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News articles on Health

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Mongabay.com news articles on health in blog format. Updated regularly.

Global warming could worsen HIV/AIDS epidemic
(4/30/2008) A number of studies have suggested that climate change could expand the range of tropical diseases like Dengue fever and Encephalitis. Now a researcher from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia says that global warming could lead to an increase in HIV infection rates worldwide.


New cures for human ailments under threat by global extinction crisis
(4/24/2008) In the film Medicine Man, a researcher in the Amazon discovers a cure for cancer in a rare ant. However, a logging company arrives at the wrong moment and, despite protestations from the main characters, the company destroys the tract of rainforest where the ant once survived.


Illegal wildlife trade worth $20B/yr
(3/19/2008) The illegal wildlife trade generates $5 to $20 billion annually, making it the largest illicit market after guns and drugs trafficking, reports a study released by the Congressional Research Service.


DEET repellent works by blocking human odor from mosquitoes
(3/13/2008) DEET, a potent insect repellent, works by blocking the aroma of human sweat, report researchers writing in the journal Science. The discovery could lead to the development of new repellents that have fewer health risks.


Biomimicry of sea cucumber skin may help stroke treatment
(3/6/2008) Using sea cucumber skin for design inspiration, scientists have developed a new material that may improve treatment for Parkinson's disease, stroke and spinal chord injuries. The research is published in the journal Science.


Global malaria map released - 35% of humanity at risk
(2/25/2008) Researchers have developed a spatial distribution map for malaria. The results are published in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine.


Deforestation, wildlife conflict will be the source of emerging diseases
(2/22/2008) Due to habitat destruction and human-wildlife conflict, the tropics will likely be the next hotspot for emerging infectious diseases, report researchers who have developed the first map of new pathogens.


Dirt-munching helps protect chimps from malaria
(1/10/2008) Soil ingestion helps chimps protect themselves from malaria, reports a new study published in the journal Naturwissenschaften. Apparently geophagy, as the deliberate behavior is known, increases the potency of ingested plants with anti-malarial properties.


Amazon Conservation Team wins "Innovation in Conservation Award" for path-breaking work with Amazon tribes
(12/11/2007) The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) was today awarded mongabay.com's inaugural "Innovation in Conservation Award" for its path-breaking efforts to enable indigenous Amazonians to maintain ties to their history and cultural traditions while protecting their rainforest home from illegal loggers and miners.


A comprehensive look at the use of animals in Brazilian medicine
(12/10/2007) For millennia animals have been used in medicine as remedies. While this practice has all but disappeared in western countries, many cultures still employ traditional medicine that includes animal-derived remedies. Probably the most famous of these are the Chinese, who for example use seahorses for a variety of ailments and rhinoceros horn as an aphrodisiac. Lesser known and studied, though just as varied and rich is Brazil's long tradition of animal-remedies for all kinds of ailments. A recent study set out to document the wide-range of animals used in Brazilian traditional medicine and its possible consequences on animal populations, the environment, and Brazilian society.


World needs a 10% meat diet to fight global warming
(9/12/2007) Cutting world meat consumption by 10 percent would have a substantial impact on greenhouse emissions, say doctors writing in the health journal The Lancet.


Clean energy will improve health of the world's poor
(9/12/2007) Clean energy will help people live longer and healthier lives reports a study published in The Lancet. The research recommends a switch from fossil fuels towards renewable energy and improved access to electricity for the world's poor.


Ebola outbreak in Congo kills 166
(9/12/2007) An Ebola outbreak has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reported the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday.


Stopping malaria using smell
(8/31/2007) Researchers have taken an important first step in developing improved repellants to protect mankind from its deadliest insect parasite: the mosquito.


Obesity rates increase nationwide in 2006
(8/27/2007) 31 states saw a rise in obesity rates last year, reports a new study by the Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.


Soccer burns more fat than jogging
(8/23/2007) The experiment Sports scientist Peter Krustrup and his colleagues from the University of Copenhagen, the Copenhagen University Hospital and Bispebjerg Hospital have followed a soccer team consisting of 14 untrained men aged 20 to 40 years.


Blocking sunlight may cripple toxic bacteria
(8/23/2007) Certain types of bacteria have sunlight-sensing molecules similar to those found in plants, according to a new study. Surprisingly, at least one species--responsible for causing the flu-like disorder Brucellosis--needs light to maximize its virulence. The work suggests an entirely new model for bacterial virulence based on light sensitivity.


Plain soap as effective as antibacterial but without the risk
(8/15/2007) Antibacterial soaps show no health benefits over plain soaps and, in fact, may render some common antibiotics less effective, says a University of Michigan public health professor.


