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ScienceHealth
34 Million Americans Know Someone Who Died Without Being Able to Afford Medical Care, Survey Estimates
A heartbreaking number of Americans know someone who has died after not being able to afford medical treatment, according to the results of a new Gallup survey out Tuesday. Within the last five years, it found, some 34 million Americans believe they’ve lost someone in exactly that way, and even more Americans currently struggle to … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
E-Cigarettes Don’t Have to Be Tainted to Send You to the Hospital, UK Case Shows
In recent months, hundreds of people in the U.S. have become acutely sick and have even died due to vaping. These cases have largely been tied to black-market vaping products made with toxic additives. But a new case study out of the UK seems to show that in rare circumstances, even legal e-cigarettes can cause … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
In a World First, the EU Has Approved an Ebola Vaccine
The first human vaccine against the often-fatal viral disease Ebola is now an official reality. On Monday, the European Union approved a vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck, called Ervebo. The stage for Ervebo’s approval was set this October, when a committee assembled by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended a conditional marketing authorization … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
We Now Have Direct Evidence That Vitamin E Is Behind Vaping Illness Outbreak
On Friday, federal health officials announced a breakthrough in solving the mystery of why people are getting seriously sick from vaping. They detected vitamin E acetate—an oily, synthetic form of the vitamin commonly added to black-market THC vape products—in lung fluid samples taken from all of the patients they’ve tested so far. For months now, … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
‘Yikes, I’m a Host’: What It’s Like to Have Parasitic Eye Worms
It’s not every day that you turn into a medical curiosity. But that’s exactly what happened to Dianne Travers-Gustafson, a retired medical anthropologist and public health researcher from Nebraska. In February 2018, her eyes had the misfortune of becoming infected by a particular kind of parasitic roundworm spread by face flies. She likely fell victim … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Scientists Find People Who Can Smell Despite Missing Key Part of Their Brain
The human brain is even more incredible than we thought, a new study out of Israel suggests. Doctors there say they’ve found people who can smell just as well as anyone else, despite missing the key area of the brain responsible for olfaction. According to the researchers, who published their work Wednesday in Neuron, the … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
A Second Woman Has Gotten Parasitic Eye Worms, and Surely We’re All Next
A species of worm that can infect human eyes has done it again, and this time it chose a 68-year-old woman from Nebraska. The woman is thought to be only the second human victim of these worms ever documented. But the incident signals they could become an emerging parasitic disease in the U.S. The disturbing … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Canadian Therapist Gives Up License After Satanists Expose Her ‘Mind Control’ Talks
Activists with The Satanic Temple say a now-former therapist in Canada has been pushing conspiracies about globe-spanning, mind-controlling cults for years. And after they exposed some of her professional talks to her licensing board, she voluntarily gave up her psychology license. In June, a representative of The Satanic Temple sent a complaint about retired therapist … Continued
By Ed Cara -
Tech NewsFake Week
The Latest Iffy Wellness Trend Is CBD-Infused Workout Gear
There’s no shortage of products that are being filled, soaked, or sprinkled with cannabidiol, the non-mind-altering ingredient in cannabis otherwise known as CBD. And the latest trend is sure to appeal to the wellness crowd: CBD-stuffed fitness wear that supposedly soothe your sore muscles before they even start hurting. But while these products are the clearest … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
The CDC Is Still Warning People to Stop Vaping Completely Over Lung Illness Cases—But Why?
In a new report out Monday, health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have acknowledged that the wave of lung illness cases and deaths linked to vaping has a main bad guy: Products that contain THC sold on the black market. But to the disappointment of some experts, the agency is … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
How a ‘Neutral’ Health Algorithm Ended Up Hurting Black Patients
A health care algorithm used in hospitals across the U.S. has been discriminating against black patients, according to new research. The study found that the algorithm consistently prioritized less-sick white patients and screened out black patients from a program meant to help people who need more intensive care. Predictive algorithms have found their way into … Continued
By Ed Cara -
EartherConservation
Filtered Cigarettes Are One of the Worst Types of Pollution and We Should Ban Them, Experts Argue
Some scientists have had it up to here with cigarette butts, particularly those from cigarettes with filtered plastic tips. In a new op-ed this week, researchers have called for a global ban of filtered cigarettes, pointing out that the products aren’t any safer for us (as was once commonly advertised). In addition, they’re one of … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Scientists Say Their Experimental Drug Knocks Out the Flu, in Animal Tests at Least
We might be inching closer to a holy grail of medicine: an incredibly effective flu-killing drug that the virus can’t quickly adapt to. A new experimental treatment was able to rapidly reduce the flu virus in ferrets, but human trials are still a ways off. Researchers at Georgia State and Emory University have spent the … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
The Bacteria That Cause Stomach Ulcers Are Becoming Drug-Resistant, Too
A common bacterial infection that causes stomach ulcers and cancer has gotten increasingly harder to fend off, according to new preliminary research out this week. In Europe, it suggests, strains of the bacteria Helicobacter pylori have become more resistant to the first-line drugs used to kill it over the past 20 years, with resistance rates … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
It Took Just Three Weeks for Superbug to Resist Last-Resort Drug, Doctors Say
Just in time for Halloween, doctors in France say they witnessed a real-life horror tale involving an antibiotic-resistant superbug. In less than a month, their patient’s infection evolved resistance to the last-resort drug they had used to treat it. Thankfully, the doctors were still able to defeat the microscopic threat—and the case may have uncovered … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Mysterious Cases of Paralysis in Children May Be Caused by Polio-Like Viruses
In 2014, a rare polio-like illness that attacks the nervous system of its often young victims first emerged in the U.S.—an illness with no clear cause, according to health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, scientists at the University of California San Francisco say they’ve unearthed the most conclusive evidence to … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Johnson & Johnson Recalls Baby Powder Over Possible Asbestos Contamination
Johnson & Johnson announced a voluntary recall of its talc-based baby powder products on Friday, after the Food and Drug Administration found traces of cancer-causing asbestos in sample testing. The recall follows legal losses and an investigative report linking asbestos exposure to the company’s talc products. The recall will affect only one lot of baby powder, … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
We’re Not Ready for the Next Pandemic
If the seeds of a pandemic illness were planted tomorrow, how would the world fare? Well, according to a simulation carried out on Friday by Johns Hopkins University, the answer is: terribly. At a hotel near New York City’s Central Park, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security hosted a pandemic exercise dubbed Event 201. … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceAnimals
Blue Light from LEDs Can Rot the Brains of Fruit Flies, Study Finds
The blue light that emanates from every smartphone and fluorescent bulb isn’t thought to be great for our health, particularly the health of our eyes. But a new study in fruit flies suggests that blue light can even be harmful to brains and speed up aging—again, in fruit flies. There’s a very long way to … Continued
By Ed Cara