Health Talk

It is generally believed that virus particles need to be fully formed to transmit a virus. But a recent study by researchers in the Academic Health Center’s Institute for Molecular Virology (IMV) shows this may not be the case.

“Here at the University of Minnesota, hydrocephalus is the most common condition we treat in pediatric neurosurgery,” explained Daniel Guillaume, M.D., M.S., associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School, “and as such we are constantly searching for better treatments.”

Hydrocephalus is a serious condition with many causes, which in some cases are not fully understood. The primary characteristic is the buildup of too much cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain and spinal cord. That causes potentially harmful pressure on brain tissue. Without treatment, the outcome can result in severe disability and even death.

The term man flu is typically used in jest; perhaps in conversation between two women joking about how their husbands react to illness. For others, the phrase may be completely new. However, recently it has risen to the surface enough in mainstream media and water cooler discussions to draw interest from researchers.

Researchers at the University of Ottawa recently set out to essentially answer the question, do identical infections actually make males more miserable than females? The study involved injecting lab mice with molecules from bacteria. They found at the onset of infection the male mice’s body temperature fell more than females’ did. An article in Stat extrapolated this fit with the idea of the man flu.

Many high schools across the country are debating if later start times are better for students.  A recent University of Minnesota study found that later opening bells were associated with better mental and behavioral health for adolescents.

Death by caffeine: an eye-catching headline when a coroner recently declared a South Carolina teen died from excessive caffeine consumption. In the span of two hours, according to reports, the 16 year-old drank a large Diet Mountain Dew, a cafe latte from McDonald’s and an energy drink, causing a “caffeine-induced cardiac event” leading to a probable arrhythmia.

The news surprised many experts in the medical community, including Joseph Garry, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

“Deaths from caffeine ingestion are actually quite rare,” Garry explained. “However, this is entirely preventable and as such, any preventable death is tragic.”

One could say, cosmetic surgery is seasonal. As summer starts to show its face, some plastic surgeons are seeing the faces of patients more and more.

Recently, many of the faces walking into those clinics belong to millennials. One of the biggest requests for this group: the drug botulinum toxin, commonly called Botox. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Botox treatments for people 19 to 34 years old increased by 41 percent between 2011 and 2015.