Drinking alcohol could have been a really fun activity if it weren’t for the hangover that follows it. People have been on an unending quest to find a cure for it and, now, a team of researchers from UCLA made a great discovery. They have created a hangover pill that seems to take away all those unpleasant symptoms.

The hangover pill contains natural enzymes that are found in the liver

Many people enjoy drinking alcohol, but not all of them know how they should consume it. If you drink too much, then you start experiencing hangovers, namely nausea, headaches, dizziness, and an overall bad state. Usually, they disappear in a few hours, but some of them might be really severe and last up to a day.

Therefore, researchers decided to find a way to develop a hangover pill. This shouldn’t only let people drink as much as they like without side effects. Many people end up in the hospital after they suffer alcohol poisoning, so this pill is necessary to make it safer for people to consume alcohol.

The hangover pill developed by the researchers contained natural enzymes. These chemicals occur naturally in the liver, so adding some extra enzymes should help it process the alcohol a lot more quickly and effectively. This means that it can combat the effects of hangover and, more importantly, prevent a person from suffering alcohol poisoning.

The pill reduced the alcohol concentration in mouse blood in a matter of hours

Researchers tested the hangover pill on mice after they had them consume alcohol. Researchers coated the enzymes with some material approved by the FDA and then administered them to the mice. In four hours, they saw how the alcohol levels in their blood went down 45 percent. Moreover, the levels of toxic acetaldehyde were lower as well, so the pill makes alcohol consumption a lot safer.

While a hangover pill sounds great, researchers still have some more research to do until they can use such a method. They have to perform some tests on humans, so they would make sure it has no adverse effects and works 100 percent against hangovers.

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Last week, a worried parent from United Kingdom informed everyone about a dangerous new trend among teenagers. She told everyone to watch out for the deodorant challenge, as her daughter was left with some serious burns on her hands. The injuries might require skin grafts to recover, so the trend poses real risks.

The deodorant challenge can cause second-degree burns

Jamie Prescott was devastated when her daughter suffered second-degree burns after getting involved in a strange internet trend. The trend in question named the deodorant challenge claims to be a test of endurance for the teenagers. More precisely, it consists of spraying deodorant directly on one’s skin for as long as possible.

Apparently, this crazy challenge is quite popular among UK teenagers. Prescott described the whole incident that involved her daughter. One day, she went out for a walk in the park with her classmates. She hadn’t heard of the deodorant challenge before, so she held out her arm when her mates told her to. This way, she got second-degree burns and now might require skin grafts.

Should we add a new viral trend to the list of dangerous challenges?

Three weeks have passed since the incident, and Prescott’s daughter, Ellie, is still undergoing all kinds of medical procedures as a treatment. Her parents took the decision to move her to a different school, but her new classmates are also big fans of the deodorant challenge. The woman’s post went viral, and now everyone is discussing how widespread this strange challenge actually is.

This is another one of those insane trends that took over teenagers worldwide. The Tide pod eating challenge was among the most viral ones, just like cinnamon swallowing. However, people still don’t know if the deodorant challenge has made so many victims so far. There are some worried parents who had warned the internet even before, but the issue isn’t so widespread yet.

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A recent scandal has befallen a hospital in Washington after a nurse supposedly exposed a huge number of patients to the hepatitis C virus. Moreover, the police suspected that the woman was also stealing narcotics. They caught her while she was trying to cross the border, but the scandal is far from over.

The woman might have exposed ER patients to hepatitis C

Cora Weberg was an ER nurse at the MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington. The hospital officials suspected her of stealing a big quantity of narcotics, as well as exposing 2,600 patients to hepatitis C. Soon after she received the accusations, she tried to flee to Canada, but the police caught her just in time and put her under arrest.

The whole thing started when the hospital administration discovered two of Weberg’s patients had contracted hepatitis C. When they came to the emergency room, they weren’t infected with the virus, and Weberg was the one who administered them some pain medication.

