SCIENCE AND HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS

April 3, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• 'Step forward' in skin cancer fight (BBC)
• Anti-vaccine movement pays disastrous dividends (UT San Diego)
• Guinea confirms Ebola in capital (BBC)
• Smartphones are 'damaging' eyes (BBC)
• Polio casts a shadow over the Middle East (BBC)
• Brain Changes Suggest Autism Starts In The Womb (NPR)
• Run When You're 25 For A Sharper Brain When You're 45 (NPR)

SCIENCE

• Chile earthquake: Is the 8.2 temblor only a foreshock? (CS Monitor)
• Should We Close Part Of The Ocean To Keep Fish On The Plate? (NPR)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

'Step forward' in skin cancer fight (BBC)

A newly identified gene mutation causes some cases of melanoma, a type of skin cancer, says a UK team.

Anti-vaccine movement pays disastrous dividends (UT San Diego)

Outbreaks of infectious diseases that were all but conquered are now common. Last week, San Diego County officials reported they had already documented 154 cases of whooping cough in 2014 — far ahead of last year’s pace. And in Orange County, authorities reported the worst outbreak of measles in more than 20 years, with 21 cases to date in 2014. This shouldn’t be happening. 

Guinea confirms Ebola in capital (BBC)

 Guinea's health authorities have for the first time confirmed cases of the deadly Ebola virus in the capital Conakry.... / Ebola is spread by close contact and kills between 25% and 90% of victims. / Earlier this week, the health ministry banned the sale and consumption of bats, in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus

Smartphones are 'damaging' eyes (BBC)

 Opticians say people are so addicted to things like smart phones there's increasing risk of damaging their eyes.

Polio casts a shadow over the Middle East (BBC)

A disease once eradicated returns to threaten the Middle East

Brain Changes Suggest Autism Starts In The Womb (NPR)

The organization of certain brain cells in children with autism seems already different from that of typical children by the sixth or seventh month of fetal development, a study hints.

Run When You're 25 For A Sharper Brain When You're 45 (NPR)

Here's the latest bit of evidence that exercise keeps the brain fit. Much of the research has been in older people, but this study found that being fit in your 20s makes you sharper in middle age.

SCIENCE

Chile earthquake: Is the 8.2 temblor only a foreshock? (CS Monitor)

While Tuesday's earthquake in Chile was large by any measure, seismologists remain concerned it could have been a foreshock to a much larger quake in this region – a section of plate boundary that hasn't seen a major rupture in 137 years.

Should We Close Part Of The Ocean To Keep Fish On The Plate? (NPR)

(NPR) -- Tuna, swordfish and other migratory fishes are being overfished by vessels on the high seas. A new proposal says we should close these international waters for a few years to let the fishes rebound.