Clearing rainforest for cattle pasture drives surge in vampires
(8/15/2007) A new study confirms that vampire bats are thriving due to the clearing of rainforest for cattle pasture in Costa Rica. Instead of having to seek out scarce wildlife in the forest, vampire bats now prey on cattle kept in high densities on ranches.


Emerging (disease) markets
(8/15/2007) Instead of attacking wild birds for our new disease problems, a far more cost effective approach should focus on keeping wild animals separate in the places where they often commingle: in wildlife markets and international trade, according to wildlife health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a recent issue of the prestigious Journal of Wildlife Diseases.


As wealthy get dengue fever, drug companies more likely to act
(8/15/2007) As dengue fever increasingly becomes a disease of the affluent -- especially in Asia -- drug companies are showing more interest in developing treatment, reports a new article published in the journal Nature.


Global warming will producer higher death rates in the U.S.
(7/2/2007) Global warming will cause more deaths due to higher temperatures, reports a new study published in Occupational and Environment Medicine. While milder winters will produce fewer deaths, they will not offset high mortality in summer months.


Eating foie gras may cause mad cow-like disease
(6/19/2007) Consumption of foie gras can transmit amyloidosis, a disease which is sometimes manifested as mad cow or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), reports a new study in early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


Shark fin does not cure cancer
(6/3/2007) Shark cartilage, long believed in traditional medicine to be an anti-cancer agent, confers no health benefits in lung cancer survival reports an extensive study presented at the 43rd annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The lead author said the findings cast major skepticism on shark cartilage products that are being sold for profit and have no data to support their efficacy as cancer-fighting agent.


Global warming may worsen infectious disease
(5/22/2007) Outbreaks of infectious disease will likely worsen due to global warming, warn scientists at the 107th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Toronto.


Viagra helps hamsters recover from jet lag
(5/21/2007) A small dose of Viagra (sildenafil) can help hamsters recover more quickly from a six-hour advance in its daily cycle, report researchers in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).


Summer babies do worse in school due to pesticides
(5/6/2007) A new study links conception date to academic achievement later in life. The reason? Summertime pesticide use in the U.S. Midwest. Analyzing standardized test scores (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) for 1,667,391 students in Indiana, neonatologist Paul Winchester, of the Indiana University School of Medicine, and colleagues found that children conceived in June through August had lower test scores than average.


Mosquitoes are evolving in response to global warming
(4/23/2007) University of Oregon researchers studying mosquitoes have produced the first chromosomal map that shows regions of chromosomes that activate -- and are apparently evolving -- in animals in response to climate change


Ethanol may be greener but have higher health cost
(4/18/2007) Widespread burning of ethanol as fuel may increase the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations relative to gasoline, according to a new study by Stanford University atmospheric scientist Mark Z. Jacobson. The report comes as mounting environmental concerns cloud the benefits of using ethanol as a green alternative to fossil fuels.


70% of new drugs come from Mother Nature
(3/20/2007) Around 70 percent of all new drugs introduced in the United States in the past 25 years have been derived from natural products reports a study published in the March 23 issue of the Journal of Natural Products. The findings show that despite increasingly sophisticated techniques to design medications in the lab, Mother Nature is still the best drug designer.


Genetically engineered mosquitoes fight malaria
(3/19/2007) Globally, governments are spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually to reduce the impact of the malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that affects around 400 million people each year and kills one to three million die. While most of the focus to date have been on developing drugs that boost immunity to malaria or counteract the malaria parasite once it is in the victim's bloodstream, scientists have now developed a treatment that focuses on the mosquito itself. The research, described in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), uses a genetically engineered strain of malaria-resistant mosquitoes to out-compete natural mosquitoes when fed malaria-infected blood.


Toxin from 'translucent doughnut' could produce cancer treatment
(2/5/2007) A toxin derived from a reclusive sea creature resembling a translucent doughnut has inspired UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers to develop a related compound that shows promise as a cancer treatment.


Madagascar plant may offer new treatment for malaria
(12/25/2006) A plant traditionally used by healers in Madagascar may offer a new way to treat malaria, a mosquito-borne illness that kills 2-3 million people -- mostly children in Sub-Saharan Africa -- per year.


Circumcision reduces HIV/AIDS infection in men
(12/13/2006) Medical circumcision of men reduces their risk of acquiring HIV during heterosexual intercourse by 53 percent according to a University of Illinois at Chicago study. The results were so compelling researchers stopped the trial early to protect the health of participants. The study's safety board recommended that all men enrolled in the study who remain uncircumcised be offered circumcision.


