Health News: Nanoparticle therapy promotes wound healing ♦ Preserving milk using pulsed electric field processing ♦ Laparoscopic hysterectomy may be safer

Nanoparticle therapy promotes wound healing  An experimental therapy successfully tested in mice cut in half the time it takes to heal wounds compared to no treatment at all. "We envision that our nanoparticle therapy could be used to speed the healing of all sorts of wounds,  Continue Reading

Preserving milk using energy efficient pulsed electric field processing  High voltage, short pulsed electric fields selectively damage cell membrane directly killing the contaminating bacteria by a process known as electroporation. Continue Reading

Laparoscopic hysterectomy may be safer than abdominal procedure  A study has compared the relative risks of laparoscopic hysterectomy (with morcellation) with abdominal surgery for hysterectomy in premenopausal women for presumed uterine fibroids. Examining short- and long-term complications,they found that abdominal surgery carries a higher risk of complications Continue Reading

Malaria-infected cells produce odors attractive to mosquitoes   The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum produces chemical compounds called terpenes that give off odors that attract mosquitoes, according to new research. The study might explain why the insects are more likely to bite humans or animals infected with the organism. Continue Reading

Soils retain radioactivity in Fukushima  The soil's physical and chemical properties in rice fields around the Fukushima site have been the focus of recent study. Researchers examined factors affecting soil-to-plant transfer of radioactive cesium in the Fukushima area. Continue Reading

Alaska Seafood is Safe from Fukushima Radiation

The Alaska departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Health and Social Services (DHSS) have received further results from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the latest radiation testing of Alaska seafood. The results confirm information from federal, state and international agencies that seafood in Alaska waters poses no radiation-related health concerns to those who consume it.

This testing of cod and three species of salmon (chinook, chum, and sockeye) showed no detection of the Fukushima-related radioisotopes iodine-131, cesium-134, or cesium-137. The results indicate no appreciable risk from any tested radionuclide in these fish and support previous radionuclide testing results of sablefish, pollock and halibut from Alaska waters. DEC and DHSS have posted the findings on their websites and will update the web pages with any future sampling results.

All samples were analyzed by standard techniques routinely used by the FDA to evaluate food safety. The fish samples were composites, containing tissue from several fish, and were collected using a statistical protocol. Samples were collected from the Aleutian/Bering Sea, Bristol Bay and Gulf of Alaska.

The state of Alaska continues to collaborate with its partners, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Cook Inlet Keeper, North Slope Borough, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), FDA, and others to compile and evaluate additional environmental sample data.

Alaska’s Seafood is Safe from Fukushima Radiation

The Alaska departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Health and Social Services (DHSS) have received results from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on radiation testing of Alaska seafood. The results confirm information from federal, State and international agencies that seafood in the North Pacific and Alaska waters poses no radiation related health concerns to those who consume it.

The FDA is the lead U.S. agency in food safety. The agency has been monitoring radiation in both domestic and imported foods and determined that there have been no levels of Fukushima radiation in those foods that would pose a public health concern. However, Alaskans have insisted on Alaska-specific sampling and data. DEC and DHSS developed a sampling plan and coordinated with the FDA for them to analyze several Alaska fish species that are known to migrate from the western Pacific Ocean and that are harvested by commercial, recreational and subsistence fishers.

“We heard concerns from our neighbors, friends and other citizens throughout Alaska about the possible contamination of Alaska fish with the radiation releases from the Fukushima disaster,” DEC Environmental Health director Elaine Busse Floyd said. “We did not expect to find any problems with Alaska seafood based on federal monitoring of domestic and imported foods. However, we felt that it was important to assist the FDA by developing a sampling plan and obtaining Alaska fish to be tested. The data reassures us and other Alaskans for whom seafood is such a critical part of life in Alaska.”

The testing found no detections of the Fukushima-related radioisotopes Iodine-131, Cesium-134, or Cesium-137. There was some detection of background or naturally-occurring radiation. The results indicate no appreciable risk from any tested radionuclide in these fish. DEC and DHSS have posted the findings on their websites.  

All samples were analyzed by standard techniques routinely used by the FDA to evaluate food safety. The fish samples were composites, containing tissue from several fish, and were collected using a statistical protocol. Samples were collected across the state from the Aleutian Islands/Bering Sea to Southeast Alaska.

DEC continues to collaborate with its partners, including DHSS, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Cook Inlet Keeper, North Slope Borough, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, FDA, and others to continue to compile and evaluate additional environmental sample data.

Nuclear Pollution Thought To Kill Off Star Fish On U.S. West Coast

Researchers say nuclear pollution from the 2011 earthquake in Japan that damaged the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant could be partially to blame for a disease wiping out starfish along the West Coast. Fukushima pollution may be causing sea star epidemic on West Coast. Sea urchins and sea cucumbers also affected Populations go locally extinct overnight, literally

Dr Peter Raimondi of the University of Santa Cruz says something is making starfish susceptible to what is believed to be a disease caused by a bacterium, coined "wasting disease." It essentially disintegrates the marine invertebrates into a white goo, after the starfish loses its legs.

Starfish are more efficient at absorbing radioisotopes than fish. They can absorb 1000 times more platinum than fish.