Health Buzz: Housework & Husbands and Other Health News
Housework and Husbands
"Having a husband creates an extra seven hours a week of housework for women," announces a research team at the University of Michigan. "A wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week." Feel your blood pressure rising, wives? Deborah Kotz explores the findings: that both single and married women are doing less housework than they were in 1976; married men, on the other hand, are doing more--13 hours a week in 2005, compared with six hours a week in 1976. But plenty isn't counted--including child care.
"Abortion" Back in the Database
Users of the POPLINE database--which provides information on reproductive health and family planning--can now search for the term "abortion" again, after the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health restored the search term amid criticism that the school was censoring searches. POPLINE administrators restricted the search term after receiving inquiries from officials at the United States Agency for International Development, which funds the site. "I have directed that the POPLINE administrators restore 'abortion' as a search term immediately," wrote Michael J. Klag, dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in a statement. "I will also launch an inquiry to determine why this change occurred." Visit POPLINE at http://db.jhuccp.org/ics-wpd/popweb/.
Clay as a Weapon Against Infection?
There may be a new tool in the battle against germs: clay. Researchers at Arizona State University tested 20 clay samples from around the world and found that some were effective at inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus--a potentially fatal staph infection. Another type of clay helped some bacteria to grow. More research is needed to understand the possibilities. Meantime, the researchers emphasize that good hygiene is still the best defense against germs. The research was presented at the American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans this weekend.
Drug Recycling Programs
The number of states that collect and redistribute unused prescription drugs is on the rise, in an effort to help the poor and the uninsured, the Associated Press reports. How drugs may be donated varies: Some states permit individuals to turn in their unused drugs, while others accept donations only from doctor's' offices and assisted-living homes. Pharmacists usually check the drugs for safety and then provide them to pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics. At least 33 states have laws to permit or study this type of drug recycling.
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