ArcaMax

Significant increases in the amount of fine particulate matter in wildfire smoke (often referred to as PM2.5) strongly correlates to an increased risk of developing dementia. The longer and more frequent the exposure, the greater the risk.

Researchers analyzed the health records of 1.2 million members aged 60 and older of Kaiser Permanente Southern California between 2008 and 2019, all of whom were free from dementia at the start of the study period. They estimated each person's long-term exposure to both wildfire and non-wildfire PM2.5 as a three-year rolling average, then identified people who received a dementia diagnosis.

Researchers found that for every 1-microgram-per-cubic-meter increase in three-year average wildfire PM2.5 concentration, the odds of a dementia diagnosis increased by 18%. Exposure to non-wildfire PM2.5 also increased a person's risk of dementia but to a much lesser degree.

Perhaps not coincidentally, rates of both dementia and wildfires are rising.

Here's Some Dirt on Antibiotic Resistance

The ground beneath us is packed with antibiotic resistance genes, tiny bits of genetic code that allow bacteria to resist antibiotics, reports Futurity. Human activities like pollution and changing land use can disturb soil ecosystems and make it easier for resistance genes to transfer from soil bacteria and infect humans.

Virginia Tech University scientists studied how soil bacteria contribute to the growing global issue of antibiotic resistance. They found that once a bacterium acquires these resistant genes, they can be rapidly transmitted to other species as well.

"Soil is an important reservoir of resistant bacteria and ARGs," said study author Jingqiu Liao. "Environmental factors can amplify ARGs by creating conditions that promote the survival, spread and exchange of these genes among bacteria. The ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the dynamics of ARGs in soils remain inadequately explored."

Body of Knowledge

The pineal gland produces a single, critical hormone: melatonin, which helps regulate sleep and wake cycles by tracking the presence of light. The gland has been called the "third eye" because it is located at the center of the brain and because of its connection to light. The French philosopher Rene Descartes believed all our thoughts were formed in the pineal gland. Scientists now credit the neocortex.

Get Me That, Stat!

In a lifetime, according to the Daily Infographic, the average male spends a total of 855.8 days in the bathroom -- 85 days more than the average female. That total breaks down to 185.4 days showering for men and 195.7 days for women (both take about 88 days over a lifetime drying themselves); 58.8 days shaving for men compared to 23.5 days for women, and 309 days on the toilet for men versus 259 days for women. Both men and women spend 824 days each in a lifetime brushing their teeth (4 minutes a day).

The average human lifespan is approximately 28,854 days.

Doc Talk

Tinea pedis: Athlete's foot, aka "ringworm of the foot." Ringworm is a fungal infection. It doesn't involve actual worms.

Mania of the Week

Mythomania: A tendency to lie, exaggerate or relate incredible, imaginary adventures as if they had really happened. It occurs in some mental disorders and sometimes this column.

Best Medicine

The plague, the flu and common cold walk into a bar.

The bartender says, "What is this? Some kind of sick joke?"

Observation

"I feel pretty good. My body actually looks like an old banana, but it's fine." -- Former Major League Baseball player Mike Piazza

Medical History

This week in 1561, Ambroise Pare published "La methode curative des playes et fractures de la teste humaine" (Treatment Method for Wounds and Fractures of the Human Head).

He penned the work in response to an inquiry following the accidental death of King Henri II, who was struck in the eye by a lance during a tournament, in 1559. The first part of the book covered the anatomy of the cranium with woodcut illustrations; the second described his methods of treatment of head wounds, skull fractures and diseases of the facial organs.

For his innovative methods, Pare is sometimes called "the father of modern surgery."

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2000, the Ig Nobel Prize in medicine went to Willibrord Weijmar Schultz, Pek van Andel and Eduard Mooyaart of Groningen, the Netherlands, and Ida Sabelis of Amsterdam, for their report "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Male and Female Genitals During Coitus and Female Sexual Arousal."

Published in the British Medical Journal in 1999, the researchers asked the (scientific) question of "whether taking images of the male and female genitals during coitus is feasible and to find out whether former and current ideas about the anatomy during sexual intercourse and during female sexual arousal are based on assumptions or on facts."

The, um, observational study consisted of 13 experiments involving eight couples and three single women. It concluded that taking MRI images during coitus is feasible (assuming you can find willing participants) and anatomically revelatory.

Sum Body

Speaking of days (see "Get Me That, Stat!" above), here is more of your life reduced to 24-hour increments in an average life expectancy:

-- 117 days having sex

-- 180 days exercising

-- 1,769 days socializing with others

-- 7,709 days sitting

-- 10,625 days looking at a technological device

Curtain Calls

In 2002, 60-year-old Roger Wallace of Tucson, Arizona, was flying his remote-controlled airplane (wingspan 5 feet) when he lost sight of it in the bright sun. The plane struck him in the chest, killing him.

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