Finding cancers early is easy in body parts like breasts, skin and the prostate. In fact, early discovery sometimes leads to unneeded treatment and excisions that go along with the diagnosis. Liver cancer though often remains hidden until the dread diagnosis: “It has metastasized to the liver.” Go home and get comfortable. The sooner the […]
Archives
Probiotics Ease into Convenience Stores
Busy lives mean convenience becomes more attractive. For example, convenience stores, whether attached to gas stations or wedged between urban housing, still flourish in spite of high pricing compared to supermarkets. What is new is that these small stores—whether called WaWa or Spar—are ramping up the food offerings. The potato chips and donuts still sell, […]
Malnutrition May Alter Microbes Permanently
Swollen bellies don’t always mean obesity, a body distortion we have come to accept in affluent nations. Abdomens too can swell when protein and calories are insufficient to rid the body of excess fluids. This is malnutrition too. Hunger still claims millions, most often the young in the poorest of countries. Food interventions can save […]
Microbes: Emerging Talent
Microbiology is like Hollywood: a few stars get all the attention. Expand your view however and the talent pool deepens. Well-known probiotics are usually of the lactobacillus or bifidobacterium genus while one yeast stands out– Saccharomyces boulardii, for its skill in staving off various infections. Researchers are finding probiotic roles among others including Enterococcus, Streptococcus […]
Probiotics Pay It Forward
Probiotics “colonize” our inner spaces. The verb smacks of intrusion or illicit occupation. Yet we know that bacteria predate humans by several billion years so perhaps we are their guests. It may be more accurate to describe them as “friends and family.” Over the last 200,000 years since humans emerged, the relationship has changed drastically, whether […]
Bacteria in Cancer Therapy
Cancer is a wily foe. Our tools for fighting the uncontrolled and invasive growth of cells are sometimes effective, often not. Surgery can miss the mark, while chemotherapy and radiation can cause harmful side effects—even cancer, ironically. Bacteria may one day provide a better tool. Live organisms—natural or genetically modified– can deliver therapy directly to […]