After making some investigations, they discovered the nurse might have given them a combination of hydromorphone and fentanyl. They also performed some tests on the strain of hepatitis C, and discovered it had the same origin in both patients. As a result, they suspended Weberg’s license until they solve the issue.

Her lawyer claims she is innocent and that the hospital cannot prove its accusations

The investigations continued and revealed Weberg also tested positive for hepatitis C. Afterwards, she admitted to stealing injectable narcotics. However, the woman’s lawyer started a heated debate to protect his client. There is no evidence that Weberg actually stung the patients with infected needles.

Therefore, he argues that they could have got the virus from a different source. Also, he says there is no clear evidence that she has the virus either. The hospital officials are still performing tests on patients who received injectable treatments from Weberg. Also, the woman is no longer under arrest, but her trial is ongoing until everything is settled.

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If you’ve been feeling more anxious lately than you did a year ago, it’s not just you. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has recently developed a poll where it measured the current anxiety levels among the American population, and the results weren’t too encouraging. As compared to last year, anxiety levels have gone up five points and have become more acute for all ages and ethnicities.

Anxiety levels in America have increased since last year

For this poll, APA interviewed 1,004 adults between March 22^nd and March 25^th. They had to complete a survey where they rated their anxiety levels when it came to different topics. These ranged from political issues, health, financial matters, or overall safety.

As compared to last year’s poll, APA interviewed a bit fewer people. However, the increase in anxiety levels remains visible. Just like they did in the previous poll, millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) remain more anxious than the previous generation, generation X (1965-1980). However, there’s a different group that faced a sudden spike in anxiety – baby boomers (1946-1964).

Women are more stressed than men regardless of age

When it came to the biggest cause of anxiety, that was the financial one. Young adults were especially concerned about paying bills, with 75 percent of them rating this as one of their top fears. Other popular causes that raised anxiety levels were safety and health.

These results are not encouraging at all. So much stress can have a huge impact both on people’s mental and physical health. Therefore, experts are advising them to cut as much of the stressful factors as possible. By exercising regularly, eating healthy, and keeping good relationships with your close ones, your mental state should improve.

Younger women seem to have the biggest anxiety levels of all. About 57 percent of females aged between 18 and 49 are stressed, as compared to 38 percent of men of the same age. Older people are somehow more relaxed, but we can see the same difference between genders. Thirty-nine percent of women over 50 are stressed, while only 24 percent of men of this age battle with anxiety.

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Researchers have always been wondering where gray hair actually comes from. After assessing all sorts of theories, a team of researchers from University of Alabama and National Institute of Health developed a study on mice which might offer a conclusive answer. The secret behind white hair might be related to the immune system.

Why do people get gray hair?

Usually, gray hair is associated with old age, but there are many people whose hair gets whiter even when they are younger. In such cases, old age was no longer an explanation, so researchers needed to find something else. Some assumed the phenomenon was the product of intense stress during one’s daily life, but there was no scientific proof for it.

Therefore, the Alabama and NIH researchers decided to run some tests on mice. They discovered several cells that deal with hair pigmentation are also related to some genes in the immune system. If immune responses get too acute, they might cause the depigmentation of hair.

Gray hair might be a cause of an overactive immune system

The immune system comes into action whenever the body faces a virus. Then, it produces interferon, which are cells that signal viruses to other cells to avoid an improper functioning of the immune system. Also, hair gets its color from some stem cells called melanocytes. They produce melanin, which color our hair. If we didn’t have such cells, we would have gray hair.

When performing the mice experiment, researchers found a link between the immune system and a protein that controls interferon. Whenever this control didn’t happen in the melanocytes, the mice got gray hair. Also, when the immune system became active, those mice with few interferon control in the melanocytes were likely to get even more gray hair.

Therefore, gray hair might be a direct effect of an overactive immune system. The study is only in its prime. However, researchers hope they might find solutions to premature hair depigmentation, or to certain skin conditions that cause its bleaching. This study was published in the journal PLOS Biology.

