Forget colorful leaves. Any caregiver knows that the real signs of fall are kids with coughs, sneezes and sniffles. Autumn marks the start of respiratory virus season, when colds, flu and other bugs start circulating — especially among the very young. A recent study confirmed what many families intuitively know: The littlest students harbor the most germs. Children in pre-kindergarten …
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Exposure to any germs could’ve killed her. 11 years later, she’s living a normal life thanks to a gene therapy treatment.
Two months after she was born, Eliana Nachem got a cough that wouldn’t go away. Three weeks later, she also started having runny stool, prompting a visit to her pediatrician. Eliana didn’t have allergies or a gastrointestinal condition; instead, tests pointed to a problem with her immune system. At 4 months old, Eliana received her diagnosis: severe combined immunodeficiency, or …
Read More »Can wearing shoes inside spread germs to your floors?
That is one reason, aside from cultural and religious considerations, some people kick off their shoes at the door. But while gross, the germs on your shoes are unlikely to cause illness, some experts said. In a small, widely cited study, researchers found that fecal bacteria such as E. coli, which can make you sick if they are ingested or …
Read More »Some Heart Attacks Might Be Triggered by Germs
Germs might be even worse for us than we thought. New research suggests that certain infections could be a contributing factor to heart attacks. Scientists in Finland and the UK conducted the study, which examined arterial plaques taken from people who died from heart disease and others. They found these plaques often contained a dormant layer of bacterial biofilm; they …
Read More »Your Mother’s Germs May Have Influenced Your Brain’s Development : ScienceAlert
Our bodies are colonized by a teeming, ever-changing mass of microbes that help power countless biological processes. Now, a new study has identified how these microorganisms get to work shaping the brain before birth. Researchers at Georgia State University studied newborn mice specifically bred in a germ-free environment to prevent any microbe colonization. Some of these mice were immediately placed …
Read More »Mitochondria aren’t only the ‘powerhouses of cells’ — they also battle germs
Mitochondria have primarily been known as the energy-producing components of cells. But scientists are increasingly discovering that these small organelles do much more than just power cells. They are also involved in immune functions such as controlling inflammation, regulating cell death and responding to infections. Research from my colleagues and I revealed that mitochondria play another key role in your …
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