Typically, there aren’t a lot of positive thoughts when E. coli, generally found in animal and human intestines, is mentioned. It’s been blamed for closing beaches and swimming pools and shuttering restaurants because of contamination in salad bars, meats or other food items.

From movies to museum exhibits, the dinosaur Dilophosaurus is no stranger to pop culture. Many probably remember it best from the movie “Jurassic Park,” where it’s depicted as a venom-spitting beast with a rattling frill around its neck and two paddle-like crests on its head.

A newly-identified, fast-growing species of algae poses a major threat to coral reefs and the ocean ecosystem. It was previously discovered in Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument by a team of researchers from the University of Hawai?i, Western Australian Herbarium, College of Charleston and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The way patients’ concerns over side effects were dealt with is addressed in a long-awaited review.

• The reason for acne in adulthood is most likely related to what you eat
• A typical Western diet can increase one’s chances of getting pimples
• Foods like vegetables, fish and more plant-based fare are tied to reductions in acne for adults

Are you plagued by acne even though you’re way past puberty? A new report might have you avoiding certain foods.

The study of more than 24 000 French adults found that sweet and greasy fare – especially milk chocolate, sweetened drinks, dairy products, and sugary or fatty foods – all appeared to raise the odds for zits.

The new findings “appear to support the hypothesis that the Western diet (rich in animal products and fatty and sugary foods) is associated with the presence of acne in adulthood”, said the team led by dermatologist Dr Emilie Sbidian, of Mondor Hospital in Paris.

Food affects hormones

One US dermatologist who read over the report wasn’t surprised.

“This new study confirms what I have always believed, that proper nutrition is an important component of acne treatment,” said Dr Michele Green, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

The likely culprit? Foods’ effects on hormones, she said.

“One of the reasons that this high ‘glycemic’ diet – high in sugar – causes acne, is that it changes the normal dynamic of one’s hormones,” Green explained. “These high-sugar diets can cause a rise in insulin levels and this affects other hormones, which lead to the development of acne.”

Adding to that, Green said, “there are also ongoing studies looking into the hormones that cows are fed in their feed, which may also have an effect on the development of acne.”

The new study focused on acne in adults, not on people younger than 18 years of age. Unlike many prior studies, this one was especially rigorous. Thousands of French participants filled out researcher-validated 24-hour dietary records over a two-week period. In these food diaries, participants recorded all foods and drinks consumed, and at what amounts.

Quantity matters

They also recorded any incidence of an acne outbreak.

The result: After adjusting for a number of confounding factors, certain foods – dairy, fatty and sugary fare – emerged as potential acne triggers.

Quantity mattered. For example, having one glass of milk per day bumped up the odds of an outbreak by 12%, and a glass of a sugary drink (such as soda) raised it by 18%.

But drink five glasses of either a sugary drink or milk in a day, and your odds of developing zits rose by more than twofold or 76%, respectively.

Fatty foods appeared to do people’s skin no favours, either: One portion of a fatty (think French fries, burgers) food or a sugary treat (sugared donuts, cookies) boosted the odds for an outbreak by 54%, the study found.

And “a complete meal of fatty and sugary products” upped the odds more than eightfold, Sbidian’s group reported.

More than a cosmetic nuisance

Overall, “adults with current acne were found to be less likely to have a healthy dietary pattern,” the French team concluded.

And what about chocolate? Intake of milk chocolate did seem tied to acne risk, bumping up the odds for an outbreak by 28%, the researchers found. But consumption of less fatty dark chocolate was actually tied to a 10% lower odds for acne.

Healthier foods – such as vegetables, fish and more plant-based fare – were also tied to reductions in acne for adults, the findings showed.

For many, acne isn’t just a cosmetic nuisance, Green noted.

“Acne patients suffer from low self-esteem and depression, and many go on to have physical acne scars, which they carry on their face for a lifetime,” she said.

In fact, “acne is an extremely important and emotional issue that frequently gets neglected,” Green added.

“More studies need to be done but it is so important to investigate the role of diet, nutrition and chemicals, and their effect on blood hormonal levels, acne, and our health in general,” she said.

The study was published online on 10 June in JAMA Dermatology.

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• Longer-acting HIV medications could free people from taking daily pills
• An experimental drug is now able to maintain active levels in the blood of patients for more than six months
• Scientists are, however, still working on ways to potentially cure HIV/Aids

Scientists are reporting an early step toward an HIV drug that could potentially be taken only a couple of times per year.

A single injection of the experimental drug, called lenacapavir, was able to lower blood levels of HIV in a small group of patients. And it was capable of maintaining active levels in the blood for more than six months.

It all raises the possibility of one day having an HIV treatment that only needs to be taken twice a year.

The current treatment regimens for HIV – combinations of oral drugs often called “cocktails” – generally work quite well, said study co-author Dr Martin Rhee.

No more daily pills

“But patients often say that over time, taking daily pills can be a burden,” said Rhee, director of clinical research for Gilead Sciences, Inc. – which is developing lenacapavir.

So the hope is that longer-acting HIV medications could “free people from daily pills,” Rhee said.

Beyond that, he noted, longer-acting drugs could potentially offer a simpler way to prevent HIV in high-risk people: Right now, that’s done with a daily pill regimen known as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis).

However, much more work remains ahead. The new study, published on 1 July  in the journal Nature, offers a “proof of principle” that a dosing interval of every six months is possible, Rhee said.

