The Week: Most Recent Science & Tech:Health

Repairing a broken heart... with skin

The Week — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:42:00 -0400

For the first time ever, scientists have successfully transformed ordinary skin tissue into cells for the beating heart, a procedure that could lead to promising new therapies for recovering heart attack victims. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 5.8 million Americans have suffered from heart failure, with an additional 670,000 diagnosed each year. Here, a concise guide to the breakthrough that has cardiologists buzzing:

How did researchers do it?
Scientists took skin cells from two older patients who had suffered from heart failure and, in a Petri dish, they genetically...

The future of Big Tobacco: Tobacco-free products?

The Week — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:40:00 -0400

Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA and Marlboro, will soon unveil its first tobacco-free nicotine product: A chewable, mint-flavored lozenge called Verve. Unlike other smokeless products, which have become a hugely competitive niche for cigarette makers, Verve has no tobacco, which might make it easier for Altria to market. Here, a guide to why tobacco-free products might give Big Tobacco a boost:

How is the tobacco industry doing?
It's seen better days. More and more smokers are quitting, possibly because of high taxes, public-service campaigns, and graphic warning labels. But Big...

The sleep mask that helps you control your dreams

The Week — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:20:00 -0400

The first step to controlling your dreams is to realize you're actually dreaming. And that's where the Remee sleep mask, a product developed by two Brooklyn inventors, comes in. Using an array of glowing lights, the mask gently reminds a user mid-dream that he or she is asleep, theoretically making it easier for the wearer to enter a lucid dreaming state. Here, a guide to the ambitious Kickstarter project that has investors dreaming big:

What exactly is lucid dreaming?
"Lucid dreaming refers to the act of being conscious while in a dream state — you're in a dream, but you know...

How to wean America from its dangerous food addiction

The Week — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:20:00 -0400

In ancient history, eating was for survival. Food was tough to come by and we consumed what we needed. Food was a necessity. In today's America, it is an addiction.

Much of the conventional wisdom about obesity, including what your doctor has probably told you, is wrong. My fellow doctors, for the past four decades, have preached a "calories in — calories out" approach, suggesting that weight loss must be achieved by restricting calories or expending more energy. That approach is failing… miserably.

Contemporary medical research, most of which has not yet made it to mainstream understanding...

The South's flesh-eating bacteria scare: A concise guide

The Week — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:39:00 -0400

A second case of flesh-eating bacteria has been reported in the South. Like 24-year-old Aimee Copeland, who is fighting for life after the disease spread through her body following a zip-lining accident, the latest patient — 36-year-old new mom Lana Kuykendall — contracted the bacteria in Georgia after a bruise-like injury spread throughout her leg. She was admitted to the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center last Friday. Here, a concise guide to the developments:

What is fresh-eating bacteria?
Technically known as necrotizing fasciitus, it is a bacterial infection that...

The cancer-stricken 9-year-old who is choosing to die

The Week — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:35:00 -0400

When surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy fail to stop cancer, some patients decide to stop treatment, and focus on making the most of the time they have left. "But what happens when a child, your 9-year-old son, looks up at you and says, 'I'm done' fighting cancer?" asks Carolyn Castiglia at Babble. The parents of Ryan Kennedy, a Michigan boy who is a week from his 10th birthday, had to confront just such a devastating moment. Here, a brief guide to their tragic and brave decision:

When was Ryan's cancer diagnosed?
He was diagnosed with ependymoma, a rare form of brain cancer, in 2007, when...

The experimental drug that could prevent Alzheimer's: A guide

The Week — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:14:00 -0400

The U.S. government wants to have a cure for Alzheimer's ready to go by 2025, and is prepared to spend big money to get there. An ambitious new international study will begin testing an experimental drug intended to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's, in what could mark a huge shift in the way health experts approach the disease. Here, a brief guide to the big undertaking:

Why is Alzheimer's such a big deal?
The degenerative brain disease affects 5.4 million Americans every year, but that figure could climb as high as 8.7 million by the year 2030. Symptoms generally begin appearing in adults around...

Coming soon: An over-the-counter HIV test?

The Week — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:45:00 -0400

In a potentially huge step in the fight against AIDS, the advisory committee for the Food and Drug Administration has unanimously voted to recommend approval for the first over-the-counter HIV test. Carl Schmid, deputy director of the AIDS Institute, said the kit — the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test — could be a "game-changer." Could this really prove effective in preventing the transmission of AIDS? Here, a concise guide to this potential breakthrough:

How does the test work?
It's simple. If the kit gets final approval, you'll be able to pick one up at the local drug store. To take the test...

