Health & Medicine

Discover, October 1 2010.

The United States government officially apologized to Guatemala today for unethical medical experiments conducted by American researchers in the country over 60 years ago, in which unwitting subjects were deliberately infected with syphilis.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said they were, in their words, “outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of public health.” Read More >

Discover, September 28 2010.

Poolside at Las Vegas’s Vdara hotel is a dangerous place to be. That’s according to one tourist who claims he almost had his hair singed off by a “death ray”—the term used by some hotel employees—reflected from hotel’s shiny facade.

The hotel’s spokesperson would understandably prefer to use the term “hot spot” or “solar convergence” to describe the spot near the pool where the sunlight reflects off the building’s side. Hotel guests say they have seen plastic cups and bags melt from the heat of the ray. The Review-Journal was tipped off to the problem by the story of a poolside lounger named Bill Pintas from Chicago. Read More >

Discover, September 27 2010.

The Emergency Bra, which won both the Ig Nobel prize in public health and a spot on TIME’s list of the Worst Inventions of 2009 is now available through the website, www.ebbra.com for $29.99. CNET explains its intended use:

The bra is, of course, meant to be taken off, something most adults presumably have experience with. Once removed, it separates into two masks which, when placed over the nose and mouth, filter out particles…. Read More >

Discover, September 23 2010.

The New York Times’s health blog is asking scientists and readers what they would rename high fructose corn syrup, if they were given the chance. The ubiquitous sticky sweetener is considered poison by many foodies and some public health officials, who worry that HFCS-packed processed foods contribute to obesity. But the companies that make the sweetener–the Corn Refiners Group–are hoping that changing the name of the product will change its image, as their president told the New York Times:

“Clearly the name is confusing consumers,” said Audrae Erickson, president of the Washington-based group, in an interview. “Research shows that ‘corn sugar’ better communicates the amount of calories, the level of fructose and the sweetness in this ingredient.” Read More >

Discover, September 21, 2010.

A study of children has discovered a correlation between obesity and prior infection with a cold virus, called Adenovirus 36. While the link is fairly weak, the tantalizing research suggests a new front on the war on obesity.

The study participants included 124 children between the ages of 8 and 18. Of the 67 obese children involved in the study, 15 had signs of previous infection with the AD36 virus, in comparison with only 4 of the 57 non-obese children. The study was published in the online edition of Pediatrics.

The children who had been previously exposed to the virus (which was indicated by the antibodies to the virus present in their blood) were on average 50 pounds heavier than the non-exposed children. And even within the obese group, those that had been previously exposed to AD36 were an average of 35 pounds heavier. Read More >