Monkey trials for medical research should continue in Britain
(12/13/2006) British scientists support the use of primates in medical research to improve human health and reduce deaths from disease but only if no alternatives are available according to a report by the Academy of Medical Sciences. The report, which examines the scientific basis for recent, current and future use of non-human primates in biological and medical research, comes as a poll by the journal Nature reveals that most researchers have no ethical misgivings about the role of animals in their work.


Bioprospecting links health and biodiversity conservation in Panama
(12/7/2006) The difference between bioprospecting and biopiracy as at times controversial, but a program run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) suggests that training professionals in high-biodiversity regions can help bring benefits to local populations while promoting biodiversity conservation. The program, called the International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG), is profiled in the December issue of the journal BioScience.


By 2030 AIDS could be leading global cause of illness
(11/27/2006) HIV/AIDS, depression, and ischemic heart disease could be leading causes of illness by 2030 say researchers from the World Health Organization in a new paper published in the journal PLoS Medicine. However the researchers project that fewer children under the age of 5 years will die from disease in coming decades.


AIDS will block Millennium Development Goals for some counties
(11/27/2006) HIV/AIDS will make it difficult, if not impossible, for many countries to reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a new analysis by researchers published to coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1, 2006.


'Bushmeat' link to SARS outbreak confirmed
(11/23/2006) Chinese scientists say they have found a genetic link between SARS in civet cats, a racoon-like animal eaten as a delicacy in China, and humans.


Cancer viewed an evolutionary and ecological process
(11/17/2006) The dynamics of evolution are fully in play within the environment of a tumor, just as they are in forests and meadows, oceans and streams. This is the view of researchers in an emerging cross-disciplinary field that brings the thinking of ecologists and evolutionary biologists to bear on cancer biology.


Ebola outbreaks may worsen with global warming
(11/15/2006) Ebola outbreaks are linked to wildlife and climate according to new research published in the journal Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Ebola, a deadly hemorrhagic fever made famous in Richard Preston's book The Hot Zone, periodically emerges to affect human populations in Central Africa. Until now, scientists had little understanding of the pattern behind Ebola outbreaks.


Snail venom could be used to treat pain due to spinal cord injury
(11/14/2006) Cone snail venom may offer a new approach to treating severe pain according to researchers at the University of Utah. "We found a new way to treat a chronic and debilitating form of pain suffered by hundreds of millions of people on Earth," says J. Michael McIntosh, a University of Utah research professor of biology. "It is a previously unrecognized mechanism for treating pain."


Global warming will threaten health through dirtier air, hotter days, and more natural disasters
(10/23/2006) Global warming will threaten human health through dirtier air, hotter days, and more natural disasters that will worsen water quality, stress emergency systems, and create environmental refugees, warns a public health physician.


Rising sea levels could flood Gulf bays in Texas, Louisiana
(10/23/2006) Rising sea levels and increased sedimentation threaten to flood bays and delta areas in U.S Gulf Coast regions in Texas and Louisiana warned a Rice University researcher.


Common wood duck and laughing gull could transmit bird flu in America
(10/23/2006) The common wood duck and laughing gull are very susceptible to H5N1 avian influenza viruses (bird flu) and have the potential to transmit them according to scientists at the University of Georgia. Their research, published in the November issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, shows that different species birds respond differently to bird flu viruses.


Viruses can jump primate-human species barrier, researchers warn
(8/23/2006) Viruses that jump the species barrier between monkeys and humans can harm both people and animals, and we should take steps to reduce the risk of virus transmission. That's the message running through the September issue of the American Journal of Primatology, a special issue on disease risk analysis edited by a primate expert at the University of Washington.


Forest fires have high cost to health
(8/10/2006) Forest fires have a huge impact on human health according to a new study from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada which attempted to put a pricetag on the actual economic losses caused by a 2001 fire that burned 116,000 hectares of forest land and settlements Chisholm, Alberta.


Aquarium Fish May be the Key to New Therapies for Birth Defects
(8/9/2006) A humble aquarium fish may be the key to finding therapies capable of preventing the structural birth defects that account for one out of three infant deaths in the United States today.


Mushroom Extract May Help Fight Infection, Cancer
(8/9/2006) Can the extract of a mushroom that is commonly found in the woods of North America, Asia and Europe have a beneficial impact on the human immune system? A small study using Turkey Tail mushroom (Trametes versicolor) extract, has found that it may.


Physically active kids are better students
(8/3/2006) Physically active middle school students tend to do better in school than their more sedentary classmates, according to a new study published by researchers from Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University.



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