Health
State of Health
Ebola Is Not That Contagious, and 10 Other Quick Facts
Two nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas contracted Ebola from a patient they were treating, but 44 of 48 others who came in contact with the patient, including his fiancee, have completed their quarantine period and are cleared of the disease. The remaining four should complete their quarantine ...Read More
KQED Science
New Research Shows Targeted Antioxidants Help Mice Live Longer, Healthier Lives
While many of the benefits of antioxidants are undoubtedly oversold, we do know that if given at high enough levels and targeted to the right place, antioxidants can help a mouse live 10-20% longer. If this holds up in people, that is equivalent to an extra 7-14 years for people here in the U.S.
KQED Science
Drought-Stressed Crops May Be Better For You
Scientists in California's Central Valley are testing the nutrient content of fruits grown with less-than-normal amounts of water. And the findings so far are raising a question: will consumers buy fruits that are just as nutritional, or sometimes higher in antioxidants, if they aren't as pretty?
State of Health
Poll: More Than Half of Americans Worry About Ebola Outbreak in U.S.
A Harvard School of Public Health poll finds that more than a third of Americans (38 percent) are worried that Ebola will infect them or a family member over the next year.
State of Health
32 Myths — and Plenty of Facts — About the Flu Vaccine
KQED News social media editor Olivia Allen-Price gets her flu shot. (Lisa Pickoff-White/KQED) By Tara Haelle, NPR Brace yourselves: Flu season is coming. And along with the coughing, fevers and aches you can expect a lot of unreliable or downright wrong information about the flu vaccine. Flu kills more ...Read More
KQED Science
Do Wearables and Health Apps Belong in the Doctor’s Office?
Wearables and health apps made a multi-billion-dollar industry out of healthy peoples' desires to count calories and rack up steps. Now can this technology make the transition to a medical setting, to help people with chronic illnesses?
State of Health
Why Advocates Say Brown’s Veto of Livestock-Antibiotics Bill is a Good Thing
(iStock/Getty Images) By Joe Rubin Senate Bill 835 was crafted as a measure aimed at limiting antibiotic use in livestock. To those concerned about the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, it might seem surprising that Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the bill earlier this week. Yet advocates believe that in ...Read More
The California Report
California-Trained Doctor Helps Keep Liberian Hospital Open During Ebola Crisis
While many run from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, some brave souls are running toward the region to help. Dr. James Appel is one of those. Trained in the Inland Empire at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, he's been working for Adventist Health International at hospitals in ...Read More
KQED Science
MRI Research at UCSF Could Help Diagnose Dyslexia Even Earlier in Children
UCSF researchers aim to predict whether children will develop dyslexia before they show signs of reading and speech problems, using a variety of methods including MRI brain scans.
KQED Science
How Big Data Is Changing Medicine
Used to be that medical researchers came up with a theory, recruited subjects, and gathered data, sometimes for years. Now, the answers are already there in data collections on the cloud. All researchers need is the right question.
State of Health
Drought May Be Driving Increase in West Nile
A security guard walks the perimeter of the Almaden Reservoir in San Jose. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Public health experts say the state's historic drought is partly to blame for the recent rise in West Nile virus infections. Cases this year have more than doubled ...Read More
State of Health
California's Vaccine Opt-Out Rate Doubled in 7 Years
California law requires that children entering kindergarten be fully vaccinated against a range of diseases. But the rate of parents opting out of vaccines for their children has doubled since 2007. Look up information about schools here.
State of Health
By Richard Harris, NPR Ian Glomski thought he was going to make a difference in the fight to protect people from deadly anthrax germs. He had done everything right — attended one top university, landed an assistant professorship at another. But Glomski ran head-on into an unpleasant reality: These days, ...Read More
State of Health
First Death Reported from the Napa Quake
The magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck Aug. 24. (Craig Miller/KQED) A 65-year-old woman who suffered a head injury when a television struck her during last month's earthquake in California's wine country has died — the first death attributed to the magnitude-6.0 quake, sheriff's officials said. Laurie Anne Thompson was at her Napa home during ...Read More
KQED Science
Apple Jumps Into Health Monitoring With New Watch
The debut of the device marks Apple's entrance into multibillion-dollar mobile health industry.
State of Health
UCSF’s First Undocumented Medical Student Begins Training
Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn, a newly-minted medical student at UCSF. By Mina Kim I first met Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn a little over two years ago. He was completing his undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley and had dreams of going to medical school. But he had no idea if he'd ever get there. Latthivongskorn is ...Read More
KQED Science
Fixing a Gene in a Fertilized Egg Prevents Muscular Dystrophy (in a Mouse)
Scientists recently fixed a broken gene in a fertilized mouse egg and prevented the mouse from getting an ultimately fatal form of muscular dystrophy. This study may one day translate into gene therapies that will treat and maybe even reverse certain effects of the disease.
KQED Science
Finding the Next Ebola Before it Breaks Out
Scientists at UC Davis are scouring the globe to find new viruses that can jump from animals to humans. Their goal is to prevent the next pandemic.
State of Health
West Nile Virus Infections in California at All-Time High (Map of Cases by County)
West Nile virus is hosted primarily by birds — and spread by mosquitos. (Getty Images) West Nile Virus infections in mosquitoes are at their highest recorded level ever in California. Last week, 52 new human cases were reported, bringing the total to 181. Eight people have died from the illness. “If you're out ...Read More
KQED Science
Why You Might Want to Wait Until January to Buy a New Sofa
Two new California laws aim to keep flame-retardant chemicals out of furniture. But how can consumers know for sure?
