all NYC residents, including illegal immigrantsNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a universal health care plan on Tuesday, promising affordable medical coverage to all residents, regardless of citizenship status. But details were scant on how the program will be funded.
Soil found in rural Northern Ireland could hold the key to fighting antibiotic resistance, researchers believe.
Doctors and scientists are desperately searching for new ways to kill superbugs – and the new finding could pave the way.
A study found dirt from County Fermanagh can stop the growth of drug-resistant bacteria, such as the hospital superbug MRSA.
The discovery has been hailed as an ‘important step forward’ in the progress against antibiotic resistance, considered one of the biggest threats to humanity.
Among the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s responsibilities are approval and regulation of pharmaceutical drugs. In short, its responsibility is to ensure the safety and effectiveness of drugs. In the performance of this task, FDA officials can make two types of errors — statistically known as the type I error and type II error. With respect to the FDA, a type I error is the rejection or delayed approval of a drug that is safe and effective — erring on the side of over-caution — and a type II error is the approval of a drug that has unanticipated dangerous side effects, or erring on the side of under-caution. read more
Incredible X-rays show acupuncture needles buried along the spine of a 94-year-old woman.
The unnamed woman, who had recently been diagnosed with dementia, went to the division of general internal medicine at the University of Toronto after a painful fall.
Doctors took scans of her back and hips to rule out any fractures, only to discover what looked like tiny flecks along her spine and at the top of her legs.
The medics were told by the woman’s carers she had visited a traditional Korean Hari acupuncture clinic just once 30 years before. Hari involves leaving needles permanently under the skin in the belief they relieve pain.
As harmful bacteria continue to become resistant to standard antibiotics, it gets increasingly important to come up with alternatives. read more
Much mystery surrounds the physiological processes by which humans age, but scientists are learning more all the time. With this knowledge come new possibilities around how we can not only slow them down, but possibly even reverse them. A new breakthrough at the University of Colorado is the latest advance in the area, demonstrating how a chemically altered nutritional supplement may well reverse aging of the blood vessels, in turn giving cardiovascular health a vital boost. read more
As the shock-absorbing cartilage discs between our vertebrae degenerate due to aging, accidents or overuse, severe back pain can result. While some scientists have developed purely synthetic replacement discs, a recent test on goats indicates that bioengineered discs may be a better way to go. read more
To all my loyal readers – I’d like to apologize in advance. I, the Common Constitutionalist, sustained a sports-related injury 
yesterday.Turns out I’m not invincible after all. Who knew? I’ll tell you who knew. Everyone but me.
I won’t detail it, but it’s a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament or PCL. It’s the largest of four knee ligaments, and the least known. Anyone who follows sports, especially football, knows the other three – the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL). read more
As of late yesterday, there have been 32 stricken with E. coli in 11 States thus far. Although no deaths have been reported, 13 people have been hospitalized – one with kidney failure.
Advice to Consumers, Restaurants, and Retailers:
CDC is advising that U.S. consumers not eat any romaine lettuce, and retailers and restaurants not serve or sell any, until we learn more about the outbreak. This investigation is ongoing and the advice will be updated as more information is available.
According to the Center for Disease Control, 1.25 million people suffer from type 1 diabetes in the US alone. So far, it can only be managed with diet and regular doses of insulin, but scientists at UT Health San Antonio have invented a way of curing the disease in mice that may one day do the same for humans even with type 2 diabetes. read more
