There’s nothing more natural than being born. There’s also nothing quite as fraught. A whole lot can go wrong during that long and tortuous journey from the womb to the world
Doctors Versus Midwives: The Birth Wars Rage On
Tag Archives: journal
Screams, ‘We’re down,’ recorded in cockpit of crashing plane
The pilot of a doomed plane that crashed, killing 50 people, said "Jesus Christ" and "We’re down," seconds before the plane hurtled from the night sky into a house outside Buffalo, New York, in February.
Judging the WHO’s Reaction to the H1N1 (Swine Flu) Threat
Few global health decisions have created quite as much commotion as that on April 29, when the World Health Organization , responding to the escalating spread of the H1N1 flu, raised its pandemic alert level for the first time to phase 5, meaning that a full pandemic was considered imminent. As of May 11, the WHO has reported more than 4,600 cases in 30 countries — including 2,600 cases in nearly every state in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and the threat level remains at phase 5. But over the past two weeks, fears over H1N1 have cooled considerably, as the virus has failed to spread easily outside North America and the number of deaths from the disease has remained low, leaving the WHO fending off critics who questioned whether the international agency overreacted
How Stereotypes Defeat the Stereotyped
As explicit discrimination has receded in the last two decades, culminating in the elevation of an African-American to the Presidency, a woman to the House Speakership and a black woman to the galactic dominance known as being Oprah Winfrey, those who study the effects of racism and sexism have had to cope with a difficult question: If discrimination is less powerful, why do some groups in society continue to fare worse than others? Has bias merely become better hidden, or are there other forces at work
Why Antidepressants Don’t Live Up to the Hype
In the ’90s, Americans grew fond of the idea that you can fix depression simply by taking a pill — most famously fluoxetine , though fluoxetine is just one of at least seven selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that have been prescribed to treat hundreds of millions of people around the world. But in the past few years, researchers have challenged the effectiveness of Prozac and other SSRIs in several studies. For instance, a review published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in February attributed 68% of the benefit from antidepressants to the placebo effect
Hunting for the secrets of a happy marriage
No one can truly know what goes on inside a marriage except the two people involved, but researchers are getting increasingly good glimpses at what makes couples tick, how relationships are stressed and what factors can keep the spark alive. (CNN) — No one can truly know what goes on inside a marriage except the two people involved, but researchers are getting increasingly good glimpses at what makes couples tick, how relationships are stressed and what factors can keep the spark alive. The goal: To find out what keeps love alive and couples together.
Head-banging parrot proves birds can dance
(CNN) — A head-banging parrot who became a YouTube sensation has demonstrated that an ability to appreciate music and keep a rhythm is not unique to humans, scientists say. Snowball the cockatoo, who appears to bop his head, tap his claws and squawk enthusiastically to the Back Street Boys’ “Everybody” is one of several birds apparently capable of dancing to a beat, according to two studies published in the latest edition of the journal Current Biology.
Forgotten Franklin letters offer glimpse into U.S. history
An American professor doing research in London stumbled across a series of previously unknown letters written by, to, and about Benjamin Franklin, a stunning find that sheds new light on early U.S. history.
All Sugars Aren’t the Same: Glucose Is Better, Study Says
Correction Appended: April 21, 2009 Think that all sugars are the same They may all taste sweet to the tongue, but it turns out your body can tell the difference between glucose, fructose and sucrose, and that one of these sugars is worse for your health than the others. In the first detailed analysis comparing how our systems respond to glucose and fructose, , researchers at the University of California Davis report in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that consuming too much fructose can actually put you at greater risk of developing heart disease and diabetes than ingesting similar amounts of glucose. In the study, 32 overweight or obese men and women were randomly assigned to drink 25% of their daily energy requirements in either fructose- or glucose-sweetened drinks
Is There a Longevity Personality?
Why do some people live to be older than others?