Is Embryo Adoption Ethical?

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Is Embryo Adoption Ethical?

Did you know a small, but growing, number of families are turning to embryo adoption programs. Some are of course adopting embryos created during their own in vitro fertilization cycles but others are actually adopting unused embryos to build families of their own. One of the by-products of IVF treatment is the creation of ‘supernumerary embryos’ or pre-embryos. As part of the procedure, more embryos are brought into existence than actually used. The remaining embryos are frozen to be used later if the first trial proves unsuccessful or if the couple wants another child. This debate was touched on a few months back when Sophia Vergara was being sued for the rights to embryos she had created during IVF cycles with a former boyfriend. 

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Top 10 Most Innovative Companies Worldwide

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Top 10 Most Innovative Companies Worldwide

From IBM to some newer faces, there are so many companies disrupting the healthcare industry for everything from preventive are and better cancer treatments to technology and hospital equipment. Here are the top 10 innovative companies from around the world changing the future of health. 

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New lung cancer vaccine from Cuba

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New lung cancer vaccine from Cuba

Cuba has a new promising lung cancer vaccine called CimaVax that may soon be coming to the United States. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the United States. It kills more people than colon, prostate, and breast cancer combined. Lung cancer is very difficult to identify early and very difficult to treat being that it is most often discovered in an advanced stage. More than 50 percent of patients die within a year of being diagnosed.

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What is climate change doing to our health?

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What is climate change doing to our health?

The 2014 National Climate Assessment, conducted by a team of more than 300 experts and a federal advisory committee, concluded that new health threats will emerge and existing ones will only get worse. Increased global temperatures, ground-level ozone and air pollution are expected to limit lung function and increase emergency room trips for those with asthma, whose ranks have substantially increased in the past decade. 

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Brain-Eating Amoeba Strikes U.S. Again

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Brain-Eating Amoeba Strikes U.S. Again

Freshwater-dwelling amoeba strikes again. Two cases of infection with “brain-eating” parasite have already been reported in the U.S. Responsible amoeba. What is it?

  • free-living, single celled amoeba
  • Naegleria fowleri
  • Found pretty much everywhere
  • Thermophilic (heat-loving)
  • Most often found in warm freshwater, like lakes or hot springs
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Ebola Returns to Liberia

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Ebola Returns to Liberia

Ebola returns to Liberia — three new cases reported this week in the previously Ebola-free country. People are questioning whether Liberia was really free of the disease to begin with. Liberian health officials reported the death of a 17-year-old boy from Ebola on Sunday, and two other cases of Ebola in people who were with the boy when he died. Liberia is now monitoring more than 100 people who had contact with the boy who died, and this number is expected to increase.

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Eye Color Linked to Alcoholism Risk

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Eye Color Linked to Alcoholism Risk

People with light-colored eyes may have a higher risk of alcoholism than people with dark-brown eyes, new research suggests. In the study, researchers looked at 1,263 Americans of European ancestry, including 992 people who were diagnosed with alcohol dependence and 271 people who were not diagnosed with alcohol dependence.

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FDA Approved Heart Drug May Decrease Risk of Death by 20%

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FDA Approved Heart Drug May Decrease Risk of Death by 20%

A new heart-failure drug from the drug maker Novartis, has received FDA approved. The company claims that this drug helps reduce death and hospitalizations from heart failure. A lot of excitement has been building up in regards to this drug, Entresto, since the results of a large clinical trial showed a 20% reduction in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease or hospitalization from a worsening heart failure. 

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CDC Warns of Pool Parasite this Summer

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CDC Warns of Pool Parasite this Summer

Outbreaks in pools, hot tubs and other recreational and municipal locations can be dangerous according to a report released late last week. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that over 90 outbreaks between 2011 and 2012 results in almost 1800 illnesses and 95 hospitalizations. The outbreaks even caused one death. 

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Hand Washing System Dramatically Improves Hygiene in Hospitals

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Hand Washing System Dramatically Improves Hygiene in Hospitals

A new hand-hygiene compliance system from the company Hill-Rom has reported an analysis of more than 20 million instances of hand washing dramatically increased the hand washing among hospital staff using the system. Hospitals using Hill-Rom's Hand Hygiene Compliance Solution achieved an average 226% improvement in compliance, with some hospitals showing compliance by caregivers nearly tripled. 

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Orbital Medicine: Exploring Health in Space

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Orbital Medicine: Exploring Health in Space

As you can imagine, medicine in space is completely different than it is here on earth. Our bodies operate in many different in zero gravity. One would not want to get sick in space. Zero-gravity plays a lot of games with our bones, muscles, organs, eyeballs and the brain itself. There's also infectious risks on a spacecraft which stems from sealing multiple people inside a self-contained vessel. Virus or bacteria could simply circulate around from person to person throughout an entire mission.

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