Category: Health

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The Coronavirus Can Be Tracked on Johns Hopkins’ Website

The coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, has spread throughout mainland China and beyond. The virus makes daily headlines, though reports about this new respiratory disease are constantly changing, which makes monitoring it a challenge for everyday people.

However, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University has provided a way for those outside the medical community to see how widespread coronavirus is with an online dashboard tracking the outbreak as information is confirmed.

Photo Credit: Johns Hopkins University

Users can see hard data regarding numbers of confirmed cases and their locations, as well as recoveries and deaths. Clicking through the various figures and graphs will expand the information further.

For those who like to see the hard facts without the grabbing verbiage of online news outlets, this website will prove to be revealing, if not fascinating. Use it to become informed, but be wary if you live in an area with confirmed cases. You don’t want to scare yourself unnecessarily.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

So far, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the cases found in the U.S. are people who had recent and close contact with travelers from Wuhan – or were travelers themselves. They state the virus is not spreading throughout communities.

While they call the coronavirus a “very serious public health threat,” it’s also unclear how the threat will affect the U.S. at this time. As of right now, the threat-level to citizens in the U.S. who are not actively treating or being exposed to coronavirus patients in a medical setting is low.

Photo Credit: Edwards AFB

In the meantime, wash your hands, keep yourself healthy and check out that factual dashboard if your concerned or even curious about the coronavirus spread stateside.

And maybe buy a few medical masks, just in case.

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The HPV Vaccine Has Nearly Eliminated Related Cancers in England

Well, this is interesting…

HPV – the human papillomavirus – is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection among sexually active people. One of the reasons it’s so transmitted is that most people show few or no symptoms and there’s not even a test for men, so there’s often no way to be warned that you might have it, much less be transmitting it. There are dozens of strains, most of which are virtually harmless.

But two strains, HPV16 and HPV18, are not at all harmless. In fact, those two strains alone cause 70% of HPV-related cancers.

 

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For the last decade there has been a vaccine available for teenagers, male and female, that targets HPV16 and HPV18 (as well as other higher-risk strains of the virus), but it (like other vaccines) has faced hesitancy from parents.

England, though, began a mass vaccination program in schools, and the results have been staggering.

The latest statistics from Public Health England suggest there has been a massive slowdown of new infections of HPV among sexually active young women.

Researchers used a group of 584 women between the ages of 16 to 18, and found that none of them were infected – compared to a rate of around 15% infection ten years ago, when the program began.

Dr. Vanessa Saliba, the consultant epidemiologist on the project, says the team also believes the report indicates a wider decline of the virus in England overall.

“This is clear evidence of the success of our immunisation programme, which continues to achieve high coverage. With millions of young women protected by HPV vaccination, we expect to see big reductions in cervical cancer in years to come and the introduction of the boys’ programme will accelerate this progress.”

Even though the vaccine targets the highest-risk strains, researchers also say there’s some evidence suggesting that other types of the virus have also declined.

England’s vaccination rates since the program began have soared to nearly 84%. Scotland has implemented a similar program with equally positive results, and Australia may well be the first country to eliminate HPV-related cervical cancer over the next 20 years.

There has been at least one study to suggest that even if HPV could be curbed, cervical cancer would remain a threat, since HPV is not the only known contributor to the disease, but scientists are quick to cast a shadow over those results.

Jonathan Ball, a molecular biology professor at the University of Nottingham, admits that the authors do “raise some important points highlighting that HPV vaccination isn’t the absolute panacea for cervical cancer prevention,” but also reminds us that “undoubtedly the current HPV vaccines are effective at preventing infection with the types of virus known to cause cervical and other cancers.”

It all boils down to this: we have a vaccine that has a 70% (or maybe better, if we can get the rates up high enough) chance of preventing your child from contracting at least one type of cancer, and we know that it works.

So, even if you can’t protect them from everything, you can protect them from this one thing, and isn’t that something to celebrate?

It’s definitely something to do. 

I mean, if you ask me.

