The answer to acne may be a harmless virus that already lives on our skin, say researchers. (Lotus Carroll/Flickr Creative Commons)
A program in New York City that offers free prescription birth control to public high school students, including the morning-after pill, has expanded its reach from five schools last year to 13 today. TIMEsays the program aims to serve schools in neighborhoods that don't have a clinic nearby, or that have high teen pregnancy rates. It's thought to be the first program to offer free hormonal birth control, as opposed to just condoms.
Teenagers rejoice: The BBC reports that a harmless virus that lives on our skin may be able to work as a natural acne treatment. The virus, called Propionibacterium acnes, "naturally preys on the bacteria that causes pimples," said the head researcher, and if scientists can harness it, that could mean no more zit-popping.
SARS, the deadly respiratory infection that killed around 800 people worldwide in the early part of the millennium, may be back. The World Health Organization is urging health workers worldwide to report any patients who have an acute respiratory infection who has traveled to either Saudi Arabia or Qatar, says U.S. News & World Report. A virus that looked a lot like SARS was found in a Qatari man this weekend, who said he'd visited Saudi Arabia recently, where a man died earlier this year from a virus that was nearly identical to his.
Race, ethnicity and immigrant status are all factors in weight problems among American and British children, says a new report in the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. In the U.S., Latino and black children of native-born mothers have a higher risk of obesity than do their white counterparts. Low socioeconomic status can be a risk factor for obesity in the U.S., said the study, but only for white kids.
Does the thought of working out make you lose your appetite? Well, actually working out seems to do the same thing. HealthDay reports on a new study that says exercise lowers the brain's response to food, cutting folks' motivation to eat. The trend held no matter how much a study participant weighed.
Finally: We're not sure what lesson this falls under in medical school, but HealthDay says a new study implores doctors to follow their gut feelings about serious infections in children. Because kids' infections can be hard to diagnose, the study's authors suggest that a doctor's intuition may be more valuable than symptoms or signs exhibited by the child.
Photo by Lotus Carroll via Flickr Creative Commons.
