Browse Health Stories - Page 12

When humans get sick, our immune systems kick into high gear. To help guard against disease, people are increasingly turning to antimicrobial agents — from soaps to wipes to hand sanitizers — to help kill germs. However, scientists have found that some strains of Salmonella pathogens have developed strategies to evade damage.

Sleep is your body’s way of restoring itself. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most Americans need at least seven hours of sleep a night.

A team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Georgia, has developed a machine-learning approach that could lead to quicker identification of the animal source of certain Salmonella outbreaks.

They say that the quickest way into someone’s heart is through their stomach. For one group of Georgia 4-H club members, their heartfelt, healthy meals are touching the hearts of their community one family at a time.

Like human infants, baby chicks are born without immunity to many common diseases. Immunizations are the answer, but it can be hard to immunize entire flocks of chickens in an efficient manner. That’s where poultry health specialists like Brian Jordan come in.

As far as poultry farmers are concerned, feed equals money. The more efficient chickens are at turning feed into thighs, breast and drumsticks, the healthier their bottom line. It turns out that the same science that can help poultry farmers raise more feed-efficient chickens could help people become healthier, too.

Even in the south, where winters can be mild, people tend to spend more time sealed up inside during the colder seasons. While spending time inside keeps you safe from the elements, it can expose those with asthma to more of the indoor air pollutants that can trigger asthma attacks.

A farmer driving a tractor over rolling fields of crops ready to harvest is often the idyllic image associated with farm life. In reality, the life of a farmer is often wrought with worry and financial stress due to a variety of factors from crop disease and destructive insects to violent storms, drought, and damaging floods. All of these factors and more contribute to the sobering fact that the suicide rate among farmers is the third highest of any vocational group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Students in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) spend a lot of class time discussing ways to end food insecurity, but there are many lessons that can’t be learned in the classroom.

Media representatives are invited to attend the University of Georgia's first forum on rural stress. The event, “Rural Stress: Promising Practices and Future Directions,” will be held in Atlanta Dec. 10-11, 2018, at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta-Airport. Use code UGARSMEDIA to register at ruralstress.uga.edu/.