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Aaron Traywick, the CEO of the startup Ascendance Biomedical, was found dead on April 29^th in Washington DC. The man was known everywhere after he decided to test a DIY herpes therapy and injected himself with it. According to various sources, he died while he was in a sensory deprivation floating tank in a therapy room.

Traywick died in a sensory deprivation tank

The news of Aaron Traywick’s death is really unfortunate, since the man brought great contributions in the biomedical world. The man was only 28 and we could say his death was merely accidental. The police found him lying face down in the floating tank.

This tank was full of saltwater at body temperature and should administer treatment through sensory deprivation. These tanks are soundproof as well, so this could make for some suspicious conditions. However, the police decided there was no foul play involved in the death of Traywick.

The man was well-known for testing experimental medicine on himself

Traywick was the CEO of Ascendance Biomedical, but also an activist for biohacking and non-chemical treatments. He wanted to encourage people to try experimental therapy methods and thus reduce the dominion of the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, he, just like other biohackers, tested the experimental therapies on himself.

This way, he injected a DIY herpes treatment directly on himself on live TV. Another person who received the same treatment was Tristan Roberts, another Ascendance Biomedical employee. However, it later turned out this man was HIV positive. Of course, the FDA didn’t support such practices, and blamed Traywick for encouraging people to try risky health practices.

Now that Traywick is dead, the future of his startup is quite uncertain. Two of his colleagues talked about what had happened, and how they disagreed with the CEO and decided to split up from the company. They respected him for his vision and courage, but are not sure how Ascendance Biomedical will go on right now.

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People often say it’s better to sleep with the lights off, as it seems to be better for their circadian rhythm. Researchers started developing some studies on the issue and discovered that too much light might inhibit the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone. This highlights the correlation between light and an off-beat circadian rhythm.

Melatonin disruption affects one’s circadian rhythm

Melatonin is a really important hormone for the sleep cycle. Our brain releases it at night and helps us lead a healthy sleeping cycle. However, these two influence each other. Melatonin regulates sleep but missing on rest during the night can affect the production of the hormone. Now, researchers discovered too much light exposure at night might affect one’ circadian rhythm.

Researchers wanted to see how the circadian rhythm and melatonin production are related. Therefore, they developed a study where they exposed sleeping people either to a continuous source of light or to an intermittent one. Also, they exposed the participants to a strict schedule of sleep at night and activity during the day.

Intermittent light patterns at night do the biggest damage

The main purpose of the study was to find out the reprogramming of the circadian rhythm was caused by shifting melatonin levels. However, their findings were even more interesting. Those people who slept with intermittent light nearby suffered a much bigger change in their biological clocks. This is interesting, as this source of light reduced melatonin production less than the continuous source.

This means there is a connection between the two, but it’s not so prominent. However, the findings can still be relevant for those people who have trouble sleeping. These might be viable solutions to regulate your circadian rhythm, but the study comes with certain limitations. It uses a relatively small sample of participants, so we need more research until we find a clear correlation between light patterns and internal clock disruption.

The study was published in the Journal of Physiology.

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A 27-year-old woman from New Mexico started feeling ill, so she went to the hospital in February. At first, she thought she had the flu, but her condition had started deteriorating rapidly until she lost her life. The doctors discovered she was actually infected with Hantavirus, a rare strain carried by rodents. This rare virus usually kills about a third of the infected patients.

The doctors mistook the woman’s symptoms for the flu

At the beginning of January, Kiley Lane from Farmington, New Mexico, started experiencing abdominal pain and nausea. Her family thought she had the flu, so they convinced her to go to the hospital and get a treatment. At first, doctors didn’t think her condition was too serious, so they prescribed her laxatives and sent her back home.

After a few weeks, Lane started experiencing shortness of breath, so she came back to the hospital. Now, doctors performed a few tests on what could have caused these symptoms, but all the results were negative. Afterwards, the woman’s family said doctors started getting less interested. Since she seemed to have no problem, her close ones saw the medical personnel claiming Lane might be faking the disease.

