Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 31, 2015

The Great Salt Debate: How Much Sodium Is Too Much for Your Diet?

ORLANDO, Fla. — Americans eat, on average, more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day — much more than the 2,300-mg current recommended limit for many people. But whether this amount increases a person's risk of heart disease is now being hotly debated by researchers. There's no doubt that eating...

Oct 31, 2015

US Uterus Transplants: 6 Things to Know

Ten women in the United States will soon be chosen to undergo the nation's first uterus transplants, as part of a study at the Cleveland Clinic. Doctors at the hospital hope to perform the first uterus transplant in the next few months, according to the New York Times. The procedure...

Oct 31, 2015

Coffee Drinkers, Perk Up: 1 to 5 Cups Daily May Reduce Risk of Early Death

Coffee drinkers may have more reasons to enjoy another cup, as a large new study suggests that people who drink up to five cups of regular or decaffeinated coffee daily may be slightly less likely to die early from any cause or certain chronic conditions. Men and women in the...

Oct 31, 2015

Expectant Moms: Coffee Won't Harm Kids' IQ

Pregnant women, perk up! It's okay to indulge in your morning cup of coffee without worrying about it affecting your child's IQ, a new study finds. In the study, researchers found that children born to women who consumed caffeine while pregnant did not have lower IQs or more behavior problems...

Oct 31, 2015

Round for Round: Women's Drinking Rates Catching Up to Men's

Men still drink more than women in the United States, but the gap is closing, a new report finds. Over the decade-long period between 2002 and 2012, the percentage of U.S. women who reported drinking in the past month increased, and so did the the average number of days that...

Oct 31, 2015

Costco Chicken Salad Linked to E. Coli Outbreak in 7 States

An outbreak of E. coli bacteria tied to chicken salad sold at Costco has sickened 19 people in seven states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the E. coli-related illnesses have occurred in Western states — including Utah, Colorado, Washington and California — and there...

Oct 31, 2015

Eyes May Offer Window into Cardiovascular Disease

Vision problems may sometimes be the only symptom a person has of a serious cardiovascular condition, a new case report suggests. In the case, a 77-year-old man in Greece experienced three short episodes of blurred vision in his right eye. The five-minute episodes stretched over an hour in total, and...

Oct 31, 2015

Is Digital Hoarding a Mental Disorder (And Do You Have It)?

A man who takes thousands of digital pictures weekly and spends hours every day organizing the photos on his computer could have a condition that, until now, has never been described in medical literature. The patient might have digital hoarding disorder, according to the authors of a recent report on...

Oct 31, 2015

'Last-Resort' Antibiotics Fail Against New Superbugs

Some bacteria have finally breached the last wall of humans' antibiotic stronghold, according to a new study from China. In the study, researchers found a gene in one strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) that protects these bacteria against one of the antibiotics considered to be a last resort. Moreover,...

Sep 30, 2015

Breast-Feeding Mothers Gain Support in Hospitals

Breast-feeding mothers are now getting more support from hospitals, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2013, over half of the hospitals in the United States were meeting at least five of 10 common recommendations for hospitals to support breast-feeding, up from...

Sep 30, 2015

Many Americans Don't Get Recommended Vaccines Before Travel

Americans who travel abroad often do not receive the recommended vaccines that would protect them from certain illnesses, new research suggests. One study of Americans visiting travel clinics found that more than half of those who were recommended to get a measles vaccination did not do so before traveling. Another...

Sep 30, 2015

Daniel Fells' Infection: How Often Does MRSA Lead to Amputation?

The nasty superbug MRSA has been linked to life-threatening conditions such as body-wide inflammation and organ failure, and now the NFL reports that New York Giants player Daniel Fells may lose his foot due to complications from an MRSA infection. Fells was taken to the emergency room with a high...

Sep 30, 2015

Magnets Might 'Unlock' Paralyzed Arm After Stroke

People who suffer a stroke face many physical and emotional hurdles on their long road to recovery. But now, there may be a glimmer of hope for those with one common stroke symptom: partial arm paralysis that leaves the affected limb frozen to the person's side like a broken wing....

Sep 30, 2015

Plague Began Infecting Humans Much Earlier Than Thought

The germ that causes the plague began infecting humans thousands of years earlier than scientists had previously thought. Researchers analyzed teeth from the remains of 101 individuals that were collected from a variety of museums and archaeological excavations. They found DNA of the bacterium that causes plague, called Yersinia pestis,...

Sep 30, 2015

Cutting Sugar Made Obese Kids Healthier in 10 Days

There can be no more dancing around the fact that, for children, consuming added sugar contributes to a litany of chronic diseases, particularly obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, scientists concluded in new research published today (Oct. 27). In the study, researchers closely monitored 43 obese children and found...