The Department of Justice appealed a federal judge’s ruling that directed the FDA to make the morning-after pill available with no prescription regardless of age.
The move comes a day after the FDA authorized a drugmaker to market the emergency contraception without a prescription to females 15 and older.
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Nose-picking in progress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Parents, next time you see your child picking his or her nose you may want to fight the urge to scream “stop!”. A Canadian biochemist is making waves with a new theory that picking your nose — and eating it — may be an evolutionarily-backed way to boost your immune system’s protective powers.
And, he hopes to conduct a study to prove it, CBC News in Canada reports.
Scott Napper, an associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, told CTV News in Saskatoon that he proposed this theory one day while teaching a classroom full of bored college students.
He said almost all kids try to taste things that come out of their noses, and its possible nature is trying to push them to adopt this behavior.
“I got their attention by saying that’s why snot tastes so sweet. And a lot of them were nodding along like they agreed, but not really realizing what they had acknowledged,” he told the station, laughing.
MOTHER JONES
| MOTHER JONES | April 29, 2013 |
THIS WEEK’S ECONUNDRUM
“There’s a war going on in your gut,” says gastroenterologist Dr. Shekhar Challa, author of Probiotics for Dummies and coproducer of Microwarriors: The Battle Within, a video game about probiotics.
When the ratio of good to bad bacteria gets out of whack, he says, adding a probiotic—a beneficial bacteria—can help refuel the good guys. Lactobacillus acidophilus, found in some yogurt, is probably the best-known strain. These microbes bind to the lining of the gut, help you digest, battle toxic intruders, and can stimulate the immune system. They’ve also been credited—though with varying levels of evidence—with preventing or curing diarrhea, gastrointestinal diseases, yeast infections, and allergies.
Probiotics are increasingly available in pill form. But just how effective are they? And can one little capsule really change your gut’s ecosystem for the better? [READ MORE]
By Moises Velasquez-Manoff
A few years before Super Size Me hit theaters in 2004, Dr. Paresh Dandona, a diabetes specialist in Buffalo, New York, set out to measure the body’s response to McDonald’s—specifically breakfast. Over several mornings, he fed nine normal-weight volunteers an egg sandwich with cheese and ham, a sausage muffin sandwich, and two hash brown patties.
Dandona is a professor at the State University of New York-Buffalo who also heads the Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of Western New York, and what he observed has informed his research ever since. Levels of a C-reactive protein, an indicator of systemic inflammation, shot up “within literally minutes.” “I was shocked,” he recalls, that “a simple McDonald’s meal that seems harmless enough”—the sort of high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal that 1 in 4 Americans eats regularly—would have such a dramatic effect. And it lasted for hours.
Inflammation comes in many forms. The swelling of a sprained ankle indicates repairing torn muscle and tendon. The redness and pain around an infected cut signifies the body’s repulsion of microbes. The fever, aches, and pains that accompany the flu represent a body-wide seek-and-destroy mission directed against an invading virus. They’re all essential to survival, the body’s response to a perceived threat or injury. But inflammation can also cause collateral damage, especially when the response is overwhelming—like in septic shock—or when it goes on too long.
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Heavenly Father, please hear the cries as our brothers and sisters suffer.
CBS NEWS
By Ryan Jaslow
The link between red meat and heart disease risk is nothing new, but a new study shows the reason behind the risk may not be what doctors have long thought.
Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic have discovered it’s not the saturated fats or cholesterol from a fatty steak that’s triggering heart problems, but a chemical process involving gut bacteria and a compound found in meat called carnitine that may be to blame.
“Carnitine metabolism suggests a new way to help explain why a diet rich in red meat promotes atherosclerosis,” study author Dr. Stanley Hazen, section head of preventive cardiology and rehabilitation in the Miller Family Heart and Vascular Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a written statement.
Atherosclerosis is a disease of the arteries where plaque builds up, preventing oxygen-rich blood from flowing to organs and other parts of the body. This could lead to heart attacks, strokes and death.
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Full Disclosure: I am a senior. —GoodOleWoody :)
Budget cuts got stripped down to the naked truth Tuesday when a group of activists stormed Speaker John Boehner’s office in protest of a proposal to reduce funding to AIDs prevention and research.
Protesters from ACT UP and the Student Global AIDS Campaign locked arms inside the
Naked AIDS activists, with painted slogans on their bodies, protested inside the lobby of the Capitol Hill office of House Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday, prior to World AIDS Day. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)
Longworth House Office Building moments after disrobing.
“Budget cuts are really rude, that’s why we have to be so nude,” seven naked protesters shouted from the middle of the room.
The activists were protesting proposed budget cuts to AIDS funding that could be included in the looming fiscal cliff. They painted their bodies with slogans, such as ”AIDS cuts kill” and “Fund PEPFAR.”
Three were arrested, including two organizers for Queerocracy, according to NBC New
