Johnson & Johnson have announced a voluntary recall for its Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Lotion. According to tests performed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the lotion contained an excessive amount of the common bacteria coagulase-negative Staphylococci.
But an independent laboratory, EMSL, tested the samples and did not find any indication that the number of bacteria exceeded specifications. Jason Dobranic Ph.D., National Microbiology Director at EMSL says, “As one of the nation’s leading testing laboratories, EMSL Analytical offers companies advanced microbiology testing services for their consumer products in cases such …

A 17-year-old British factory worker who ate little else but McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets and fries for 15 years was rushed to a hospital earlier this week when she collapsed at work struggling the breathe.
Stacey Irvine – who says she has never tasted fresh fruit or vegetables – arrived at the hospital so deficient in vitamins and nutrients that she had to be injected with them.  Her anemic condition had caused inflamed veins to develop on her tongue.
And while doctors have urged her to drastically change her diet, Irvine says she …

A study on rats published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology showed that sound waves could be used to reduce sperm counts to levels that would cause infertility in humans.
Researchers described ultrasound as a “promising candidate” in contraception.
However, far more tests are required before it could be used.
The concept was first proposed in the 1970s, but is now being pursued by researchers at the University of North Carolina who won a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
They found that two, 15-minute doses “significantly reduced” the number of sperm-producing cells …

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurodegenerative disease, causes periodic attacks of neurologic symptoms such as limb weakness and mobility defects. And while MS patients’ walking abilities and muscle strength are examined on a regular basis, doctors have yet to determine when the lower limb muscles begin to deteriorate. That’s important because with earlier identification of mobility problems, doctors would be able to implement early intervention programs that could make all the difference for those with MS.
Now, Dr. Alon Kalron and his fellow researchers from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine …

Attentiveness in kindergarten accurately predicts the development of “work-oriented” skills in school children, according to a new study published by Dr. Linda Pagani, a professor and researcher at the University of Montreal and CHU Sainte-Justine. Elementary school teachers made observations of attention skills in over a thousand kindergarten children. Then, from grades 1 to 6, homeroom teachers rated how well the children worked both autonomously and with fellow classmates, their levels of self-control and self-confidence, and their ability to follow directions and rules. “For children, the classroom is the workplace, …

Scientists in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have developed a new vaccine to treat cancer at the pre-clinical level. The research team led by Professor Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin discovered a new approach for treating the disease based on manipulating the immune response to malignant tumours. The discovery has been patented and there are plans to develop the vaccine for clinical use for cancer patients.
The first cancer vaccine Sipuleucel-T (Provenge™) was licensed last year for use in prostate cancer patients unresponsive to hormone treatment. Unfortunately, …

A new study appears to support the idea that blood pressure checks should be done in both arms. Researchers at the University of Exeter Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) in the UK reviewed evidence covering differences in systolic blood pressure between arms and found it could be a useful way to spot elevated risk of vascular disease and even death in cases that might otherwise be “clinically silent”.
Findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis are published online in The Lancet on 30 January.
Dr Christopher Clark, Clinical Academic Fellow …

A national cross-sectional survey of 500 primary care physicians in the US finds their weight may influence obesity diagnosis and care. Among the findings, published earlier this month in the journal Obesity, is the suggestion that doctors whose BMI is in the normal weight range are more likely to to discuss weight loss with patients than overweight or obese colleagues.
Lead author, Dr Sara Bleich, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the press their findings also suggest …

The discovery of a carcinogenic substance has led officials to warn millions of people in southern China not to drink water from a pair of polluted rivers, various media outlets reported on Friday.
According to Reuters, more than three and a half million people living in Liuzhou in the Guangxi region have been advised to not consume water from the Liujiang River, the main source of drinking water in the area, due to high levels of the cancer-causing agent cadmium.
Earlier this week, the substance was also discovered in the Longjiang River, …

From the birthplace of Dolly the sheep comes another advancement in cloning, as scientists at Scotland’s University of Edinburgh have reportedly created brain tissue from patients suffering from mental illnesses.
According to NewsCore reports, researchers at the university’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) have developed a method of taking a patient’s skin sample, turning it into stem cells, and then directing them to grow into brain cells. They then study those man-made brain cells hoping to learn more about patients suffering from ailments such as bipolar depression and schizophrenia.
“A patient’s neurons …