update from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people age 65 and older who are getting the flu jumped sharply in the last week or so. They are being hospitalized at a rate of about 82 per 100,000 cases.

CDC Says Flu Could Be Waning In Places, But Worst May Not Be Over

Rob Stein — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:32:00 +0000

Federal healthy officials said Friday there are some early signs this year's flu season may be easing in some parts of the country. But they stressed it's far too early to tell whether the flu season has peaked.

The number of states reporting widespread flu activity is up to 47, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But flu activity nationally fell slightly in the CDC's most recent data.

Wake-Up Call: FDA Pushes Drugmakers To Weaken Sleeping Pills

Rob Stein — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:25:00 +0000

The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it was requiring companies that make Ambien and similar sleeping pills to sharply cut the doses of the drugs.

The agency says it is taking the step for the brands Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist, as well as generic versions of Ambien, because tests showed the active ingredient in the medications, zolpidem, stays in the body longer than had been thought.

Can You Get A Flu Shot And Still Get The Flu?

Rob Stein — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 08:49:00 +0000

This year's flu season started about a month early, prompting federal health officials to warn it could be one of the worst in years. They're urging everyone to get their flu shots.

But like every flu season, there are lots of reports of people complaining that they got their shot but still got the flu.