Category: Science and Health

A woman in east Jerusalem’s Shuafat neighborhood couldn’t find her gold ring, but doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center (SZMC) did – in the food tube of her two-and-a-half-year-old toddler – and pulled it out gently after he was put under anesthesia. The child, Adam, was refusing to eat and complained of mouth pain. […]

It’s not that surprising if you’ve never heard of VEXAS. Scientists only identified this inflammatory disease in 2020. Now, research suggests that the syndrome isn’t as rare as first believed.  Researchers estimate that 15,500 people in the US over age 50 suffer from the syndrome, symptoms of which usually include unexplained fever, pneumonia, myeloma (cancer […]

A food scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey has used a 3D printer to introduce low-fat chocolate in any shape a person could think of – the first in a line of what he calls “functional foods.” Prof. Qingrong Huang in the department of food science at the university’s School of Environmental and Biological […]

Growing evidence points to a metabolic impairment in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, whose number worldwide is projected to reach 135 million by 2050. Neurology researchers say that AD starts to develop several decades before the onset of dementia and the deterioration of cognitive function. Reduced metabolism results from a dysfunction of the mitochondria, which produce […]

The average length of a penis has increased by a large percentage over the last three decades, according to a new study published last week. According to the study, which was published in the World Journal of Men’s Health, the average penis size has increased by 24% since 1942. Researchers from departments of urology and […]

Lessons learned from three years of managing the COVID-19 pandemic in the country should ensure Israel is more prepared for the next public health emergency, whatever that may be, said coronavirus coordinator Prof. Salman Zarka. “We need to formalize the processes we developed for managing coronavirus, so we can roll them out again,” he said […]

A new study, from the University of Helsinki in Finland, has suggested that altering your dog’s diet can help protect them against stomach disorders when they age.  The study, published earlier this month in Scientific Reports found that giving puppies non-processed meats and dog-safe table scraps can do wonders for their health. The altered diet, at 6-18 […]

Nanoparticles of the toxic rare earth metal gandolinium can potentially infiltrate kidney cells, causing serious health complications, a team of researchers at the University of New Mexico found in a new study. The peer-reviewed study, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports earlier this month, found that in some cases, gadolinium can cause nephrogenic […]

A new peer-reviewed study, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, has found that humans experience longer REM sleep in the winter.  REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement and is a stage of sleep associated with dreaming and memory consolidation, according to sleepfoundation.org.  During this sleep stage, the body’s heart rate speeds up and breathing can become […]

Many of my readers know I devote a fair amount of my professional time to trauma work, as I am quite concerned about its psychological impact on both adults and children. Between terrorism, Iranian threats, long power outages, civic discord, and being in an earthquake zone, I sometimes think that as a country, we are […]