The science of flu season —

Flu season is in winter. Okay, great. But why? (Consider this an open thread for all your favorite humidifier recommendations.) — Maggie •

The protective power of antioxidants might be vastly oversold —

Scientists are beginning to question the idea that free-radicals cause aging and, with that, the entire basis of the antioxidant industrial complex. Maybe, now, everything can stop tasting of acai berries. — Maggie •

Moms, booze, and why social science is so damn hard —

In the past year, I've had multiple social scientists tell me that people are the hardest thing to study. Sure, you don't need a Large Hadron Collider. And the chances of suddenly requiring a HAZMAT suit are pretty slim. But people almost never give you the kind of solidly reliable data you can get out of subatomic particles or viruses. The hard part isn't doing the research. The hard part is getting trustworthy, universal answers for anything. If you want to see a good example of those problems in action, check out this great piece on drinking during pregnancy, written by Melinda Moyer. — Maggie •

In 2002, over 2000 people between the ages of 51 and 80 were asked to sit on the floor using as little hand- or knee-support as possible. They were then asked to stand up without resorting to using their hands or knees if they were able. The results were recorded. By the end of October 2011, 159 subjects had died. It turns out that most of the people who died were the ones who needed the most support while performing the task. Only 2 of the 159 people who died had been able to sit down and stand up unsupported: "These differences persisted when results were controlled for age, gender and body mass index, suggesting that the sitting-rising test score is a significant predictor of all-cause mortality."

Test of musculo-skeletal fitness is 'strong predictor' of mortality in the middle-aged and older (Via Seth Robert's Blog)

In PLoS One, the delightfully titled "In-Depth Analysis of a Piece of Shit" explains, in-depth, how many hookworm eggs you can expect to find in your average infectious turd:

An accurate diagnosis of helminth infection is important to improve patient management. However, there is considerable intra- and inter-specimen variation of helminth egg counts in human feces. Homogenization of stool samples has been suggested to improve diagnostic accuracy, but there are no detailed investigations. Rapid disintegration of hookworm eggs constitutes another problem in epidemiological surveys. We studied the spatial distribution of Schistosoma mansoni and hookworm eggs in stool samples, the effect of homogenization, and determined egg counts over time in stool samples stored under different conditions.

An In-Depth Analysis of a Piece of Shit: Distribution of Schistosoma mansoni and Hookworm Eggs in Human Stool (via JWZ)

Infomercial exercise machines are shit —

You know those infomercial exercise machines? All junk. — Cory •

Over the river and through the woods —

We still don't know exactly what causes motion sickness. NASA has some working theories, though. — Maggie •

Scott Edelman sez, "In 1954, a year before to the Salk vaccine was revealed to the world, DC Comics was publishing ads advising kids how not to catch polio., as in this one from Action #196 (which would have gone on sale a couple of months earlier than its September 1954 cover date). The words of wisdom included 'keep clean' and 'don't get fatigued.' They might as well have said, don't be a kid!"

DC Comics wants you to read Nutsy Squirrel … and take these precautions against polio (Thanks, Scott!)

Crate-digging for old records on eBay, my brother found this bizarre health gadget identified as having been produced in Bombay in the 1950s. The seller writes:

Very rare and old Twin Transilluminator in Box from India 1950 in good condition. Its medical Instrument for sinuses and Eye therapy. Its made of steel and backlit. its electrical. on box has some description and photos about how to use this Instrument. Its rare and unique medical Instrument and must for medical instruments collectors. The size of box is 9 inch in length, and its width is 5 inch.

What the heck is the history behind this gizmo? More photos below.

Read the rest

As rhapsodyangel points out on the Vintage Ads LJ, this fattening syrup outsold Coca-Cola in 1890, by promising that you and your loved ones could be "fat as pigs."

In 1890, this sold more bottles than Coca Cola.

A woman who had a $20,000 stem-cell "enhanced" facelift at a posh Beverley Hills clinic experienced a bony clicking sound and excruciating pain every time she opened or shut her right eye. The bony clicking sounds turned out to be bones.

About three months earlier the woman had opted for a relatively new kind of cosmetic procedure at a different clinic in Beverly Hills—a face-lift that made use of her own adult stem cells. First, cosmetic surgeons had removed some the woman's abdominal fat with liposuction and isolated the adult stem cells within—a family of cells that can make many copies of themselves in an immature state and can develop into several different kinds of mature tissue. In this case the doctors extracted mesenchymal stem cells—which can turn into bone, cartilage or fat, among other tissues—and injected those cells back into her face, especially around her eyes. The procedure cost her more than $20,000, Wu recollects. Such face-lifts supposedly rejuvenate the skin because stem cells turn into brand-new tissue and release chemicals that help heal aging cells and stimulate nearby cells to proliferate.

During the face-lift her clinicians had also injected some dermal filler, which plastic surgeons have safely used for more than 20 years to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. The principal component of such fillers is calcium hydroxylapatite, a mineral with which cell biologists encourage mesenchymal stem cells to turn into bone—a fact that escaped the woman's clinicians. Wu thinks this unanticipated interaction explains her predicament. He successfully removed the pieces of bone from her eyelid in 2009 and says she is doing well today, but some living stem cells may linger in her face. These cells could turn into bone or other out-of-place tissues once again.

In the Flesh: The Embedded Dangers of Untested Stem Cell Cosmetics [Ferris Jabr/Scientific American] (via JWZ)

The truth is stranger than data visualization —

I'm honestly not sure which is weirder: That Clean Air Asia made an interactive map of air pollution that visualizes various cities' smog levels in terms of nose-hair length ... or the fact that thicker, more luxuriant nose hairs really do reduce your risk of asthma. The world is a strange place, people. — Maggie •