Health & Wellness

Column: My Kids Bore Me to Death

Staff / Truthdig Aug 1, 2006 A working mother of two admits to one of parenthood's last great remaining taboos: that parenting is often mind-numbingly tedious, and that she'd almost always rather be doing something other than watching "SpongeBob" or making runs to soccer practice. The comments on this article offer a fascinating set of nuggets for would-be parents to chew on. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

FDA to Consider Over-Counter Sale of Morning-After Pill

Staff / Truthdig Jul 31, 2006 The government agency will weigh whether to let the drug (Plan B) be sold over the counter -- a move that conservative forces, inside the government and out, have long objected to as part of their proxy battle on abortion. This may be happening only because two senators have been blocking the appointment of the FDA's new head until the agency makes a decision on the drug. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

California Heat Wave Kills More Than 130

Staff / Truthdig Jul 31, 2006 California?s recent heat wave has caused the deaths of more than 130 people, officials believe. Though temperatures have been cooling, they hovered around 115 degrees in some parts of the state earlier in the week. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Jabari Asim: Closing the Racial Gap in Medical Treatment

Jabari Asim / Truthdig Jul 29, 2006 Why do African Americans still lag behind even recent African immigrants when it comes to beating heart disease and cancer? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Denmark Is Happiest Country, Study Says

Staff / Truthdig Jul 29, 2006 According to a scientist at the University of Leicester in England, Burundi is the unhappiest country in the world, and the U.S. came in 23rd out of 178 countries ranked. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Readers Shocked, SHOCKED at Magazine’s Breast Cover

Staff / Truthdig Jul 29, 2006 Puritanism is reigning supreme once again as many readers of BabyTalk magazine were offended en masse by the sight of -- horror of horrors -- a breast offering sustenance to an infant on the magazine's cover. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Teens Will ‘Huff’ Anything These Days

Staff / Truthdig Jul 28, 2006 Two teenagers in France fell ill after sniffing mothballs as a recreational drug. One developed scaly skin on her legs and hands. Developed scaly skin after a close encounter with an insect? Sounds like Jeff Goldblum's transformation in "The Fly." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Brief History of Human Sex

Staff / Truthdig Jul 28, 2006 To get an idea of how we humans might act if unfettered by cultural restraints, we could look at bonobo chimpanzees, which engage in frequent sexual acts "a fairly quick, perfunctory and relaxed activity that functions as a social cement," according to an expert . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Low-Fat Ice Cream Uses Cloned Fish Blood Proteins

Staff / Truthdig Jul 27, 2006 Appetizing news from the N Times: "New industrial processes, including one that involves a protein cloned from the blood of an Arctic Ocean fish, have allowed manufacturers to produce very creamy, dense, reduced-fat ice creams with fewer additives" Yum. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Complications in Space Sex

Staff / Truthdig Jul 26, 2006 Experts tell MSNBC that "new devices and data would be needed to hit the zero-G-spot" But an author who has written about the topic says space sex would be "the killer app of space tourism, because every coupleis going to want to try this" . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bed Sharing ‘Drains Men’s Brains’

Staff / Truthdig Jul 25, 2006 Sleeping in bed with a woman impairs a man's mental abilities the next day and increases stress hormones, a study has found. This is despite most men reporting a better night's sleep alongside a woman, and happens regardless of whether the couple has sex. The impairment doesn't appear to apply to women. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Eye Test Detects Alzheimer?s

Staff / Truthdig Jul 23, 2006 Science/Medicine: Detecting Alzheimer?s in the future could be as simple as an eye test. Doctors in Boston are testing a method using a pulse of infrared light that has been successful in mice. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )