Rob Stein

FDA Backs Off On Regulation Of Fecal Transplants

Rob Stein — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:42:00 +0000

Federal regulators are dropping plans to tightly control a procedure that is becoming increasingly popular for treating people stricken by life-threatening infections of the digestive system.

The Food and Drug Administration says the agency will exercise enforcement discretion and no longer require doctors to get the agency's approval before using "fecal microbiota for transplantation."

The procedure is being used to treat people suffering from infection with the bacterium Clostridium difficile, or C. diff.

Disinfect All ICU Patients To Reduce 'Superbug' Infections

Rob Stein — Wed, 29 May 2013 21:08:00 +0000

Hospitals can sharply reduce the spread of the drug-resistant bacteria in their intensive care units by decontaminating all patients rather than screening them and focusing only on those found to be infected already, researchers reported Wednesday.

A study involving more than 74,000 patients in 74 intensive care units nationwide found that cleaning all ICU patients with a special soap and ointment reduced all infections, including MRSA, by 44 percent. For the patients in group that got disinfected no matter what, there were 3.6 infections per 1,000 days in the hospital.

Research Reveals Yeasty Beasts Living On Our Skin

Rob Stein — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:18:00 +0000

Scientists have completed an unusual survey: a census of the fungi that inhabit different places on our skin. It's part of a big scientific push to better understand the microbes that live in and on our bodies.

"This is the first study of our fungi, which are yeast and other molds that live on the human body," says Julie Segre, of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who led the survey.

Trillions of microbes live everywhere in and on our bodies. Most of these viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms are harmless.

Scientists Clone Human Embryos To Make Stem Cells

Rob Stein — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:03:00 +0000

Scientists say they have, for the first time, cloned human embryos capable of producing embryonic stem cells.

The accomplishment is a long-sought step toward harnessing the potential power of embryonic stem cells to treat many human diseases. But the work also raises a host of ethical concerns.

"This is a huge scientific advance," said Dr. George Daley, a Harvard stem cell scientist who wasn't involved in the work.

Parents' Saliva On Pacifiers Could Ward Off Baby's Allergies

Rob Stein — Mon, 06 May 2013 07:43:00 +0000

That word "microbiome" — describing the collection of bacteria that live in and on our bodies — keeps popping up. This time, researchers say that children whose parents clean their pacifiers by sucking them might be less likely to develop allergic conditions because of how their parents' saliva changes their microbiomes.

That's the word from a small study of 184 Swedish babies published in this week's issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Gut Bacteria's Belch May Play A Role In Heart Disease

Rob Stein — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:01:00 +0000

Scientists have discovered what may be an important new risk factor for heart disease.

How Much Does It Hurt? Let's Scan Your Brain

Rob Stein — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:17:00 +0000

Scientists reported Wednesday that they had developed a way to measure how much pain people are experiencing by scanning their brains.

The researchers hope the technique will help doctors treat pain better, but the work is also raising concerns about whether the technique might interfere with doctors simply listening to their patients.

Now, when someone is in pain, a doctor has no way to judge its severity except to ask questions, a method that often is inadequate.

"We all have trouble communicating our pain and other feelings under different circumstances," says Yukiyasu Kamitani, a researcher at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan.

Philosophers, poets and psychologists have long shared a fascination with dreams.

China's Air Pollution Linked To Millions Of Early Deaths

Rob Stein — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:16:00 +0000

More than 1 million people are dying prematurely every year from air pollution in China, according to a new analysis.

"This is the highest toll in the world and it really reflects the very high levels of air pollution that exist in China today," says Robert O'Keefe of the Health Effects Institute in Boston, who presented the findings in Beijing this week.

Alarm has been growing in recent years about the air in China.

Bioethics Panel Warns Against Anthrax Vaccine Testing On Kids

Rob Stein — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:16:00 +0000

A controversial government proposal to test the anthrax vaccine in children would be unethical without first conducting much more research, a presidential commission concluded Tuesday.

"The federal government would have to take multiple steps before anthrax vaccine trials with children could be ethically considered," Amy Gutmann, who chairs the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, tells Shots.