Harlequin frogs, a group of brightly colored, small-sized amphibians found in the rainforests of Central and South America, have a unique and intriguing relationship with fungi, particularly in the context of combating the devastating infectious disease known as chytridiomycosis. These frogs are known for their striking coloration, which serves as a warning signal to potential predators due to their toxic skin secretions. What makes their connection to fungi fascinating is that many species of Harlequin frogs rely on specialized skin bacteria that produce potent antifungal compounds. In the face of the deadly chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), which has decimated amphibian populations worldwide, these frogs' skin microbiota, p ...
In the 1950s, 20,000 cases of polio occurred annually. After vaccination began, the number of cases plummeted to 10 in 1979.
The major diseases of a century ago reflect how far we have come in our scientific and medical knowledge. Since then, the landscape of human health has evolved significantly, shaped by advancements in science, medicine, and technology. In this article, we will journey through time to understand the major diseases humans faced a hundred years ago.
Infectious Diseases
One hundred years ago, infectious diseases were among the leading causes of death. These diseases were caused by pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was a major global heal ...
Imagine a disease whose presence is marked by a feeling of something crawling along your skin, stinging every part of your body as if there is insect or parasite infestation that doesn't go away. Not only that, but your skin is plagued with the presence of multicolored filaments that lie under, are embedded in, or project from skin.
Morgellons disease (pronounced with either a hard or soft "g") is a highly misunderstood skin condition that was first reported in the USA in 2002, although may have a longer history depending on where you look. The characteristic filaments described earlier are microscopic, visually resembling textile fibers, and are white, black, or a more vibrant color, such as red or blue (left image). In addition to fiber p ...
In 1943, Walt Disney helped combat malaria by making an animated film called The Winged Scourge. This short film starred the seven dwarfs and taught children that mosquitoes transmit malaria, which is a very bad disease. While not specifically mentioned in the film, malaria is caused by several species of the protozoan Plasmodium, of which Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum are the most common. The most serious infections involve P. falciparum, which causes a higher incidence of complications and death. The short film advocated the killing of mosquitoes to stop the disease.
Luckily, by 1951, malaria was finally eliminated in the United States (eliminated means that no new cases arose in the country for 3 years). Today, oral chloroqui ...
The eruption of Mount Tambora was so massive, it erased summer that year.
The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora was one of the most powerful eruptions in recorded history. The eruption of the volcano, on the island of Sumbawa in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), reached a climax on 10 April 1815 and was followed by between six months and three years of increased steaming and small phreatic eruptions.
The ash from the eruption column dispersed around the world and lowered global temperatures, leading to worldwide harvest failures in an event sometimes known as the Year Without a Summer in 1816. The eruption resulted in a brief period of significant climate change that led to various cases of extreme weather. Several climate forcings ...
As cigarette smoking rates fall, more people are smoking tobacco from hookahs: communal pipes that enable users to draw tobacco smoke through water. A new meta-analysis shows that hookah smokers are inhaling a large load of toxicants. According to the study, compared with a single cigarette, one hookah session delivers approximately 125 times the smoke, 25 times the tar, 2.5 times the nicotine and 10 times the carbon monoxide (CO). The latter stat accounts for the light-headedness and high that smokers experience when inhaling the smoke, since CO reduces the amount oxygen capable of binding to circulating red blood cells.
In addition to these estimates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that, for the first time ...
Known an fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive, or FOB for short, this disease can suddenly turn a person’s tissues and muscles into bone, thereby permanently immobilizing parts of the bodies. Joints such as elbows or ankles may become frozen in place; jaw motion can be impeded and the rib cage fixed, making eating or even breathing difficult. Currently, no cure exists to combat this rare condition.
A possible vaccine for lung cancer! In a country known for cigars, lung cancer is one of the major killers in Cuba. So for the past 25 years, they’ve been developing Cimamax, which is now available freely to Cubans. According to a Phase II trial conducted in Cuba in 2008, lung cancer patients who received the vaccine lived an average of four to six months longer than those who didn’t. This led Japan and some European countries to trial the drug as well.
The drug itself is far from flawless and, by attacking a cell’s protein rather than the tumour directly, can have severe side effects, including – of all things - causing a higher risk of cancer. It might not be a "cure" in the traditional sense, but it's a way of managing the disease. What t ...
According to a recent editorial by three researchers specializing in human biology, while physical activity can stave off the effects of several common and debilitating diseases, when it comes to weight loss, the devil is in the diet.
"A recent report from the UK's Academy of Medical Royal Colleges described 'the miracle cure' of performing 30 min of moderate exercise, five times a week, as more powerful than many drugs administered for chronic disease prevention and management," they write. "Regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and some cancers by at least 30 percent. However, physical activity does not promote weight loss."