The rise of electroshock therapy: A guide

The Week — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:20:00 -0400

Wasn't electroshock abandoned years ago?
Not entirely, but its use did decline dramatically. Electroshock therapy began in the 1930s, when Italian psychiatrists discovered that administering strong shocks to the brains of mentally ill patients sometimes relieved their symptoms. But by the 1970s, electroshock therapy became widely viewed as barbaric and ineffective, leaving its subjects vacant-minded shells of their former selves. That grossly simplistic view resulted partly from egregious misuse of the technique. At the Georgia State Sanitarium in the 1940s, for example, a patient could be...

Breakthrough: A general treatment drug for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's?

The Week — Tue, 08 May 2012 07:56:00 -0400

British scientists may have discovered a new way to counteract the life-crippling effects of degenerative brain diseases, according to a new study published in Nature. The scientists inhibited a gene that automatically stops the production of all brain proteins when it detects the buildup of unwanted proteins. These unwanted proteins, which accumulate in the brains of patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, kill brain cells — but the brain also can't survive without the necessary proteins. The discovery ensures that important proteins continue to be produced,...

East Asia's nearsighted-child epidemic: Is over-studying to blame?

The Week — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:20:00 -0400

In most Western nations, 20 to 40 percent of children have myopia, the technical term for nearsightedness. In the cities of East Asia, that number jumps as high as 90 percent, according to a new study in the British medical journal The Lancet. The culprit isn't genetics, as previously assumed, or even dietary factors like a dearth of carrots, says lead author Ian Morgan of the Australian National University. It's how kids in those education-obsessed nations spend their time: Reading, studying, watching TV, or staring at the computer rather than playing outside in the sun. Here's a look at Asia...

Does Red Bull give you tooth decay?

The Week — Mon, 07 May 2012 07:40:00 -0400

The creators of Red Bull claim the energy drink can give you wings, but what does the sugary, caffeinated beverage do to your teeth? A new study comparing energy drinks to sports drinks like Gatorade finds that the high levels of acidity in the former can wreak havoc on a healthy set of pearly whites. Here's what you should know:

Why focus on energy drinks?
"Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels, and that they are 'better' for them than soda," Poonam Jain, lead author of the study, tells ABC News. Yet, most unknowing consumers...

The kindergarten for stressed-out toddlers

The Week — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:23:00 -0400

Grown-ups aren't the only ones buckling under the financial strain of the recession. Health-care professionals in Germany say even toddlers can get stressed out as their parents cut household budgets, fret about job security, and lose their temper. And that's on top of the pressure already placed on today's little ones as they are shuttled from music class to dance lessons to sports. What's the solution? A school for kids as young as 3 that offers massages and other stress-relievers, of course. Here's what you need to know:

Massages... in school?
Yes, the trail-blazing kindergarten in Stuttgart...

Christy Turlington's 'totally confusing' war on Mother's Day

The Week — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:41:00 -0400

On May 13, model and activist Christy Turlington Burns is asking you to skip Mother's Day... and observe "No Mother's Day," instead. The effort, part of Turlington Burns' Every Mother Counts campaign, is designed to call attention to the 358,000 mothers around the world who die each year from pregnancy or childbirth complications, 90 percent of which are preventable. Turlington Burns wants women to discourage loved ones from buying them gifts, and to stay silent on Mother's Day — no answering the phone, no updating of Facebook profiles — to show "how much a mother is missed when she...

The heavy price of obesity in America: By the numbers

The Week — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:12:00 -0400

The obesity rate in America is skyrocketing, and according to new statistics from the Campaign to End Obesity, along with increased health risks and health care costs for those struggling to control their weight comes a huge economic toll on the U.S. With hospitals widening bathroom stalls for severely overweight patients, and the Federal Transit Administration testing new steering and breaks on mass transit systems because of an increase in the number of heavyset riders, the estimated national cost of accommodating obese citizens is approaching $190 billion a year. Here's a look at some unexpected...

The grocery cart that suggests better food choices

The Week — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:00:00 -0400

When health-conscious people hit the grocery aisle, they spend countless minutes poring over nutrition labels to decide which products are the best to take home. A new collaboration out of Britain called the Change Project aims to dramatically shave that time down, using a smart grocery-cart attachment to help consumers make faster and more-informed buying decisions. Here, a brief guide to the proposed technology:

How does the gadget work?
The Lambet Shopping Trolley Handle is equipped with a barcode sensor and can clip onto any cart. It uses a 16-LED multicolor display to give would...