Laura Blue

Articles from Contributor

+Sleep | August 24, 2010

Study Links Chronic Fatigue to Mouse Virus

Federal researchers have uncovered a mysterious link between chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) — a debilitating disorder in which fatigue does not go away with rest — and a virus that’s known to infect mice. CNN reports: The researchers found that the blood of 32 of 37 patients (86.5 percent) diagnosed with CFS contained murine leukemia virus-related viruses. But [...]

+Public Health | August 23, 2010

Could hand-washing boost your workplace productivity?

By Laura Blue

There’s a mountain of evidence to show that frequent and thorough hand-washing helps to stop the spread of disease: from diarrhea in the developing world to drug-resistant germs in the world’s first-rate hospitals. But could hand hygiene make you a more efficient worker as well? That’s a question that German researchers set out to answer [...]

+Women's Health | August 23, 2010

Alcohol may increase risk for certain types of breast cancer

By Laura Blue

Alcohol is a known risk factor for breast cancer, but it may not be equally risky for all subtypes of the disease. In particular, according a new study released today by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, alcohol appears more important for “hormone-sensitive” breast cancers – with drinkers showing more pronounced risk of invasive lobular [...]

+Obesity | August 23, 2010

Looking to Lose Weight? Drink Up

By Laura Blue

It’s safe, it’s simple, and it works: Drinking moderate amounts of water really can help you lose weight, new research shows.

+Public Health | August 23, 2010

The Battle Over Homework: Getting Your Kids to Knuckle Down

By Laura Blue

You’ve tried carrots. You’ve tried sticks. But how do you get a recalcitrant child to do his or her homework? Psychologists at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research think they may have an answer to that age-old question.

+Addiction | August 20, 2010

Can Video Games Be Addictive?

By Laura Blue

A federal judge in Hawaii is allowing a man to sue the computer-game manufacturer NCsoft for negligence — with allegations that the plaintiff grew addicted to an online game and that it consumed his life for years, Wired.com reports. In court documents, plaintiff Craig Smallwood claims he played the game Lineage II for over 20,000 hours during a six-year period from 2004 to [...]

+Regulation | August 20, 2010

Thousands Are Sick In Salmonella Outbreak

By Laura Blue

Roughly 2,000 people have fallen sick this summer from salmonella enteritidis, in what has become one of the biggest salmonella epidemics in years. There are almost three times as many cases as would be expected from recent years’ trends, according to a report yesterday from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That number likely doesn’t include [...]

+Nutrition | August 20, 2010

Leafy Greens May Cut Diabetes Risk

By Laura Blue

In a study of the effects of fruit and veggie intake on diabetes risk, kale and cabbage seem unusually protective. Researchers writing today in the British Medical Journal found that — in data from six previous studies covering some 22,000 participants –people who ate lots of leafy vegetables were less likely to develop type II diabetes than people who [...]

+Regulation | August 19, 2010

Rated R For Smoking?

By Laura Blue

Cigarettes are finally becoming less common in the movies. But there’s still more big-screen smoke today than there was back in 1998, when tobacco companies were banned from paying for product placement, according to a new report today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That means that public-health officials are still worried [...]