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Experts Claim That 98.6 Is No Longer Reliably the Average Body Temperature

This is bad news for all of those kids headed to the nurse’s office, praying their thermometer spits out a temperature of 100 degrees or higher – you’re most likely starting from a point lower than 98.6.

The world’s “normal” body temperature was established back in the 19th century, and though most accept it as a reasonable average, doctors and scientists have always known that variables like gender, size, age, time of day, and other factors can play into the thermometer’s readout.

 

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Recent research, though, shows that not only has the average body temperature dropped since it was established by Carl Reinhold in 1851, it’s dropped significantly just since the 1970s – about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, based on your birth year, explains Dr. Julie Parsonnet.

“People are stuck on the 98.6 number, but that number has always been wrong. There’s never been a real number because people vary.”

Also, Parsonnet and others involved in the study aren’t afraid to admit that there are still variables that remain unknown, as well. They looked at the temperatures of three groups of data – one from a study of Civil War veterans’ as they returned from war, another from a CDC record from the 1970s, and a third of Stanford health clinic patients from 2007 to 2017.

 

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Men born in the 2000s typically run about 1.06 degrees Fahrenheit lower than men born in the early 1800s. For women, they’re running around 0.58 degrees Fahrenheit lower than women born in the 1890s.

The researchers say it’s unclear what’s causing the continued decline, or what it could mean for our health moving forward. That people have grown both taller and heavier, and that metabolic rates have slowed, likely all factor in.

The fact that a good portion of the population in the mid-19th century could have been fighting diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis, and periodontal disease also means infections (and fevers) may have been raising the average.

 

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Doctors like Dr. Edward Ward, an emergency medicine physician at Rush University Medical Center, say that for now, the information won’t change they way they assess and treat patients.

“It’s not surprising that there will be changes (in normal body temperature) since the Industrial Revolution. As an ER doctor, I’m looking for abnormalities. …there’s a difference between having what is medically considered having a fever and feeling feverish. If someone is normal 96 and then suddenly they’re 99, they probably feel uncomfortable.”

Parsonnet and her team echoed the sentiment, stating that how you feel is more important than the numbers on your thermometer.

That said, they are excited to follow the research further.

“We are having human cooling, and we don’t know what that means, but its’ good to know that it’s happening.”

Until we know more, trust your instincts out there. You know your body better than anyone else, and if you feel like you’re ill or feverish, stay home until you feel better.

If you’re a kid, you could try printing off this research for your school’s nurse, but no promises.

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You Might Want to Check Your Bottled Water’s Expiration Date Before You Start Drinking

Keeping hydrated is important, but not every bottle of water is safe for drinking. It may sound weird, but just like meat, dairy and many other items you pick up at the grocery store, bottled water has an expiration date.

Let that sink in a moment.

Luckily, unlike those berries that tend to go bad quick, you have a long time to drink your bottled water. In fact, the expiration date on the bottle has nothing to do with the water itself.

Bet you never thought of that one, right?

There’s a good reason for the expiration label: it turns out that the plastics used for both retail bottles and water cooler jugs can become toxic over time.

According to Amy Leigh Mercee, a holistic health expert and author, “[These plastics] will leach into the liquid the bottle once expired or especially when exposed to heat, including sunlight, and hot cars or storage trucks.”

Hint: That probably means it’s time to get rid of the graveyard of half-filled water bottles in your backseat.

Mercee added, “The toxicity contained in the plastic material enters the water. It is disruptive to the endocrine system, causing reproductive symptoms, various cancers, [and] neurological problems, and damaging the immune system.”

She continued, saying that bottled water companies typically use a two-year expiration date, which is the industry standard. However, it is important to keep in mind that the longer a bottle has been in circulation, the more likely the chance it has been exposed to heat.

“Even a brand new plastic bottle that sat in a hot delivery truck for hours or more can already have adverse and toxic compounds present in the water even when first delivered to the grocery store,” Mercee cautioned.

At the end of the day, it’s best to store bottled water in a cool, dark place far from household chemicals or other potential contaminants. Not only will your water last longer and taste better but it will also be safer.

