Health

A study published this week developed a global survey to show public perceptions of government responses to COVID-19. This study, conducted by researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, City University of New York (CUNY), and others worked with hundreds of citizens in countries around the world, assessing response in leadership to this unprecedented global pandemic. The United States didn't score the lowest on the list, but it most certainly did not score highest.

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Summer's most refreshing treat, watermelon, has been recalled in several US states due to the risk of contracting a foodborne pathogen called Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause serious illness and even be fatal in some cases. A day after the initial recall was announced, the FDA updated its advisory, noting that additional fresh fruits including apples and pineapple have been recalled by Country Fresh in several states across the US.

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A new study from the University of Arizona Health Sciences reports that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that can cause the respiratory disease COVID-19, gives those infected with it a pain-relieving effect, which ultimately makes it easier for the virus to spread between people. According to the researchers, this pain-relieving effect may explain why so many people are asymptomatic in the early days of the illness, an issue that is driving the spread of the virus.

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The CDC has confirmed that COVID-19 can be spread through airborne transmission, officially acknowledging which situations are more high-risk during the pandemic. Until now, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been cautious about confirming fears that even six feet of distance between people may be insufficient to stop the transmission of coronavirus, and that in some settings infectious particles can linger for hours.

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The folks at Ashtel Studios made a design mistake. They saw an opportunity to make hand sanitizer fun for kids, but they took an unfortunate approach. It became clear some time after packaging and distribution began, this year, that Ashtel Studios hand sanitizer looked a little too much like "a food and drink pouch" for kids.

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Researchers in Norway are calling for schools to emphasize handwriting activities during the childhood years in order to help kids learn and improve their memory. It's no secret that the brain activity differs when one writes by hand instead of typing -- this goes for both adults and kids. Researchers with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology built upon this body of research by strapping 250 EEG electrodes to children and tasking them with handwriting.

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Fecal transplants may be the 'fountain of youth' of cognitive function, researchers with the University of East Anglia have announced. The procedure, which is commonly used to treat C. diff infections in patients, has become the subject of interest in a number of studies involving gut bacteria and its potential role in human health. This latest study has found that transplanting the bacteria from older subjects to younger ones caused gut bacteria changes linked to a worsening of memory and learning.

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A new study has found a brain protein linking stress and depression, paving the way for new drugs to treat depression and anxiety. The research comes from Karolinska Institutet where scientists found that a protein previously linked to serotonin function and mood regulation is also involved in the body's stress response, having an impact on the body's noradrenaline and adrenaline release. This may explain why people who experience severe stress or trauma increases one's odds of developing depression and anxiety.

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Ketamine, an anesthetic that has increasingly drawn interest among experts as a potential treatment for severe depression, is the subject of a new study from the University of California - Irvine. According to the researchers, this same drug is also a potential treatment for a relatively common eye disorder called amblyopia, sometimes referred to as 'lazy eye,' though it's not to be confused with a different condition (strabismus) also referred to as lazy eye.

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You probably don't have the uncontrollable urge to put a battery in your mouth every time you see it, but then you're probably not a tiny child. Still, if you're the parent or caregiver of one offspring, the news that Duracell has made its smallest coin cell batteries less likely to be swallowed is worth paying attention to.

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Coffee, the massively popular beverage often consumed first thing in the morning, may be sabotaging your long-term health, at least according to a new study from the University of Bath. The risk comes from drinking coffee soon after you get up in the morning, with researchers warning that it would likely be better for your health to only drink coffee after you've eaten breakfast. The reason has to do with coffee's surprising impact on blood sugar.

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An eating protocol called intermittent fasting is popular at the moment, primarily for reasons having to do with a biological process called autophagy and the (lack of) eating protocol's supposed ability to improve health across a variety of categories. However, intermittent fasting has also become popular as a weightloss method, with past animal model research indicating that time-restricted eating may cause more fat loss than eating the same amount of calories spread throughout the day. A new study challenges this claim.

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