Tiffany O'Callaghan

Tiffany O'Callaghan has been a contributing health and science reporter for TIME and TIME.com since August 2007. She is based in Seattle.

Articles from Contributor

+Uncategorized | June 28, 2010

MMR, chicken pox: higher seizure risk with combo vaccine

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

New research published in the journal Pediatrics finds that giving children the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and chicken pox vaccines in two separate shots reduces the risk for febrile seizures, or fever-related convulsions that are not associated with conditions such as epilepsy. The analysis was based on data for 459,000 children between 1 and [...]

+Pregnancy | June 28, 2010

Freezing eggs to delay starting a family?

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

New research from Belgium and the U.K. suggests that women may increasingly be considering freezing their eggs as a way to prolong fertility as they pursue a career — or find the right romantic partner. A survey of nearly 200 female students found that half of those pursuing degrees in sports or education would consider [...]

+Uncategorized | June 25, 2010

Wash your reusable shopping bags

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

A new study from researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University finds that reusable shopping bags can harbor potentially harmful bacteria if they aren’t cleaned — and 97% of people surveyed said they’d never washed theirs. Yet the study, funded by the American Chemistry Council, also found that washing the reusable bags, either [...]

+Pregnancy | June 25, 2010

Report: fetus cannot feel pain before 24 weeks

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

A new report from the U.K.’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) concludes that, before 24 weeks, nerve endings in the brains of fetuses aren’t sufficiently developed to experience pain. The findings, based on a review of recent studies examining fetal development and capacity for pain, undermine the argument for a Nebraska law passed [...]

+Memory | June 24, 2010

Alzheimer’s: new methods for diagnosis, preserving memory?

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

In the ongoing effort to better understand, diagnose, treat and hopefully one day even prevent the devastating mental decline of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers are taking a broad range of approaches — and some are even finding clues in unlikely places. As the New York Times reports, a new technique that combines a dye and brain scan [...]

+Public Health | June 24, 2010

A portable eye test — using a cell phone?

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab have come up with a way to test vision that doesn’t involve any hefty optometry equipment or even a visit to the eye doctor. A small, simple plastic device they’ve developed, when attached to the screen of a cell phone, can scan the eye and determine [...]

+Uncategorized | June 23, 2010

A lawsuit to get toys out of Happy Meals?

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

Less than two months after a California county voted to ban toys from children’s meals at fast food restaurants, the chain known for the Hamburgler and Ronald McDonald may face a lawsuit over the the trinkets it tosses into Happy Meals. Public health research and advocacy group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest [...]

+Uncategorized | June 23, 2010

Using stem cells to restore sight

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

Using stem cell therapy, a team of Italian researchers was able to restore sight for patients who had been blinded or suffered severely impaired vision after suffering a chemical burn. In a study of 106 patients treated between 1998 and 2007, researchers were able to extract adult stem cells from healthy eye tissue, grow additional [...]

+Public Health | June 23, 2010

Healthcare: U.S. spends more, but gets less

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund once again highlights the discrepancy between U.S. spending on healthcare and the quality of that care. The new analysis compares spending and health outcomes of seven industrialized nations: the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia. And the authors find that, despite outspending other countries [...]

+Policy & Industry | June 23, 2010

ER Doctors Feel Pressure to Overtest

By Tiffany O'Callaghan

Fear of lawsuits often prompts emergency room doctors to order tests that they may feel are unnecessary, the Associated Press reports. In the fast paced environment of an emergency department, making quick decisions that can have life-altering implications is a standard aspect of treatment — and the pressure not to miss anything is acute. Fear of [...]