Wednesday, October 12, 2016

This and That

DEA drastically cutting Opioid production for 2017
That should solve the problem.   Yep.

Marijuana prison venture is Damian Marley's vision for economic growth
Bob Marley’s youngest son wants to transform a decaying California prison into a medical marijuana manufacturing plant – and revitalize a depressed rural town
Wow.  There's lots of unimaginable headlines these days, but that is a story I never expected.

How human genes affect the microbiome
One particularly interesting finding was the association between genetic variants that determine the presence of lactase in adults and the presence of Bifidobacterium in the gut. Lactase deficiency causes lactose intolerance. 'Surprisingly enough, we found no difference in overall milk intake by individuals with or without the hypolactasia predisposing genotype', says principal investigator Dr. Alexandra Zhernakova. But, for individuals without the functional lactase gene, the numbers of Bifidobacterium increased with a higher consumption of dairy products.
A possible explanation for these results is that Bifidobacterium, which can break down lactose, rescues lactase-deficient individuals from lactose intolerance. 'As the bacterium is ingested through milk, it appears that these individuals can actually continue drinking milk if it causes no complaints', says Zhernakova.
Now that is fascinating.   

Mammograms may not need that painful 'squish'. Should I be relieved or appalled?
It’s hard to believe it took this long for someone to look at whether making mammograms less painful would also make them less useful.
No, it's really not.