News by Subject Medicine & Health

A newly published article in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry reports that pyrethroids, a common household pesticide known to cause skin irritation, headache, dizziness and nausea, persists in the home for up over one year.

When hundreds of thousands of American troops deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991 in the First Gulf War, they were exposed to a variety of chemicals. These chemicals -- especially when coupled with war-related stress -- seem to still be affecting nearly 200,000 Gulf War veterans -- or 25 to 32 percent of those who served -- more than 25 years later, and the constellation of resulting symptoms has been termed Gulf War illness.

Are you buying antimicrobial or antibacterial soaps? According to over 200 scientists and medical professionals, you may want to save your money. A consensus statement published today in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives concludes that common antimicrobial products do not provide health benefits and cause health and environmental harm. The statement also calls for greater caution in using antimicrobial chemicals in everyday products.

Flying a plane should come with a health warning, according to research led by the University of Stirling. A new study, published in the World Health Organisation journal Public Health Panorama, is the first of its kind to look in-depth at the health of aircrew who are suspected to have been exposed to contaminated air during their careers.

Researchers in Ireland have taken a major step forward in the battle against medical implant infections. They developed a new type of implant scaffold to provide localised drug treatment and prevent infection, which has already proven effective against two types of major problem bacteria.

A new study at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech has found a connection between common household chemicals and birth defects.

Fish is a healthy diet, it supplies important omega-3 fatty acids and trace elements like iodine and selenium. However, eating fish caught in certain regions can sometimes also have its risks. In Bavaria, there have recently been reports of multiple cases of diarrhoea, vomiting and cold pain following consumption of imported deep-frozen fish. The symptoms are typical signs of ciguatera -- one of the most frequent fish poisonings worldwide caused by ciguatoxins in edible fish.