Earth Talk: Allergies and unhealthy indoor air

Roddy Scheer

Even for those of us without allergies, poor indoor air quality is an often overlooked health issue. Recent research has shown that the air inside some buildings can be more polluted than the outdoor air in the most industrialized of cities. And since many of us spend some 90 percent of our time indoors, cleaning the air where we live and work might be one of the most important things we can do for our health.

university of virginia uva

UVA discovery offers look at regulation of gene expression

AFP

A groundbreaking new technique developed at the University of Virginia School of Medicine is allowing scientists to examine histone modifications of genetic loci – a process that regulates gene expression – in single cells. The technique enables researchers, for the first time, to analyze the process within the individual cell types that make up complex tissues, overcoming a major limitation of traditional analysis and offering unprecedented opportunities for understanding mechanisms that contribute to development of major human diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular and neurological diseases.

Earth Talk: Keeping pets healthy

Roddy Scheer

Believe it or not, our pets may be exposed to more harsh chemicals through the course of their day than we are. Researchers at the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that pet dogs and cats were contaminated with 48 of 70 industrial chemicals tested, including 43 chemicals at levels higher than those typically found in people.

Earth Talk: Traffic pollution and asthma

Roddy Scheer

Living near a roadway certainly does exacerbate asthma, especially for kids. To wit, a recent study by the University of Southern California (USC)—the most comprehensive by far to date on this topic—found that at least eight percent of the more than 300,000 cases of childhood asthma in Los Angeles County can be attributed to traffic-related pollution at homes within 250 feet of a busy roadway. The findings, released in the September 2012 online edition of the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Health Perspectives, indicate that previous research underestimated the effects of roadway traffic on asthma.

Chris Graham: Bah, humbug

AFP

Scrooge City is run by self-styled libertarians who shout from the tops of the Blue Ridge that they want government run like a business and tear up on public-access TV over their concerns for the little man. And then there’s reality. Big Government is alive and well in Waynesboro. Just ask Christian Critzer.