Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Three Things You Should Know About Medicine and Health... This Week

New Ways to Improve Your Overall Health

By: Mia

1.) New Antibiotic May Combat Resistant Bacteria


           On January 7th, 2015, researchers claimed a discovery of a new antibiotic that is able to fight several different types of disease fighting bacteria.  The bacteria is beneficial to people whom have developed a resistance to the older and frequently used antibiotics.  The new antibiotic is named Teixobactin and in the journal, Nature, scientists talk about the individual drugs that it is capable of replacing.  

In a lab experiment, researchers tested the new drug on mice and found that it cured methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial infection that is responsible for taking over 11,000 lives in the United States each year.  Teixobactin also was able to kill off drug resistant strains of tuberculosis, anthrax and clostridium difficile.  

          Researchers are working on ways on making it more useful and available for human needs.  As of now the bacteria is difficult to culture in a lab setting.
“Teixobactin's potential effectiveness suggests that the new technology ‘is a promising source in general for antibiotics, and has a good chance of helping revive the field of antibiotic discovery.’” (Kim Lewis, Ph.D.)  
2.) Weight Loss Surgery May Extend Lives


 
Weight-loss surgery is the kick start to living a better and longer life if you are obese.  Bariatric surgery was given to 2,500 obese patients whose death rates were compared to individuals who didn’t undergo the surgery.  It was concluded that the death rates among them decreased 10% after 10 years post operation.  It is obvious that losing weight can provide you with a better lifestyle.  The surgery makes it easier for people to diet as their stomach size and therefore feeling of fullness is decreased.  The surgery has low complications associated with it and many positive outcome and success stories.

          The surgery, also known as gastric bypass surgery, is a great option for people who can’t lose the weight on their own.  It is covered by most insurances and is performed with minimal invasive procedures.  It is proven in this test that even patients without health risks due to obesity still lived longer than average by having the surgery done.  

3.) Smartphone Usage Increases Brain Activity



          A few weeks ago, a study was done to test the effects texting has on your brain.  It was found that people with smartphones instead of regular phones showed more brain activity overall when doing this with touch involved.  Moving your thumbs along a touchscreen helps the brain and the fingers work more cohesively together.  The results suggest that the repetitive movement over the screen helps to reshape the sensory processing from the hand to the brain.  
 
         This new discovery is good for our growing technological world.  If devices are proven to increase brain activity instead of prohibiting it, more money can be made in the phone businesses and in other areas where people have brought their newly developed hand and brain sensory ability.  It is found that the brain works similarly to how the phone logs are programmed in a person who has used a smartphone for at least one year.  

 
 


 

 

 

 

 

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