The researchers found that in 40 healthy people, lenacapavir appeared safe and could remain active in the body for more than six months. And in 32 people with previously untreated HIV, a single injection reduced viral levels in the blood within nine days.

It’s encouraging that the drug is “amenable to dosing every six months”, said Dr Rajesh Gandhi, an infectious disease physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston.

A pair of drugs

Gandhi, who is also chair-elect of the HIV Medicine Association, agreed there is a need for longer-acting HIV drugs.

The catch is that HIV is not treated with one drug alone – to keep the virus suppressed and limit the chances of it becoming resistant to medication.

So, for any twice-a-year regimen to become a reality, Gandhi explained, two long-acting drugs would have to be paired.

“So the question is, what do you partner this drug with?” he said.

Rhee said Gilead is working on such a partner. More immediately, the researchers will study the effects of lenacapavir, taken every six months, in HIV patients who’ve tried many standard drugs and are resistant to them.

Easier adherence

Other longer-acting drugs for HIV are further along – though the doses are more frequent than twice a year.

Researchers are studying a combination of two injection drugs – cabotegravir and rilpivirine – that is given monthly. The hope is to keep HIV suppressed in patients who have got the virus down to very low levels with standard oral drugs.

Meanwhile, cabotegravir is also being tested for preventing HIV in high-risk people, according to the US National Institutes of Health. In those trials, injections are given every two months.

But while infrequent doses would be convenient and – hopefully – make adherence easier, there are safety questions. If people have side effects from the drug, for example, does that mean they are stuck with them for six months?

To help avoid that, Gandhi said, studies have been using a “lead-in” phase: Patients first take oral versions of the long-acting drugs, to make sure they can tolerate them.

Still committed to finding a cure

But another concern, Gandhi said, is what could happen if patients miss or delay an injection: As levels of the drug wane in the body, the virus could come roaring back, and possibly develop resistance to the medication.

Rhee agreed that is an issue that will face all long-acting HIV medications under development.

Still, the progress toward new options is encouraging, according to Gandhi. People with HIV should know that scientists are still working on new treatments, he said – including ways to potentially cure it.

“We’re still committed to finding a cure,” Gandhi said.

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• According to a recent study, exercise can definitely increase one’s lifespan
• Data indicate that only 16% of participants in the study did the recommended amount of exercise
• The risk of death from any cause was 40% lower among those who did both sufficient muscle-strengthening and aerobic activities

Getting the recommended amount of exercise could cut your risk of early death, a new study indicates.

US government guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity a week. They also suggest adults do moderate or greater intensity muscle-strengthening exercise at least two days a week.

That effort pays off in longevity, according to the study published on 1 July in BMJ.

“Our findings support that the physical activity levels recommended in the 2018 physical activity guidelines for Americans provide important survival benefits,” researcher Bo Xi and colleagues wrote in a journal news release.

Benefits higher for vigorous exercise

“Additionally, in accordance with the guidelines, more physical activity than the minimum recommendation could provide greater health benefits,” Xi, a professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Shandong University in China, and co-authors said.

To assess the benefits of these guidelines, the researchers analysed data from nearly 480 000 US adults, ages 18 to 85, who were followed for an average of nearly nine years.

During that time, only 16% of the participants fully met the recommended activity levels, and nearly 60 000 died.

Compared to those who didn’t meet the recommended activity levels, the risk of death from any cause was 11% lower among those who engaged in sufficient muscle-strengthening exercise. It was 29% lower among those who did sufficient aerobic exercise, and 40% lower among those who did both sufficient muscle-strengthening and aerobic activities.

The researchers also found that adults who did sufficient aerobic exercise had a lower risk of death from these specific causes – heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory tract diseases, accidents and injuries, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes. Those who did sufficient strengthening exercises had a lower risk of death from heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory tract disease.

Survival benefits were slightly higher for vigorous exercise than for light to moderate activity.

The study doesn’t establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Still, inactivity is a global public health issue. It’s estimated that inactivity was responsible for 6 to 10% of major chronic non-communicable diseases and 9% of early deaths worldwide in 2008.

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A Lancet study estimates that around just 5% of the Spanish population has developed antibodies.

A survey by the Office for National Statistics looked at who had been infected in the community in England.

• Children may suffer febrile seizures after being vaccinated
• This can be distressing for both the child and the parents
• Australian researchers, however, found that vaccines are safe and that these seizures will not negatively affect kids’ development

Kids who have a fever-related seizure after getting a vaccine won’t have developmental and behavioural problems as a result, according to a new study.

These so-called febrile seizures do not affect children’s development whether they occur after a vaccination or not, the researchers said.

“A febrile seizure can occur following vaccination and understandably can be quite distressing to parents. It can also cause parents to lose confidence in future vaccinations,” said study author Dr Lucy Deng. She is a paediatrician at the National Center for Immunization Research and Surveillance in Sydney, Australia.

“Now, parents will be relieved to hear that having a febrile seizure following vaccination does not affect the child’s development,” Deng added.

Emerging new diseases

For the study, Deng’s team compared 62 kids who had a fever-related seizure within two weeks of a shot with 70 who had a seizure from another cause and 90 who never had a seizure. All were about two years old.

The investigators found no differences in development, thinking skills or behaviour among the three groups.

“At a time when there is a global resurgence of measles and new diseases are emerging, our findings are particularly important in reassuring parents and providers on the safety of vaccines,” Deng said in a news release from the American Academy of Neurology.

The report was published online on 1 July in the journal Neurology.

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