So much can be communicated in just one kiss — including the bacteria Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus, which flourish on teeth and gums and cause cavities.
Medicine
Freeway Air Pollution Linked to Brain Damage in Mice
It’s no secret that air pollution — besides damaging the pulmonary system and blackening the skies — can also lead to cardiovascular problems and even heart attacks. But a new study in the journal Environmental Health …
Are You Among the ‘Sleepless Elite’ — Or Just Sleep Deprived?
For many Americans, sleeplessness is a matter of pride. Many is the hard-charging corporate climber who claims to thrive on four or five hours a night, while the rest of us weaklings wallow in our beauty sleep.
Has Work Got You Burning the Midnight Oil? It Could Be Bad for Your Heart
The benefits of gainful employment are many, but working hard may have a downside: an increased risk of heart attack.
New Alzheimer’s Genes: Why They Matter, Even If They Don’t Change Patient Care
Genes are a gateway to understanding disease, and Alzheimer’s is certainly no exception. In recent years, researchers have grown the list of known genes associated with the most common form of the condition, which affects …
Study: Weight Gain May Boost Survivors’ Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence, Death
Breast cancer survivors who gain weight may increase their risk of dying of the disease, reported scientists from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting on Tuesday.
Scientists Uncover the First Case of Hardened Arteries in a Mummy
It’s widely known that atherosclerosis — the hardening of the arteries that contributes to heart attack — is caused by our modern lifestyle: how many of us sit sedentary at our desks all day, eating fat-laden fast-food diets, …
Can Breast Milk Predict Cancer Risk?
I’m attending the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Orlando, Fla., where an interesting study was presented Monday about the potential of breast milk to help, of all things, prevent cancer.
For Parents Whose Kids Won’t Sleep, There’s Help Online
As anyone in a household with infants or toddlers knows, bedtime can be a nightmare. But that’s where technology, in the form of Web-based sleep counseling, can help.
Could Stem-Cell Transplants Help the Japanese Nuclear Workers?
Japanese authorities have proposed the precautionary measure of harvesting and banking stem cells from the bone marrow of workers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, in order to transplant the cells back into those who may …
Hands-Free Faucets May Spread More Germs Than Manual Taps
We’ve become a rather germ-phobic society, what with our antibacterial soaps, hand sanitizers, automatic water faucets and self-flushing toilets — all of which are supposed to reduce our contact with potential disease-causing …
New Report Ranks U.S. Health by County. Where Do You Live?
A comprehensive survey of overall health county-by-county in the U.S. confirms a few things we already know to be true: being poor is bad for your health. So is having low education, not having a job and having less access to …
Q&A With a Superbug Expert: How Dangerous Is CRKP?
Superbugs are the dastardly villains of the medical world: they’re hard to catch and kill, and they wreak havoc on the helpless.