Stories by Coco Ballantyne

News Scan Briefs: Hand Transplant Recipients Switch Handedness

Also: ending nerve damage from needles, "caveman" connection to humans, electromagnetic chatter, and laser beams that curve

Veterinarians Unleash Probiotics to Ease Doggie Discomfort

A growing number of veterinarians are prescribing supplements of friendly bacteria for dogs, but is there enough scientific evidence to justify it?

What is Morgellons Disease? Is it a physical or psychological condition?

Patients are tormented by creeping, crawling sensations in their skin, but docs say there is no evidence of bugs or parasites

How do marine mammals avoid freezing to death?

Humans would never last in the ice-cold waters these creatures call home, but they have special adaptations to battle the elements

HIV co-discovers Gallo and Montagnier unite to push for renewed focus on HIV/AIDS

As the world frets about the swine flu virus, the scientists credited with discovering HIV urged governments and international organizations to redouble their commitment to the battle against AIDS...

H1N1 hullabaloo: Overreaction or prudent caution?

School closures, canceled proms, and emergency rooms flooded with people panicking over run-of-the-mill coughs and sore throats. Have people gone hog wild over the so-called "swine flu," and is the media to blame for fanning the flames of fear?...

Single bidder pays $68,000 to sequence his genome on eBay

Last week, we reported on an ongoing eBay auction for personal genome sequencing, analysis, and interpretation by Knome, Inc., a genetics company in Cambridge, Mass.

Man gets first double hand transplant in U.S.

A 57-year-old man from Alberta, Georgia has become the first person in the U.S. to receive a double hand transplant. After undergoing a ten-hour surgery that ended Monday night, the patient, Jeff Kepner, is in critical but stable condition, according to Amy Dugas Rose, a spokesperson for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UMPC), where team of ten surgeons carried out the operation...

Canadian bacon: Pigs in Canada sick with swine flu

Last Friday, we reported on Egypt's recent attempt to curb transmission of the human H1N1 epidemic by butchering all 300,000 of its pigs. Experts we interviewed said there was no sound rationale for such a move, because pigs had never been infected with the new virus, which has sickened at least 1085 people in 21 countries – until now...

Could Cialis help treat some cancers that it also might make more likely?

We all know what Cialis (tadalafil) does for the phallus, but what if it fought cancer? A team from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine just started enrolling patients in a clinical trial on Cialis for treating head and neck cancer...

Does Waterboarding Have Long-term Physical Effects?

It seems pretty obvious that waterboarding can cause emotional trauma, but does it threaten a person’s physical health?

Will Egypt's plans to kill pigs protect it from swine--sorry, H1N1 flu?

As swine flu fears sweep the world, governments everywhere are taking steps to prepare for a global pandemic, such as ramping up disease surveillance, reinforcing medicine stockpiles, and distributing infection control information to citizens...

Planning of the Apes

5 Ways to Protect Yourself (and Others) from Swine Flu

Swine flu has yet to escalate into a global pandemic, but here's what to do if it does

Mystery solved: Polo ponies probably died of selenium overdose

The 21 polo ponies that dropped dead at the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Fla., eleven days ago most likely succumbed to an overdose of selenium, used to help muscles recover after strenuous exercise, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has reported...

WHO raises pandemic alert level from 4 to 5 as swine flu spreads

Concerned over the rapidly spreading swine flu, the World Health Organization (WHO) has upped the influenza pandemic alert to phase 5, just one step short of declaring a bona fide global pandemic...

Swine flu kills child in Texas

A 22-month-old boy has died in Houston from swine flu as the outbreak continues to expand in the U.S. and abroad, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports today.

WHO braces for the worst as more swine flu cases are confirmed

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed swine flu cases in two more countries—the U.K. and New Zealand—bringing the total number of affected countries to at least six...

WHO hikes pandemic alert to phase 4 on swine flu fears

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the influenza pandemic alert level to phase 4, just two steps shy of a global pandemic alert, according to Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general for health security and environment...

5.6 Earthquake rattles an already shaken Mexico City

Mexico, which is already swept in panic over an outbreak of swine flu, the virus suspected of killing over 100 people and sickening more than 1,000 in the country, has now become the epicenter of another disaster: an earthquake...