…and that’s the whole point of bottled water.

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A Melting Glacier Revealed 28 New Virus Groups and Scientists are Worried

There are a whole lot of reasons to lament the demise of glaciers around the world – for one, they are the visual proof that the earth is warming, no matter what the weather outside your window or the politicians in their offices want to claim.

For another, many of them have been around for millennia, and as they melt, things are thawing out of them that modern human beings have never encountered.

In 2015, researchers from China and the United States drilled a 164-foot hole into a Tibetan glacier, gathering 2 ice core samples to study in a lab. The 15,000-year-old glacier is melting, and the scientists have so far found 33 virus groups in their core sample.

28 of them are completely new to science.

These scientists and researchers are not alone; their peers around the world are desperately trying to identify potential microbial threats in the melting ice before they escape and put us on the spot.

Image Credit: Pixabay

The meltwater from glaciers and ice caps could release these potentially harmful pathogens into streams, rivers, and pretty much any other type of waterway…and once a previously unknown microbe finds its way into human beings, there’s no telling what might happen.

The permafrost around the world is melting, too, and presents similar microbial challenges. It’s also releasing an alarming amount of methane gas and carbon dioxide – it is estimated to hold twice as much carbon as currently resides in our atmosphere.

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For 141 years since its first ascent, mountaineers from around the world traveled to climb la Meije in the Massif des Ecrins of France. Meanwhile, the permafrost that held its stones together was melting. On August 7, 2018, rockfall destroyed much of the normal route. In this On Belay story from Alpinist 68—which is now available on newsstands and in our online store—two locally based guides—Benjamin Ribeyre and Erin Smart—recount a search for a new way up the peak amid the uncertainties of the planet’s future. . You can now read the story at Alpinist.com. . Did you know—only a small fraction of our many long-form stories from the print edition are ever uploaded to Alpinist.com. Be sure to pick up Alpinist 68 for all the goodness: https://shop.holpublications.com/products/alpinist-magazine-issue-68 . The south face of la Meije (3983m) and the upper Etancons Valley is pictured here with the Glacier Carre covered in snow during spring, Massif des Ecrins, France. [Photo] Manu Rivaud . @benjaminribeyre @erinsmart_mountainguide #lameije #glaciercarré #frenchalps #snowmelt #rockfall #climatechange #meltingpermafrost #alpinistfeature #theclimbinglife #alpineclimbing #mountaineering

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Researchers have pulled samples of smallpox, Spanish flu, bubonic plague, and even anthrax from thawing permafrost, along with pollutants like mercury, all previously trapped inside permanently frozen ground.

There are important buildings in jeopardy, too, as thawing ground begins to result in more slumping or sagging of previously hardened earth. In Sweden, for example, there is a nuclear waste containment facility that could be in danger, and in Norway, the world’s global seed vault, built to safeguard seeds against exactly this kind of environmental impact, could itself be threatened.

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Humans are very good at self sabotaging ourselves, controlling and manipulating others, colonizing and dominating over other live and sentient beings. All these behaviours are driven by fear, anger, greed, hunger for power, status and control. ?? Would we still buy into all this nonsense if we fully realized that we are destroying ourselves, all living beings and our planet? What if we only have few years to live? Would we contemplate life and death? Seek reconciliations between peoples with different religions, nations, genders, classes, generations? ❤ Let's make universal love our compass. ❤ Let's live in present. ❤ Let's seek and adapt inner peace and love. ❤ Let's be human again. ❤ Let's share love and show compassion. ❤ Love, enjoy, live. Now. #love #behuman #awakeninghumanity #humanrights #climatecrisis #sixthmassextinction #climaterefugees #consumerismkills #foodshortages #heatwave #flooding #reducereuserecycle #circulareconomy #govegan #carbondrawdown #risingsealevel #meltingpermafrost #plasticfreelife #socialcollaps #noplanetb? #universalconsciousness

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Basically, we’ve only encountered the tip of the iceberg (pun intended) when it comes to the potential disastrous effects of global warming – not only on the planet, but on humanity, too.

