After giving infants standard childhood vaccines against diseases such as diptheria, polio, whooping cough and others, doctors sometimes also recommend acetaminophen—sold as paracetamol in Europe, Tylenol and other names in the U.S.—as a prophylactic, to help prevent fever after the shots. Acetaminophen is both an analgesic, or pain
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It’s no surprise that people have unique scents—from your seventh grade teacher’s combination of pungent perfume and chalk dust, to your mom’s familiar aroma of Gardenia and soap. But, are our particular smells unique enough for everyone to have a distinct “odorprint”? According to an article from Chemical & Engineering News, there is
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In a study that tracked hand-washing behavior in 250,000 people, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that only a third of men washed with soap, compared with two thirds of women, the BBC reports. Authors of the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, used sensors to monitor
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In a study of 811 people treating major depression over a 12-week period with the drugs nortriptyline (marketed as Aventyl and Pamelor) and competitor escitalopram (marketed as Lexapro and Cipralex), researchers found that men taking nortriptyline showed a dramatic increase in suicidal thoughts, compared to those taking the competing
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What’s better for happiness and peace of mind in a young marriage—a rosy view of everything your spouse does, or a realistic outlook on his or her charming traits, and annoying habits? According to research published in the October 13 issue of the journal Psychological Science, it’s important to have a little bit of both.
For people who had been considering retirement but now remain in the job market because of the economic slump, there may at least be a salubrious silver lining. According to a study published in the October issue of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, retirees who transition to a part-time or temporary job before leaving the
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If slobbery kisses and adoring tail wags weren’t enough to secure dogs’ reputation as man’s best friend, a new initiative from some creative cancer researchers may do just that. By recruiting pet dogs with naturally occurring cancers into clinical trials, oncologists may be able to develop treatments that could eventually be used
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The debate over the lengthy hours and the sleepless overnight shifts that characterize medical training programs continues to rage, both in the U.S. and abroad. But new research published in the October 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association underscores that getting enough sleep isn’t only crucial for medical …
Dyslexia may manifest itself differently for speakers of different languages, according to a study published online in the October 12 issue of Current Biology. Using visual and audio tests, as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans, researchers from the University of Hong Kong determined that, while dyslexia in
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A collection of studies to be published in the November 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association offer insights into the H1N1 flu strain that has now caused the deaths of at least 4,500 people worldwide, and which World Health Organization officials estimate will continue to be classified as a pandemic for several
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Children with persistent abdominal pain were able to find some relief through a novel technique that recruited their imaginations, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. Of the study participants, half regularly listened to recordings that instructed them to imagine themselves floating on a cloud, for example,
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The debate about the safety and social implications of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for young girls continues—and reached a frenzied pitch with the death of a British teen hours after getting the cervical cancer vaccine, despite initial evidence that her demise was the result of a “serious underlying medical condition.”
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Drunk driving continues to be a major problem across the U.S., (especially in more rural areas where intoxicated revelers who don’t assign a designated driver don’t have many public transportation options). In 2008 alone, 11,773 people were killed in crashes where one of the drivers was over the legal limit, according to the
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