Discover the Science of Health
A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic responses to indoor allergens, according to research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Duke University. The finding is the first to document the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link between allergic asthma and the environment.
Flax, or linseed, has been cultivated for centuries. Its fibers were used to make linen in ancient Egypt. More recently, flax seeds have become popular among health-conscious consumers. Several studies suggest that it may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. Flax contains high levels of three nutrients that are good for our health.
FastForward Health is an evening film festival highlighting those people innovating and developing new ideas to improve public and community health around the world.
Founded by Andre Blackman (@MindofAndre) and David Haddad (@haddadda), FastForward Health launched on November 1st, 2011. As we near the end of year one, we sat down with co-founder Andre Blackman to talk about the project and where it’s headed.
Andre Blackman is Founder and Managing Editor of Pulse + Signal, a website that features highlights and commentary on the impact/usefulness of technology in the public health landscape. He is the former Director of Digital for the American Heart Association, Mid-Atlantic Affiliate. Andre is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Mayo Clinic Center for Health Care Social Media (over the years, we’ve interviewed two other board members: Phil Baumann and Bertalan Mesko).
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced earlier this week. The prize was awarded to two scientists for their work on reprogramming mature cells to become pluripotent.
The prize of 10-million-Swedish-krona (US$1.5-million) was divided, one half jointly to Sir John B. Gurdon, age 79, at the Gurdon Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Shinya Yamanaka, age 50, at Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan and the Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, California, USA, for the discovery that mature, specialized cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body.
Green tea has been enjoyed for centuries, and its benefits have been widely touted. It is reputed to help treat many of modernity’s worst ills, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, HIV infection, and neurodegenerative diseases. New work done in China furthers the observations that green tea can help prevent neurodegeneration. The report, published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, starts to elucidate the mechanism by which it does so [1].
