Author: healthadmin
A review of more than 850 historical newspaper reports reveals that the daring act of licking frozen metal in childhood can sometimes cause serious injuries, providing valuable insight into who is at risk and how these accidents should be responded to. Research: Demographics and outcomes of tongue freezing: a detailed review of Scandinavian tundra tongue cases. Image credit: Anna Pasichnyk/Shutterstock.com For at least 250 years, newspapers have reported stories of children freezing their tongues to cold metal. This is a phenomenon called “tundra tongue.” However, there is little evidence to determine whether this represents a significant health risk. In a…
Researchers have identified 90 million-year-old fossils that help solve a long-standing mystery about a strange group of prehistoric animals. The discovery was led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities scientist Peter Makowiecki and Argentine paleontologist Sebastian Apesteguia. Their findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, describe an almost complete skeleton. Arunachetri seropolisiensis. This dinosaur belonged to a special group of theropod-like birds called Alvarezsaurus. These animals are known for their small teeth and unusually short arms that end in one giant thumb claw. For decades, scientists struggled to understand this group, as most of the well-preserved fossils were found in…
Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with Morning Rounds, STAT’s free newsletter. Sign up here. good morning. Here are some recent hot opinions for the townspeople around Boston. McDonald’s coffee may be better than Dunk. (Quick follow-up: Much better than Starbucks.) HHS cancels autism conference amid fierce battle The Federal Advisory Committee on Autism (known as the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, not to be confused with a new independent group with a similar name) will not convene later this month as originally scheduled. The news was first reported over the weekend and confirmed by HHS in…
Recent research published in modern drug problem They argue that strict worldwide bans on psychedelic drugs were driven by political ideology and media panic, rather than by scientific evidence of medical harm. Historical analysis reveals that the 1971 United Nations decision to severely restrict these substances relied on cultural anxieties rather than genuine public health risks. These findings suggest that current international drug law may need to be re-evaluated to remove unnecessary barriers to modern medical research. Psychedelics are a diverse class of substances that alter a person’s perception, mood, and cognitive processes. This category includes natural compounds found in…
LAS VEGAS—Samsung Electronics and digital health company b.well Connected Health are teaming up to eliminate traditional patient clipboards and replace them with smartphones. Samsung Galaxy smartphone users will now have digital access to their complete health history through the Samsung Health app and will be able to share their medical records with participating providers via QR code. The companies say this will eliminate the need for patients to fill out medical questionnaires at nearly every medical visit. Despite advances in technology, patients typically have to fill out the same forms at the doctor’s office, repeating relevant medical information from memory,…
Entrepreneur Alexandra Knauer, managing director of laboratory equipment manufacturer KNAUER, has been awarded the Pittcon Heritage Award 2026 in the United States. Alexandra Knauer, Pitcon Heritage Award recipient. Image credit: KNAUER This award recognizes outstanding individuals who have made lasting contributions to the advancement of instrumental analysis and experimental science. The awards ceremony took place on March 8, 2026, during the Pittcon Conference and Expo in San Antonio, Texas, with approximately 700 conference attendees in attendance. Surprisingly, Alexandra Knauer was unable to travel as planned because she did not have a US visa. Dr. Markus Fuchs, who has been with…
A growing body of research suggests that the gut microbiome may influence the hormonal and metabolic disturbances seen in PCOS. Scientists now propose that postbiotics, bioactive compounds produced by microorganisms, may one day complement existing treatments by restoring microbial balance and improving metabolic health. Research: Therapeutic application of postbiotics in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome. Image credit: Elif Bayraktar/Shutterstock.com Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age that interferes with fertility and often causes menstrual irregularities. Increasing research interest has focused on possible connections with the gut microbiome. Recent reviews published in magazines…
Three presidents have used the Clean Air Act to curb global warming pollution. If President Donald Trump has his way, they will be the last. But the 1963 Act has always been incomplete and an insufficient tool to address climate change. Just ask the lawyer behind the landmark 2007 Supreme Court case that made the EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases legal. “No one thought the Clean Air Act would be the best template for dealing with climate change,” said Richard Lazarus, a professor at Harvard Law School and author of “The Rule of Five,” a book about the Massachusetts v.…
New research published in biological psychology reported that individuals with heightened psychopathic traits may experience fear in fundamentally different ways than others and may interpret physiological arousal in fearful situations as positive rather than negative. This finding supports the emerging fear-enjoyment hypothesis, which holds that psychopathology is characterized by atypical emotional interpretations of fear-related arousal, rather than the absence of fear. Previously, the dominant view in psychology was that psychopathy involved profound deficits in fear processing. Early models, originating from David Ricken’s famous “low fear index theory” in 1957, suggested that individuals with psychopathic traits exhibit blunted physiological responses to…
Eight-year-old Jonah woke up one morning in May with a swollen face and a sore tooth. He refused painkillers that his mother, Geneva Reynolds, tried to give him. He didn’t sleep or eat and was crying all the time. Within days, Reynolds became desperate and, together with her husband, physically restrained Jonah and poured painkillers down Jonah’s throat as he screamed in pain. “It broke our hearts,” said Reynolds, who was living in Georgetown, Kentucky, at the time. “And I remember thinking, “It doesn’t have to happen that way.” Reynolds was unable to find an open dentist who could treat…