Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scientists Warn Of Brain Health Risk From Reused Deep-Frying Oil
"Deep-frying at high temperatures has been linked with several metabolic disorders, but there have been no long-term investigations on the influence of deep-fried oil consumption and its detrimental effects on health," Kathiresan Shanmugam, an associate professor from Central University of Tamil Nadu in Thiruvarur, India, said in a statement. "To our knowledge we are first to report long-term deep-fried oil supplementation increases neurodegeneration in the first-generation offspring." (Dewan, 3/25)
An undertaker turned academic, Alexandra Morton-Hayward became interested in brains 鈥 specifically how they decompose 鈥 during her former job. 鈥淚 worked for years with the dead. My own experience is that the brain is pretty quick to liquefy (postmortem),鈥 she said. 鈥淪o it was a real shock when I came across a (scientific) paper referencing a 2,500-year-old brain.鈥 (Hunt, 3/25)
"Studies show that women have a higher propensity to develop addiction to nicotine than men and are less successful at quitting," Sally Pauss, a doctoral student at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington who led the project under the supervision of associate professor Terry Hinds Jr., said in a statement. ... "If we can confirm that estrogen drives nicotine seeking and consumption through olfactomedins, we can design drugs that might block that effect by targeting the altered pathways." (Dewan, 3/25)
Also 鈥
Chick-fil-A, one of the largest fast-food restaurants in the U.S., is easing its commitment to using chickens raised without any antibiotics, a step that was criticized over concerns it could increase the risk of spreading antibiotic resistance among humans. (Silverman, 3/25)
Scentists have developed a special device for your bladder that will let you know how long you have before you need to pee. According to a new paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this device sits in the bladder and transmits data on how full the bladder is to a phone app, allowing the user to know how long it takes to get to a restroom. The researchers hope that this could help disabled or paralyzed people know when they need to go and that it could one day allow people to use their phones to help them pee. (Thomson, 3/25)
