disease

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Men More Likely to Abandon Sick Partners

Seven times as many women stay when serious illness strikes

(Newser) - Relationships fail seven times more often when illness strikes the female partner than when it strikes the man. Researchers don't know why, but theories abound: “There is an immediate shift in a relationship when an illness is diagnosed,” a counselor tells the Times of London. Gender roles change...

VA Mistakenly Tells Hundreds of Vets They Have ALS

'Coding error' to blame for ALS mistake

(Newser) - Because of an error, the Department of Veterans Affairs incorrectly notified 1,200 veterans they had ALS, the fatal neurological condition also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, the AP reports. The letters alerted the veterans to disability benefits available to those who suffer from the disease. Thought the VA...

Malaria Jumped From Chimps to Humans

(Newser) - The parasite that causes malaria almost certainly jumped from chimpanzees to humans much like the AIDS virus did, National Geographic reports. Scientists initially believed that the malaria parasite that kills over a million people annually was older than humanity. But new research has found that it is a mutant version...

Disease Threatens Florida Oranges

Scientists search for solutions to citrus greening disease

(Newser) - Florida’s orange growers face a powerful adversary in a disease know by its shorthand of HLB that causes citrus trees to “green”—produce only sour, misshapen fruit, Scientific American reports. With every county in the state affected, the citrus industry has dedicated $10 million this year alone...

Flu Battles at Camp Spark Fears for School Year

Purell abounds; symptomatic kids sent home

(Newser) - With a swine flu resurgence expected in the fall—before an H1N1 vaccine is available—schools are getting a head start on fighting the disease, the Los Angeles Times reports. The scene at summer camps may provide a preview: Hundreds of youngsters in Southern California alone have been sent home...

Swine Flu: France Boots 'Disease- Ridden' British Kids

(Newser) - More than two dozen British schoolchildren on a school holiday were booted out of France after some came down with swine flu—but not before they were quarantined by medics in anti-contamination suits and insulted by locals. "It was as if we were dangerous criminals," said one of...

Gadget Turns Phone Into Microscope

CellScope could help curb outbreaks of disease in developing world

(Newser) - A new gadget could mean big improvements for health care in the developing world. Called the CellScope, the device attaches to any cell phone with a camera, turning it into a microscope, Science Blogs reports. Invented by researchers at UC Berkeley, the CellScope also features an LED that can detect...

Chimps Can Get AIDS: Study
 Chimps Can Get AIDS: Study 

Chimps Can Get AIDS: Study

SIV-infected chimps have high death rate, low T-cell counts

(Newser) - Scientists have found evidence that chimpanzees can be sickened by SIV, the non-human version of HIV, adding to the understanding of how HIV/AIDS developed, the AP reports. Scientists have long believed that while other primates can contract simian immunodeficiency virus, they are not affected by it. A 9-year study of...

Beach Sand Is Bad For You: Study

Contact with sand can increase risk of diarrhea, gastrointestinal sickening

(Newser) - Bird droppings, road runoff, and raw sewage are just some of the contaminants present at your local beach—and the reason playing in the sand could be hazardous to your health, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. A new study, which assessed the health of more than 27,000 beach-goers over...

Obama: Brace for Swine Flu Outbreak

Calls for 'vigilance,' not 'panic'

(Newser) - President Obama called for “rigorous” planning by state and local officials in anticipation of a possible swine flu outbreak this fall, CNN reports. “We want to make sure we aren't promoting panic, but we are promoting vigilance and preparation,” Obama—on a video link from the G8...

Millions of Americans May Have 'Rare' Artery Disease

Vascular experts believe disease is being massively underdiagnosed

(Newser) - A disease so obscure many doctors don't know about it may actually affect up to one in twenty people, experts tell the Wall Street Journal. Fibromuscular dysplasia—FMD—affects the walls of arteries and can cause blockages. It is rarely diagnosed, or looked for, but vascular experts believe it could...

Climate Change 'Affects 300M': Think Tank

(Newser) - Global warming is affecting 300 million people and taking 300,000 lives per year, according to the first wide-ranging research on the impact of climate change. Released by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan's think tank, the study says floods, fires, storms, and heatwaves are costing the world more than...

Monkeys Pass Altered Traits to Offspring

Genetic breakthrough will aid disease study, but troubles some

(Newser) - Japanese scientists have produced the first genetically modified monkeys that can pass on their new traits to offspring, a research breakthrough mired in ethical quandaries. The technique is meant to be used to infect monkeys with diseases like Parkinson’s and then test treatments on them, but could eventually be...

Farrah: 'It's Time for a Miracle'

(Newser) - Cancer-wracked actress Farrah Fawcett is praying for "a miracle" now that she has exhausted conventional medical treatments, reports the New York Post. "I want to stay alive, so I say to God, it is seriously time for a miracle," said Fawcett. "I know that everyone will...

Rumors as Virulent as Swine Flu Itself

Theories implicate everyone from Smithfield Foods to al-Qaeda as responsible

(Newser) - Rumors about the origins of the swine flu outbreak are spreading faster than the virus itself, with theories ranging from a group of slaughtered pigs in China to an al-Qaeda conspiracy, Reuters reports. China’s government was actually prompted into making a formal statement by international media reports suggesting that...

Mexico's First Flu Death Exposes Containment Trouble

Response quick, but follow-up efforts weak

(Newser) - After a 39-year-old woman became Mexico’s first person to die of swine flu, authorities quickly responded—but efforts were mixed, the AP finds. Medical teams interviewed 472 people who possibly had contact with the woman, a tax collector whose family runs a convenience store; they temporarily closed the ICU...

Those Masks Won't Save You
 Those Masks Won't Save You 
OPINION

Those Masks Won't Save You

Apocalyptic fashion accessory isn't effective against viruses

(Newser) - Chicago has swine flu fever—not the actual flu, mind you, but the pandemic of fear that has swept the US, Mary Schmich writes for the Tribune. Photos abound of Americans donning face masks to go out in public, and Schmich, calling around to pharmacists, found most fresh out. A...

Swine Flu Hits Hardest Among Young Adults

Excessive immune reaction may be at fault in Mexican deaths

(Newser) - The swine flu sweeping through Mexico is wreaking havoc among young adults in particular, reports the Washington Post, with the entire death toll as of yesterday comprised of those between 25 and 50. Some believe the trouble for young adults is an overpowering immune reaction that ravages throat and lung...

Perry Asks Feds for Swine Flu Meds

Seems like only yesterday he was talkin' 'bout a secession

(Newser) - Turning sharply from tea party-inspired talk of secession, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is responding to three known cases of swine flu in his state by asking the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to hand over 37,430 precautionary doses of antiviral meds, the San Marcos Daily Record reports....

Decoding of Genome Fails to Yield Promised Cures

(Newser) - The promised age of unlocking the mystery of common diseases through DNA appears to have a hit a disappointing roadblock, the New York Times reports. As a result, companies that bill people to provide a personal genomic profile—and theoretically warn them of their risk to illness—are practicing nothing...

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