Hantavirus rapidly kills its victims

As her health state got worse, she finally had to be put on artificial ventilation. Only then did the doctors receive a positive result. The woman was infected with Hantavirus, which gets transmitted through rodent feces. This virus causes HPS, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, that gradually damages the lungs, heart, and other organs.

During its early stages, it shows symptoms that resemble flu. Therefore, it is easy to mistake one disease for the other. Afterwards, the Hantavirus starts weakening organs. On top of that, the body starts suffering inflammation to get rid of the virus. This combination has a great impact on the organs, and they start malfunctioning.

The Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome usually kills about a third of those who contract it. However, some people manage to recover, but they need a lot of attentive care to do it. This extra care consists of oxygen therapy, thorough monitoring of the blood pressure, and several other treatments.

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Recently, people have started realizing what harmful effects sugar can have. As a result, they have started consuming more products with artificial sweeteners. However, a new study suggests these aren’t too good either. It turns out such compounds often have the same effects as a diet rich in sugar.

People turn to artificial sweeteners to avoid sugar

More people are now concerned about their health, and have realized that excessive sugar is actually harmful. Therefore, they decided to replace it with something that seems healthier. This alternative consisted of artificial sweeteners that you often find in diet foods or products that contain no calories.

Researchers were a bit skeptical about artificial sweeteners, so they decided to find out if they really are so healthy. They performed a study and looked at the effects of aspartame and acesuflame potassium, which are the most common sweeteners in diet products.

To test the chemicals, they fed some rats a diet high in such sweeteners. After three weeks, they returned to assess the health state of the animals. This is how they spotted some surges in the fat levels in their blood, as well as some other chemical changes.

These chemicals actually lead to obesity and diabetes

Such a situation is pretty worrying. If fat concentration stays high in the blood for a long time, this leads to diabetes and obesity. Also, artificial sweeteners have some other harmful effects as well. The body needs energy, and sugar is one great source. These chemicals do not feed the body sugar, but rather trick it into thinking it gets the energy it needs. Instead, it starts consuming other resources, such as burning muscle tissue.

Whenever the brain perceives a sweet taste and there’s no energy source there, it gets really confused. It also starts processing lipids improperly, and suffers sudden changes. These transformations are associated with the emergence of obesity and diabetes, so opting for products with artificial sweeteners is not a solution.

These findings have been presented during this year’s Experimental Biology meeting on Sunday.

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A Canadian homeopath spiced a lot of outrage when she presented one of her shocking treatments. Anke Zimmermann used the most unlikely remedy against a little boy’s bad behavior – rabid dog saliva. Such a treatment is, of course, extremely risky, so she was the target of harsh criticism and was condemned for promoting pseudoscience.

The woman promotes alternative treatments as actually effective

The woman describes herself as a naturopathic doctor, so many people come to her when they seek alternate treatments for various conditions. Last October, she received a young boy who exhibited behavioral problems and troubles with sleep.

The boy, called Jonah, caused a lot of trouble at his preschool. He was aggressive towards other kids, hid from them, and exhibited animal behavior, such as growling. Moreover, he was afraid of beasts, including wolves, and supernatural beings, like ghosts or zombies. According to Zimmermann, the cause of the strange behavior was a dog bite the boy received when he was two.

The boy received rabid dog saliva as a treatment

She thought the dog must have had ghost rabies. This means the disease must have remained somehow dormant in his organism. As a result, the boy must have ended up exhibiting symptoms similar to rabies. A common conception in homeopathy is that you cure a disease with its own virus, so she treated the boy with rabid dog saliva.

The actual treatment she gave to the boy was lyssinum, a homeopathic mixture that contained the saliva in question. However, this is extremely dangerous. If you get in contact with rabid dog saliva, you can actually get the disease and die.

Zimmermann claimed the boy calmed down immediately after getting the controversial treatment. However, the responses she got weren’t positive at all. People are outraged she actually thought of giving rabid dog saliva to a young boy, and that such treatments are even legal in the United States.

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