Results tagged “epidemic” from 60 Second Science

No, that's not what they're calling Christian Bale. At least, not that I know of.

"To everyone interested in bat conservation," was the subject line of a letter I turned up in a Google search this morning. So I read it—because, really, who isn't interested in bat conservation?

Don't answer that. Anyhow, it's the story that has Bruce Wayne in tears. Apparently, a somewhat mysterious fungal pathogen is wiping out bat colonies throughout the Northeast. It's called White Nose Syndrome (WNS), because the disease leaves a white moldy-looking ring around an infected bat's nose (insert off-color joke here).

Continue reading 'White Death' >

I'm used to streaking in the winter. People have their favorite wintertime activities -- hockey, skiing, etc. Mine just happens to be streaking, and the only residual negative was, apart from dodging the cops, catching a cold from a weakened immune system. But I'm going to have to rethink my activity now: Researchers at the CDC have discovered a particularly virulent strain of the adenovirus family of viruses that causes the common cold. Between March and May 2007, 140 people fell ill with adenovirus 14 in New York, Texas, Oregon and Washington state, and 10 of those people died. A few who died were described as "healthy, young adults."

[Gulp] That almost describes me, minus the "healthy" and "young."

Continue reading 'Common cold now causes sneezing, coughs and DEATH' >

As the world population eats more crap and exercises less, the numbers of people afflicted with diabetes rises to match it: There were approximately 171 million diabetics in 2000, and researchers estimate 366 million people will have it by 2030. Diabetes diagnoses traditionally get split into type 1, which requires insulin injections to treat, and type 2, which can be managed with diet and exercise. But an article in NewScientist covers a disturbing trend in which newly diagnosed diabetics exhibit symptoms of both type 1 and type 2 diabetics.

More and more children exhibit some symptoms of both types, which some researchers informally call "type 1.5.," while increasing numbers of adults are developing full-blown symptoms of both — a condition known as "double diabetes." These diagnoses present new treatment challenges for physicians and call the very classification of the disease into question.

Continue reading ''Double diabetes' opens door to new definition of disease' >