I don’t know about you, but the idea that I could get smallpox is one more reason I want to do my part.

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Parsley Joins the List of Herbs You Should Not Stick in Your Vagina

You might think it would be common sense that food items don’t belong anyplace inside you other than your stomach. You’d think that, but you would sadly be wrong.

Last year, doctors had to put out a warning that cucumbers shouldn’t go inside your vagina, and this year, they’re having to do the same with parsley – all thanks to Marie Claire (an actual real media publication), which published an article about the herb being useful to bring on your period.

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This may look like a parsnip but it’s not a parsnip. It’s an old fashioned allotment veg known as parsley. It’s a great winter option as it’s completely hardly. The roots can be roasted or thrown in a casserole and the tops give you parsley (as in the herb) all year round ??? Harvested today, this one’s on the small side but if left they can get huge xx . . #parsley #winterveg #winterveggies #rootvegetables #vegetarian #pescatarian #vegan #plantbased #allotment #allotmentlove #allotmentlife #allotmentgarden #countryliving #growyourownfood #eatwhatyougrow #mykitchengarden #myediblegarden #organic #urbanorganicgardener #kelloggarden #urbangarden #urbangardener #raisedbedgarden #growninsussex #growveggies #growyourownveggies #lovegardening #gardenlove #outdoorliving

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According to the article:

“Parsley can help to soften the cervix and level out hormonal imbalances that could be delaying your cycle, helping your period come faster. …If you’re struggling to find a dish based on parsley, don’t panic – the most effective forms are said to be parsley tea and parsley vaginal inserts.”

Yes, you read that right.

The internet has many suggestions on using parsley to induce a miscarriage herbally, including this horrifying tidbit:

“Fresh parsley (preferably organic…I don’t want pesticides in my vagina, so I go organic). Insert a fresh sprig of parsley as far as possible into the vagina (parsley induces contractions, yum). Change every 12 hours. When soft, it may be difficult to remove, but this is not dangerous.”

In fact, that is so dangerous.

Putting anything that gathers bacteria into your nethers presents a risk of infection, which can have life-threatening consequences.

“There is no evidence of any benefit to a woman of doing this, and clear risk of significant harm as deaths have been reported. I would urge women not to insert anything unless they have taken proper medical advice,” Dr. Shazia Malk told The Independent.

One woman who died after trying to induce a miscarriage with parsley lived in Argentina, where abortion is illegal. She was 34, and even though surgeons removed her uterus in an attempt to stop the spreading infection, she still passed.

Also? Dr. Jennifer Gunter told IFLScience that using parsley to bring on a miscarriage “can’t work. To think it could work would reflect a belief in magic.”

As abortion clinics close all over the country, I imagine that we’re only going to see more people looking for ways to take matters into their own hands.

And I don’t see how that’s going to be good for anyone.

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Chrissy Teigen Revealed Her ‘Night Eggs’ Habit and It’s a Very Strange Insomnia Hack

Chrissy Teigen is in the spotlight for a lot of things: being a model, writing best-selling cookbooks, and publicly roasting her husband John Legend. And now, she is also famous for eating eggs in the middle of the night.

Chrissy revealed her “night eggs” habit on Twitter recently, and it drew a lot of attention because, hello — WTF are night eggs? She just casually dropped them into a tweet about Reddit.

Of course, people had questions. So many questions. In a follow-up tweet, Chrissy answered some of them.

“I can’t sleep without being overly full,” she explained. “I take two hard boiled eggs to bed every night and eat them when I randomly wake up. It used to be beef jerky but I’d wake up too puffy.”

But this answer led to, um, more questions. Where does she keep the eggs? Isn’t it annoying to peel them half-asleep? What if she doesn’t wake up to eat them?

But she always does, apparently. Chrissy added that she wakes up for at least 30 minutes at least four times a night. Phew!

This isn’t the first time Chrissy has mentioned her night eggs. In December, she posted photos of them in bed with her. As you can see, the eggs are already peeled, so that answers one question at least.

