Biology Bytes
disease
The Science of ALS and the Irony of the Ice Bucket Challenge
With the ALS ice bucket challenge going viral, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been getting a lot of attention. But what exactly is ALS? It is essentially a poorly understood neurodegenerative disease that kills relatively quickly — with people usually dying within 3–5 years after onset of the first symptoms — and is responsible for … Continue reading
Salt, Cardiovascular Disease, and Death: Controversial Correlations
Just last Thursday, three papers were published in The New England Journal of Medicine that came to very different conclusions about how much table salt (sodium chloride) we should have in our diets if we want to avoid cardiovascular disease and a related death. While two of the studies suggested that most people could safely … Continue reading
Ebola: What Is It and What Do You Have to Worry About?
Ebola has been in the headlines a lot lately, mostly because the current outbreak is the largest one we’ve ever seen. There have also been people transported into the United States who were infected, raising concerns about an Ebola outbreak happening in the country. However, while Ebola is a terrifying disease, it is unlikely to … Continue reading
The Chikungunya Virus is in the U.S.: Get to Know the Virus
Have you heard of the chikungunya virus? The virus (pronounced chik-en-gun-ye) was discovered in 1952 in Africa, and has been slowly making its way around the world… although the pace has been quickened in recent years. The first U.S. case was reported just earlier this month, on July 17, 2014, and a second case soon … Continue reading
Our Microbiomes: In Sickness and in Health
Last week, we took a look at the amazing diversity of microbes (bacteria, fungi, and others) that live on, and inside of, our bodies. This week we’ll dig deeper into our microbiomes and explore what’s known about how they help keep us healthy, and why they sometimes make us sick. Shown here are Lactobacillus bacteria … Continue reading
Alzheimer’s Updates: Why It’s Important to Eat Healthy and Other Findings
In the past six months, several interesting and promising studies have been published on Alzheimer’s disease. They’ve ranged from how what we eat might affect our odds of developing it, to discovering the underlying mechanisms. Taken together, researchers are definitely making progress in developing treatments — and preventative measures — for Alzheimer’s. For those of … Continue reading
Bacteria and Stress May Trigger Heart Attacks and Strokes
Heart attacks and strokes have been thought to be prompted by stress. But why is this — why does stress trigger these dangerous medical events? Based on a study published earlier this month, a key player may actually be some specific species of bacteria. Certain bacteria species (like the Pseudomonas aeruginosa shown here in brown) … Continue reading
Two New Drugs to Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Because they help us fight bacterial infections, antibiotics are an amazing invention that has let us greatly improve our quality of life and life expectancy. However, their overuse has led to some extremely dangerous pathogens — antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Specifically, last fall it was found that more than 2 million people in the U.S. get infected … Continue reading
MERS Update: Now in the U.S.
Since it was first discovered in a person in mid-2012, MERS (short for Middle East respiratory syndrome) has been a looming viral threat. MERS is a disease caused a type of virus called a coronavirus (CoV), which typically infects the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. (Many common colds and even cases of pneumonia are caused by … Continue reading
Toxoplasma: A Common Parasite that Affects Height, Personality, and Lots More
Have you ever felt like your reaction time isn’t as good as it should be? Or, if you’re male, have you ever had people comment that you look particularly masculine? These traits might seem unrelated, but they actually can be due to the same thing — infection by a very common parasite called Toxoplasma gondii … Continue reading