A parasitic worm called Onchocerca volvulus affects 25 million people around the world in one of the most revolting ways possible. The larvae of this tiny worm, found in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, can live for more than 10 years in a person’s skin, and that’s not even the worst part - they often make their way into their eyes.
Africa is much safer than what it has been made out to be. This map shows the true geographical reach of Ebola right now. If you're afraid for your life, your politicians are likely doing a good job instilling fear into you before the next election!
A drug made from berries produced the blushwood tree (Hylandia dockrillii), found in Australia, has been used to treat animals with face and neck tumours, and it starts taking effect within five minutes. Human trials have now been approved. According to researchers, in 75 percent of the 300 animals cases, the tumour disappeared in individuals that were treated with isolated compound found in the seed, and has so far not come back. "The compound works in three ways essentially: it kills the tumour cells directly, it cuts off the blood supply and it also activates the body's own immune system to clean up the mess that's left behind." ...
A doctor chronicles the signatures of his patient as the disease took hold of her. Our love goes out to anyone who's dealt with this awful disease in some way.
In a breakthrough, scientists have found that nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy HIV while leaving surrounding cells unharmed.
Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevisare are parasitic mites that particularly favour the hair follicles of eyebrows and eyelashes and measure a mere fraction of a millimeter long. They crawl about your face in the dark to mate and then crawl into the pores to lay their eggs and die. Healthy adults have around one or two mites per square centimetre of facial skin, though people with the condition rosacea can have 10 times more. Demodex does not have an anus and therefore cannot get rid of its faeces. Instead, their abdomen gets bigger and bigger, and when the mite dies it decomposes and releases its faeces all at once into the pore. ...
Patients with urinary tract infections can drink cranberry juice to make their urine more acidic.
Bacteria that cause a urinary tract infection multiply rapidly in alkaline urine, but not in acidic urine. Some types of kidney stones form in alkaline urine, but not in acidic urine.
In the early 1900s, the disease pellagra was widespread in the United States, especially in southern states. Individuals with pellagra were weak, and they developed diarrhea, a skin rash, and mental confusion. Each year, thousands of Americans died from this dreaded illness. In 1914 the U.S. surgeon general assigned Joseph Goldberger, a physician who worked in a federal government laboratory, to study pellagra. Most medical experts thought pellagra was an infectious disease because it often occurred where people lived in close quarters, such as prisons, orphanages, and mental health institutions. Goldberger knew from his previous research that infectious diseases usually spread through a population by close physical contact. While investiga ...
Waardenburg Syndrome is a rare autosomal genetic disorder that has possible bright blue eyes as one of its qualifying criteria, along with possible deafness (common). Actually, the cause of the blue eyes is a form of albinism that may include patches of non-pigmented skin or forehead hair, regardless of ethnicity.
There are four types of Waardenburg Syndrome, with a mix of possible characteristics as the determinant. Medical challenges increase with type. The boy in the picture is displaying two major symptoms of type 1; bright blue eyes and dystopia canthorum, a condition where the inner corners of the eyes are set more widely apart, but with normally distanced eyes. ...
This announcement is the result of over 30 years of extensive research. It was determined that prenatal exposure to low levels of mercury through fish in the mother’s diet or the environment does not contribute to disorders on the Autism spectrum.
A new study out of Harvard University shows that pasteurized milk products from factory farms is linked to causing hormone-dependent cancers. It turns out that the concentrated animal feeding operations model of raising cows on factory farms churns out milk with dangerously high levels of estrone sulfate, an estrogen compound linked to testicular, prostate, and breast cancers.
Dr. Ganmaa Davaasambuu, Ph.D., and her colleagues specifically identified "milk from modern dairy farms" as the culprit, referring to large-scale confinement operations where cows are milked 300 days of the year, including while they are pregnant. Compared to raw milk from her native Mongolia, which is extracted only during the first six months after cows have already ...
Listeria bacteria has been enlisted by researchers to selectively infect metastatic pancreatic cancer cells and deliver radioisotopes into them. The experimental treatment dramatically decreased the number of metastases (cancers that have spread to other parts of the body) in a mouse model of highly aggressive pancreatic cancer without harming healthy tissue. Mice livers are shown above. The saline control liver on the left presents a large number of metastases compared to the liver on the right which was subject to the radioactive Listeria treatment. ...
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute have identified a prime suspect in the mystery of an increased incidence of autoimmune diseases in the past few decades—dietary salt. In the paper, researchers showed that salt can induce and worsen pathogenic immune system responses in mice and that the response is regulated by genes already implicated in a variety of autoimmune diseases.