Look, the idea of a midnight snack is obviously not new, nor are the struggles of insomnia. Chrissy’s mentions filled with people naming the snacks they like to eat when they wake up: apples, cheese and pistachios. But eggs?

EGGS?!

Apparently, there is some scientific justification for doing this. A naturopathic doctor told Well + Good that “a little bit of protein at night before you got to sleep — maybe about 6 grams of protein, which is the equivalent of an egg — it gives you a nice blood-sugar balance through most of the night.”

That’s just one doctor, but hey. If it works for Chrissy…

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For generations doctors assumed that…

For generations doctors assumed that the appendix had no function. But recently it is determined it “acts as a good safe house for bacteria”. Sometimes bacteria in the intestines die or are purged. The appendix’s job is to reboot the digestive system in that case.

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Toxic Chemicals Have Been Found in the Tap Water of Dozens of U.S. Cities

Miami is a top destination for tourists, but consuming their tap water could leave you with long-lasting effects well after your vacation is over.

The home of the Heat is just one of 43 U.S. cities—including Philadelphia and New Orleans—that has toxic “forever chemicals” in their drinking water, according to a new report.

Products such as firefighting foam and Teflon contain the PFOAs and PFOS chemicals that are contaminating water across the country. Polluted water has been linked in some cases to cancer and lower fertility and even served as inspiration for the 2019 movie Dark Waters, although much more research needs to be done into long-term harms.

Sydney Evans, Environmental Working Group study co-author, told BuzzFeed News that the research group was surprised to see chemical contamination in such a variety of cities. Out of the 44 cities tested for contaminants, only Meridian, Mississippi, passed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the citizens of Meridian get their water from the deep depths of a 600-foot well.

While earlier studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the EWG had not shown a serious water contamination issue, Evans and her team tested for 30 different PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals in order to discover more information about the breadth of the contamination.

The EPA sets a safety limit of 70 parts-per-trillion limit on the two main chemicals, though some individual states have implemented stricter standards. Unfortunately, many states were found to have water with high concentrations of chemicals, including North Carolina and Iowa.

“To date, EPA has developed methods to reliably detect 29 PFAS chemicals in drinking water,” an agency spokesperson stated in an e-mail to Buzzfeed News. “Aggressively addressing PFAS will continue to be an EPA priority in 2020 and we will provide additional information on our upcoming actions as it becomes available.”

So while staying hydrated is critical, filtered water may be a better bet depending on where you live.

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A Clever Guy Turns His CPAP Mask into an ‘Alien’ Facehugger

There’s not much that’s funny about having to wear a CPAP mask in order to be able to breathe through a good night’s sleep.

That said, any time you can use your necessary medical equipment to turn your face into an attacking alien facehugger…I mean, you’ve gotta do it. I honestly can’t believe it hasn’t been done before now.

Jared Grey, the genius in question, is an author and self-described Tinker Gnome. He’s also a science fiction fanatic, so when he was thinking about ways to make the inconvenience of sleep apnea more bearable, he came up with the idea of turning the machine into a life-size foam Alien Facehugger replica.

Grey describes the process step-by-step on his social media, and honestly, I think he could also get work on science fiction sets if he’s ever hard up for cash.

A twisted idea who's time has finally come.

Posted by Jared Gray on Friday, April 27, 2018

What’s even funnier is that he’d joked about what he would do if he ever had to have a CPAP, even before being diagnosed with sleep apnea.

Image Credit: Jared Gray

“I’ve been joking for years that if I ever ended up needing a CPAP mask, I’d incorporate it into a facehugger. Because obviously…I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea, and now have my own CPAP torture machine. Seriously, these things are awful and create as much discomfort as they prevent. So I may as well have some fun with this thing while it’s intruding on my life.”

Image Credit: Jared Gray

I say that’s a pretty healthy outlook to go along with some pretty amazing creativity.

This is the worst ConCrud I've had in a long time. I can't breathe, I can't see. I've got this lump in my throat and a…

Posted by Jared Gray on Monday, May 28, 2018

Would you ever imagine something like this? Would you be able to pull it off? Tell us what you think in the comments!

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