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  • How COVID-19 sets off ravaging inflammation in some people

    April 16, 2022 /

    By Roberta Attanasio Back in March 2020, Jane Brody wrote in The New York Times “While most people focus, as they should, on social distancing, face coverings, hand washing and even self-isolation to protect against the deadly coronavirus now ravaging the country, too few are paying serious attention to two other factors critically important to the risk of developing a Covid-19 infection and its potential severity. Those factors are immunity, which should be boosted, and inflammation, which should be suppressed.” However, major efforts were already underway at that time not only to develop a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, but also to understand how the virus triggers a blizzard of uncontrolled inflammatory immune…

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    Global Threats: The Alarming Rise of Antibiotic Resistance

    May 2, 2014

    Chlorovirus ATCV-1, a Green Algae Virus, May Slow Human Brain Activity

    November 3, 2014

    “Iceman” Wim Hof and the Flow Within: The Immune System Goes with It

    May 20, 2014
  • Climate Change, Parasite Infections, and Immune Responses

    March 6, 2016 /

    By Roberta Attanasio Global climate change noticeably impacts human health—safe drinking water, sufficient food, and secure shelter are threatened by rising sea levels and severe weather events. Heat waves dramatically increase death rates not only from heat strokes, but also from complications arising from cardiovascular, respiratory, and cerebrovascular diseases. Although global warming may bring some localized benefits, such as fewer winter deaths in temperate climates and increased food production in certain areas, the overall health effects of a changing climate are likely to be overwhelmingly negative. For example, climate warming is predicted to increase the transmission of parasite infections. Now, results from a recent study show that host immunity can…

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    Ozone, Plants and Heat Waves: Team Players in Adverse Health Effects

    July 23, 2013

    How protecting our oceans can help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges

    March 19, 2021

    Climate Change: A Key Driver of the Syrian Conflict?

    March 11, 2015
  • The Global Travels of Chikungunya Virus: Is it Coming to You?

    March 30, 2015 /

    By Roberta Attanasio Chikungunya virus is spreading fast — worldwide. First described during an outbreak in southern Tanzania in 1952, it caused sporadic illness in Africa and large urban outbreaks in Thailand and India in the 1960s and 1970s. As of now, it has been identified in over 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas. The virus, which causes fever and severe joint pain, is transmitted to humans by the bites of infected female mosquitoes, most commonly by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus — two species that can also transmit other mosquito-borne viruses, including dengue. There is no vaccine and no specific treatment for the infection. Gemma Handy aptly describes…

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    Childhood Asthma and Traffic-Related Air Pollution

    October 15, 2019

    Breastfeeding: Benefits of Early Exposure to Maternal Antibodies

    February 13, 2014

    The Global Toll of Preterm Births

    November 24, 2013
  • Small Predator Diversity Plays a Significant Role in the Spread of Infectious Diseases

    March 23, 2015 /

    By Roberta Attanasio Biodiversity is a term coined to describe the diversity of all living things, from human beings to microorganisms. A New York Times editorial published almost two decades ago aptly describes the importance of the biodiversity concept: “Biodiversity is a hugely important concept that stresses the coherence and interdependence of all forms of life on earth and a new willingness to appraise the meaning of that interdependence, not just for humans but for every one of life’s component parts.” The editorial goes on to illustrate the alarming effects of biodiversity loss: “Biodiversity is a way of talking about what scientists have long understood and a way of reminding…

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    Central Asia Large Mammals: Victims of (Cashmere) Fashion

    August 16, 2013

    Farmed Salmon Develop Ear Deformities All Around the World

    May 31, 2016

    A Toxoplasma’s Journey: From Cats to Sea Otters

    January 19, 2014
  • TB Unmasked: Healthcare Workers and the Global Tuberculosis Epidemic

    March 21, 2015 /

    By Roberta Attanasio World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is approaching — it reminds us that tuberculosis (TB) is a massive global health problem. Indeed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), tuberculosis is one of the world’s deadliest communicable diseases. It is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide due to a single infectious agent. In 2013, an estimated 9.0 million people developed TB and 1.5 million died from it — mostly in developing countries. However, TB is curable and preventable. The WHO estimates that 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013 through effective diagnosis and treatment. Despite the many saved lives, the…

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    Inflammation Drives Susceptibility to Anxiety and Depression

    November 28, 2014

    Global Threats: Contamination of Surface Waters by Agricultural Insecticides

    April 26, 2015

    750 Miles of Smog

    December 14, 2013
  • Tasmanian Devils: Contagious Cancer Drives the Risk of Extinction

