He had a less than 1% chance of survival. A baby born at 21 weeks gestation in Alabama last year is the most premature baby in the world to survive, according to Guinness World Records. Curtis Means and his twin sister, C’Asya Means, were born on July 5, 2020, atContinue Reading
Unless you’re prepping for a colonoscopy, probably not. Cleaning out the colon is sometimes necessary — for example, before a medical procedure, such as a colonoscopy. But some people do it in the belief that the process will rid their colon of excess toxins that accumulate over time from theContinue Reading
Complex interplay: the gut-immune-brain axis The early development of the gut, the brain and the immune system are closely interrelated. Researchers refer to this as the gut-immune-brain axis. Bacteria in the gut cooperate with the immune system, which in turn monitors gut microbes and develops appropriate responses to them. InContinue Reading
Calls to poison control centers regarding exposure to ivermectin have increased five-fold in recent months. Thousands of Americans may be taking potentially dangerous doses of an anti-parasitic drug because of misinformation that it will prevent or treat COVID-19, according to a new warning from the Centers for Disease Control andContinue Reading
But health professionals say you should still get vaccinated. The delta variant has dealt a blow to COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness, which has dropped by about 25 percentage points since the variant became the dominant strain of coronavirus in the U.S., a new study among healthcare workers finds. The study, fromContinue Reading
The restaurant had to be closed and the building where it was located is barred from housing food production. A Michigan restaurant was the source of an unusual Salmonella outbreak that lasted more than a decade, according to a new report. Finding the source of this prolonged outbreak, which infectedContinue Reading
COVID-19 may increase the risk of giving birth prematurely, according to the largest study to date on this link. The risk is even greater, the researchers found, for pregnant people who have both COVID-19 and certain conditions, also called comorbidities, including high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. The study isContinue Reading
Many parents experience postpartum depression. Here’s what it looks like and how it can be treated. Postpartum depression is clinically defined as depression following the birth of a child that lasts at least two weeks and interferes with a parent’s ability to go about their daily tasks. About 14% ofContinue Reading
Manure pits produce toxic gases that can be deadly. Three men in Ohio died this week after entering a manure pit and passing out from the fumes, according to news reports. The men, who were brothers, had entered the manure pit to fix a pump, according to local news outletContinue Reading
Your fingerprints are different from those of everyone else on Earth. The whorls and ridges on your fingertips are determined partly by your genetic makeup. But if you had an identical twin with the same genetic makeup as you, would your fingerprints still be unique? Identical twins, also known asContinue Reading