Category: Research (Page 14 of 93)

Water Pollution From Birth Control Poses A Problem

May 24, 2012 / Staff

The active ingredient in most birth control pills is ending up in the drinking water supply in most countries around the world.

The damage to wildlife can be readily seen and the broader concern, of course, is whether or not there is an effect on human biology, as well.

Ecological systems may be at risk along with the health of people everywhere.

The problem is effectively removing ethinyl estradiol can be quite costly. Governmental estimates put the cost of upgrading about 1,360 wastewater treatment plants across England and Wales so they can comply with a proposed limit at between $41 billion and $47 billion (€32 billion and €37 billion), according to Richard Owen, a professor at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.

Quality Control, Research, Resources, Wellness

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CDC Suggests Hepatitis C Testing For Baby Boomers

May 24, 2012 / Staff

Baby boomers should be tested for hepatitis C because of the inherent risk factors of the disease.

Hepatitis C can damage the liver, often without being symptomatic.

The virus is the leading cause of liver cancer and liver transplants and potentially 800,000 people do not know that they have it.

And a recent analysis by the CDC found that more people in the U.S. die from hepatitis C than HIV/AIDS.

The current guidelines call for testing when someone has known risk factors.
Such as? Blood transfusions or organ transplants before 1992 (when effective screening for hepatitis C virus became common), or recreational injection of drugs — even once — could have led to a liver infection that has gone undetected all these years.
just being a baby boomer is risk factor enough, the CDC has concluded. “Baby boomers are five times more likely than other American adults to be infected with the disease,” the CDC says. “In fact, more than 75 percent of American adults with hepatitis C are baby boomers.” Infection rates were highest in the ’70s and ’80s.

Hepatitis C is highly treatable so being tested is important.

Research, Resources, Wellness

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New Test May Detect Early Signs Of Pancreatic Cancer

May 23, 2012 / Staff

A test to detect the early signs of pancreatic cancer is good news for those at risk for the disease.

Known as one of the deadliest cancers, pancreatic cancer has, up to this point, been difficult to diagnose in it’s earliest stages when possible life saving treatment would be most effective.

In recent years, researchers have been investigating minimally invasive ways to find cancer by looking for so-called “field effects,” which are changes that occur in nearby tissues as a result of cancer growth. For instance, tumors require an increased blood supply. This means tissue in the vicinity of a cancer might have enlarged blood vessels, and a depletion of oxygen in the blood. Wallace likened the test to a metal detector that beeps faster the closer you get to the cancer.

Research, Wellness

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