    December 5, 2014 /

    By Roberta Attanasio In November 2013, a team of biologists scattered 15 plastic cylinders in the fields of Maria Island, three miles off the east coast of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Each cylinder contained a healthy Tasmanian devil, a marsupial  species that until then lived only in Tasmania. Soon, the 15 devils emerged from the containers, becoming the first ever to inhabit Maria Island. The biologists were planning to take more devils to the island. Why? To establish a healthy colony, needed for the survival of the entire species. The Tasmanian devil is on the brink of extinction because of an unusual disease — a contagious cancer that is spreading very quickly.…

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    Minute 319: The Delta of the Colorado River Gets a New Life

    March 19, 2014

    Ivory Poaching Drives the Global Decline of African Elephants

    August 22, 2014

    Small Predator Diversity Plays a Significant Role in the Spread of Infectious Diseases

    March 23, 2015
  • Prenatal Exposure to Pollutants: Influence on the Immune Response

    November 30, 2014 /

    By Roberta Attanasio The development of the immune system during fetal and neonatal life is negatively influenced by exposure to toxic chemicals, resulting in compromised immune function later in life. An example is fetal exposure to arsenic, which has deleterious effects on the immune response to influenza virus infection in adulthood. Now, results from a new study provide additional evidence for the role that exposure to toxic chemicals early in life plays in shaping the immune response to the influenza virus.   The study (by researchers at the University of Rochester) focused on a mouse model and the chemical 2,3,7,8-tetrachlordibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD for short. TCDD, a known carcinogen, is a persistent environmental contaminant…

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    Circular Economy: Turning Waste into Resources

    May 9, 2015

    What is Carbon Farming?

    August 8, 2013

    Breastfeeding: Benefits of Early Exposure to Maternal Antibodies

    February 13, 2014
  • Chlorovirus ATCV-1, a Green Algae Virus, May Slow Human Brain Activity

    November 3, 2014 /

    By Roberta Attanasio Chlorella viruses, or chloroviruses, infect green algae, single-celled organisms present throughout the world in freshwater ecosystems such as lakes and ponds. Now, it seems that chlorovirues also infect humans, causing changes in cognitive functions — the processes by which information is perceived, registered, stored, retrieved, and used. In other words, chloroviruses influence the ability to acquire and use knowledge. These novel findings — published on line in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (October 27, 2014) — confirm that viruses may be able to jump from one kingdom (plants) to another (animals), something that has been shown only in very few instances.  For the study…

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    Tuberculosis in China: A Success Story for a Global Problem

    March 22, 2014

    Embarrassing Facebook Posts May Cause Anguish

    December 10, 2013

    Tasmanian Devils: Contagious Cancer Drives the Risk of Extinction

    December 5, 2014
  • Food-Borne Parasites: The “Top Ten” List

    July 1, 2014 /

    By Roberta Attanasio Food-born parasites affect the health of millions of people all around the world, causing huge social costs. However, we don’t know much about these parasites — where they come from, how they live in the human body, and how they make us sick. Today (July 1, 2014), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released, along with the World Health Organization (WHO), a report — Multicriteria-based ranking for risk management of food-borne parasites — as a first step in tackling the problem. Parasites are organisms that derive nourishment and protection from other living organisms known as hosts. Parasites that are present in food cause food-borne infectious diseases.…

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    What Are Endocrine Disruptors?

    August 21, 2013

    Small Predator Diversity Plays a Significant Role in the Spread of Infectious Diseases

    March 23, 2015

    Wasting Syndrome and Starfish Die-Off

    February 9, 2014
  • Global Threats: The Alarming Rise of Antibiotic Resistance

    May 2, 2014 /

    By Roberta Attanasio For the last 70 years, we have been winning  most fights against harmful bacteria, using antibiotics as weapons. Now, we’re losing — our weapons don’t work any more, and the bacteria are fighting back. The alarming rise of antibiotic resistance is mostly due to overuse of antibiotics, both in medicine and in agriculture. In her book “The drugs don’t work“, Sally Davis, the UK chief medical officer, says that if we do not take responsibility now, in a few decades we may start dying from the most commonplace of operations and ailments that can today be treated easily. About a year ago (March 2013), she recommended to add antibiotic resistance to…

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    E-Cigarettes and Vaping May Cause Lung Damage and Impaired Immune Responses

    February 14, 2015

    TB Unmasked: Healthcare Workers and the Global Tuberculosis Epidemic

    March 21, 2015

    J.M.W. Turner’s Sunsets: A Guide to Air Pollution

    March 27, 2014
12

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