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How Silver Turns People Blue

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2012Scienceabsorb, acidic environment, agnes kane, antimicrobial, argyria, base membrane, bioavailable salt, bloodstream, brown researcher, brown university, charged ions, disorder, electron, environmental impact, exposure scenario, frances liu, germs, gi tract, grayish blue, health tonics, jingyu liu, medical treatment, nanoparticle, particle, photochemical reaction, protein, robert hurt, salt ion, silver, silver atom, silver salt, skin, toxic, toxicity, zhongying wang

Ingesting silver — in antimicrobial health tonics or for extensive medical treatments involving silver — can cause argyria, condition in which the skin turns grayish-blue. Brown researchers have discovered how that happens. The process is similar to developing black-and-white photographs, and it’s not just the silver.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Researchers from Brown University have shown for the first time how ingesting too much silver can cause argyria, a rare condition in which patients’ skin turns a striking shade of grayish blue.

“It’s the first conceptual model giving the whole picture of how one develops this condition,” said Robert Hurt, professor of engineering at Brown and part of the research team. “What’s interesting here is that the particles someone ingests aren’t the particles that ultimately cause the disorder.” (more…)

Germs in Space: Preventing Infection on Long Flights

By Guest PostOctober 22, 2012Health, Scienceair filtration, antimicrobial resistance, astronaut, brown university, charles hobaugh, deep space, duane pierson, earth, energy budget, Environment, environmental cleaning, germs, harmful pathogen, hazardous vapors, hepa, hospital disinfectants, hygiene product, immune system, infection, infectious disease, janet kavandi, Johnson Space Center, leonard mermel, long spaceflight, mars, meningococcus, microbiologist, microgravity, microorganisms, NASA, outbreak, pneumoccocus, pneumococcus, purell, rhode island hospital, salmonella, Science, space life, spacecraft, steven lindsey, vaccinating astronauts, vitamin

On a long spaceflight unique conditions including microgravity could give microbes the upper hand, but not if astronauts and their spacecrafts are properly prepared. In a new paper, infectious disease expert Dr. Leonard Mermel brings together a broad base of research to come up with specific recommendations for keeping astronauts safe in deep space.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The cabin of a spacecraft halfway to Mars would be the least convenient place — one cannot say “on earth” — for a Salmonella or Pneumococcus outbreak, but a wide-ranging new paper suggests that microgravity and prolonged space flight could give unique advantages to germs. What’s a space agency to do? Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital infectious disease expert Dr. Leonard Mermel offers several ideas.

And no, they are not to add more Vitamin C to the Tang, or to give each crew member a bottle of Purell. It’s a lot more complicated than that. (more…)

Where the Germs Are: Office Kitchens, Break Rooms

By Guest PostMay 29, 2012Environment, Healthadenosine triphosphate, atp, bacteria, brad reynolds, break rooms, coffee, computer mice, contamination, desk phones, germs, healthy office environment, healthy workplace project, hot spots, illness transmission, kimberly clark, microbiologist charles gerba, microwave door handles, objects, office kitchens, office workers, professional, university of arizona

A study aided by UA microbiologist Charles Gerba finds that office kitchens and break rooms are frequent hot spots for bacteria.

If you thought the restroom was the epicenter of workplace germs, you don’t want to know about office break rooms and kitchens.

The place where U.S. workers eat and prepare their lunches topped the list of office germ hot spots, with the sink and microwave door handles found to be the dirtiest surfaces touched by office workers on a daily basis. (more…)

Why Bad Immunity Genes Survive

By Guest PostFebruary 10, 2012Health, Scienceankylosing spondylitis, antagonistic co evolution, antibiotics, arms race, autoimmune diseases, bacteria, cells, cornelius whitney hyzer, gene, genetics, george gilchrist, germs, immune system, infection, infectious diseases, james ruff, jason kubinak, major histocompatibility complex, mhc, mhc variants, mhcs, mice, national science foundation, parasite, pathogens, patricia slev, people, protein, university of utah, variant, vertebrate animals, virus, wayne potts

*Study implicates “arms race” between genes and germs*

Biologists have found new evidence of why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs–even though some of those genes make vertebrate animals susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases.

“Major histocompatibility complex” (MHC) proteins are found on the surfaces of most cells in vertebrate animals. They distinguish proteins like themselves from foreign proteins, and trigger an immune response against these foreign invaders. (more…)

Tag Archives: germs

How Silver Turns People Blue

Germs in Space: Preventing Infection on Long Flights

Where the Germs Are: Office Kitchens, Break Rooms

Why Bad Immunity Genes Survive