I wish they would put more effort into HIV/AIDS and cancer research ... *sigh* ... researchers at Berkeley have found a gene that apparently turns carbs to fat (I knew there was one!). This is interesting; however, then they go and say this:
"We hope that this research will one day help people eat bread, pasta and rice and not worry about getting fat," Roger Wong, a graduate student who worked on the study, said in a statement.
When they bred mice with a disabled version of this gene, the mice stayed slim even when fed the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet. Full story
Ug, this is so frustrating. People should worry about eating bread, pasta and rice - especially when they go to to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Is anything grosser than an all-you-can-eat buffet? I think not. And research that promotes this behavior (all you can eat!) it maddening.
Meanwhile: U.S. capital struggles to contain HIV epidemic
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Salmonella in junk food
No more excuses about avoiding spinach, tomatoes and other veggies for Salmonella risk. Unless you plan to skip the junk food, too.
January 18, 2009 -- McKee Foods Corporation today announced a voluntary recall of two varieties of peanut butter sandwich crackers because the products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
Specifically, consumers need to avoid cookies, crackers, ice cream, and the like; anything made with peanut butter.
So far, more than 470 people in 43 states have gotten ill, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being attributed to the outbreak.
Full list of foods
Personally, I can accept e. coli on spinach and veggies more than I can on junk food anyway. Seeing as though e. coli on veggies may be from animals and e. coli from processed junk foods may come during processing by humans.
Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. For more information on Salmonella, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Website at http://www.cdc.gov.
January 18, 2009 -- McKee Foods Corporation today announced a voluntary recall of two varieties of peanut butter sandwich crackers because the products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
Specifically, consumers need to avoid cookies, crackers, ice cream, and the like; anything made with peanut butter.
So far, more than 470 people in 43 states have gotten ill, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being attributed to the outbreak.
Full list of foods
Personally, I can accept e. coli on spinach and veggies more than I can on junk food anyway. Seeing as though e. coli on veggies may be from animals and e. coli from processed junk foods may come during processing by humans.
Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. For more information on Salmonella, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Website at http://www.cdc.gov.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Good article in yesterday's Tribune about breast cancer fallacies. For example:
Contrast that with Health magazine's October breast cancer awareness coverage (I generally like Health magazine, BTW, but every month it publishes capricious medical advice, annoying): The cover model is clearly young -- I'd be surprised if she is any older than me -- and her mother died of breast cancer. So, she went out and got a mammogram.
What conclusion would readers draw from this? To get a mammogram, regardless of whether the test is relevant to them.
Unless the model's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer prior to age 40, it unlikely the mother's breast cancer is a sporadic (hereditary) form of breast cancer, related to the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 genes. Her mother's breast cancer was most likely due to age -- 80 percent of breast cancer cases are women older than 50.
While there is evidence that annual mammograms in women, 50-69, can save lives. Mammograms have not been proven to save lives in younger women. In fact, younger women are more likely to get a false-positive than older women.
And check out this interesting study from NCI:
OK, I don't want to sound like some paranoid freak who is anti-technology. So, that's it for now.
"People still believe heredity is the cause of most breast cancer cases, although in reality only 5 percent to 10 percent of breast cancer is caused by genetic mutations that can be inherited."
Contrast that with Health magazine's October breast cancer awareness coverage (I generally like Health magazine, BTW, but every month it publishes capricious medical advice, annoying): The cover model is clearly young -- I'd be surprised if she is any older than me -- and her mother died of breast cancer. So, she went out and got a mammogram.
What conclusion would readers draw from this? To get a mammogram, regardless of whether the test is relevant to them.
Unless the model's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer prior to age 40, it unlikely the mother's breast cancer is a sporadic (hereditary) form of breast cancer, related to the BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 genes. Her mother's breast cancer was most likely due to age -- 80 percent of breast cancer cases are women older than 50.
While there is evidence that annual mammograms in women, 50-69, can save lives. Mammograms have not been proven to save lives in younger women. In fact, younger women are more likely to get a false-positive than older women.
And check out this interesting study from NCI:
"Researchers are reporting that a computer system created to help radiologists interpret mammograms may not be helping after all. The system, known as computer-aided detection, or CAD, uses software to mark suspicious spots on mammograms that could be overlooked by radiologists.
OK, I don't want to sound like some paranoid freak who is anti-technology. So, that's it for now.
Monday, April 23, 2007
New Blog!
Hello, I just started this blog as part of my Online Media pcource prohject. I am going to write about propduct reviews ((basically encourage you NOT to buy stupid info-mercial products like the Six-Second Abs device -- not that you would do thaat ... anyway ... stay tuned!
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