Good morning. It's Wednesday, Feb. 18. Welcome to this week's Health & Medicine newsletter. Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here or click here to share with friends. |
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This week, our theme is how disease changes the body. We'll take a deep dive into the science and lesser-known facts about polio, leprosy, and body odor. (Spoiler: "Old people smell" is a real, distinct scent, and so is the odor of Parkinson's disease.) Lots of fascinating resources to explore!
Any feedback? Send me a note.
—Dina Fine Maron, 1440 Health & Medicine Section Editor |
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Polio explained
Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system. It fueled widespread panic in the early 1950s with thousands of deaths and thousands more cases of paralysis. The viral disease had been referenced in medicine and art for centuries, but scientists suggest that sanitation improvements in the 19th century delayed kids' exposure to poliovirus until later in childhood, when they no longer had maternal antibody protection—leading to more severe illness and higher paralysis rates. In 1952, at the epidemic's peak, there were 21,000 cases of paralysis and more than 3,000 deaths in the US.
The disease, formally called poliomyelitis, comes from the Greek words for gray (polios) and marrow (myelos)—a reference to the spinal cord tissue that causes the disease's characteristic paralysis when it's destroyed. There is no cure for polio. It spreads through consumption of infected stool or via respiratory droplets (from coughing or sneezing). Poliovirus multiplies in the throat and gastrointestinal tract. But if it spreads to the nervous system, it can destroy motor neurons of the anterior horn of the spinal cord and brain stem, causing paralysis.
The first polio vaccines were licensed in the US in 1955 (the inactivated polio vaccine, or IPV, which has no live virus) and 1961 (the oral poliovirus vaccine, OPV, which uses a weakened form of the live virus)—leading to a rapid drop in cases. The last US case of naturally occurring poliovirus was reported in 1979.
Explore everything else we've found on Polio.
Also, check out ...
> View this timeline of polio milestones and vaccine development. (Read)
> Most polio cases today are vaccine-derived rather than naturally occurring. (Read)
> A fake vaccine campaign was used to locate Osama bin Laden, fueling vaccine distrust in the region. (Read)
> Jonas Salk developed the first successful polio vaccine—and tested it on himself and his family. (Read)
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Ask Us About the National Leper Colony |
Leprosy 101
Leprosy is a highly stigmatized but curable infectious disease affecting the skin, eyes, respiratory system, and peripheral nerves. While roughly 200,000 patients are diagnosed with the condition annually, including about 200 in the US, most people have natural immunity. Infected individuals may lose feeling in their extremities and not notice cuts or burns, leading to severe infections and potential loss of affected areas.
It's also known as Hansen's disease for the Norwegian scientist Gerhard-Henrik Armauer Hansen, who discovered that leprosy is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. (More rarely, a second bacterium causes leprosy.) Early leprosy symptoms, such as skin discoloration, may take 20 years to manifest, complicating tracking of disease transmission.
Public health authorities state the disease spreads through prolonged close contact and cannot be spread by touching or sharing a meal, but its exact mode of transmission remains unclear. Humans may also contract leprosy from armadillos. The disease has additionally been detected in wild chimpanzees and red squirrels.
Explore everything else we've found on Leprosy.
Also, check out ...
> America had a leper colony in Louisiana until 1999. (Listen)
> Leprosy doesn't cause fingers and toes to fall off. (Read)
> Over 8,000 leprosy patients were forced to isolate on a Hawaiian island. (Read)
> Listen to what it was like living as a medieval leper. (Listen)
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Body odor 101
Although human sweat is odorless, bacterial growth and the breakdown of sweat components—including organic acids and carbohydrates—give rise to what we know as body odor. A collection of bacteria contributes to such malodorous scents, but studies suggest Corynebacterium species, in particular, make adults smelly.
Humans have two types of sweat glands, the eccrine and apocrine. The latter, found primarily in our armpits and groin, opens up into hair follicles and contributes to body odor when bacteria naturally found on our skin mix with the sweat. Americans spent more money masking "BO" (an acronym coined by antiperspirant marketers in the early 1900s) than our counterparts in any other country in 2023—more than $6B.
Hormones, medications, food, body hair, and stage of life can all affect our scent. Sickness is also associated with different body odors, and mounting research has revealed that a variety of medical conditions have specific aromas. Some disorders may be detectable by their smell even before symptoms manifest, including Parkinson's disease.
Explore everything else we've found on Body Odor.
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Also, check out ...
> 'Sweat dating' to find a match—by body odor. (Listen)
> Read a study documenting how 'old people' smell increases with age. (More)
> East Asian ancestry genetically predisposes many people to be less smelly. (Watch)
> A super-sniffer smelled her husband's Parkinson's disease years ahead of symptoms. (Listen) |
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Medical Developments Spotlight |
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We love spending time learning about the latest medical breakthroughs and spotlighting research that piques our interest, may influence future research directions, or inform healthcare conversations. Here's what we found this week.
> Early morning induction times substantially decrease the duration of labor
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology | Kylie Cataldo, Robert Long, and others. In yet another example of the circadian rhythms governing our lives, a retrospective study of more than 3,000 pregnant women who underwent induction at hospitals between 2019 and 2022 found that early morning induction decreased labor times by up to six hours as compared to late-evening induction. (Read)
> Statin pills are safer than previously known
BBC | Michelle Roberts. Analysis of randomized trial data from more than 120,000 people using statins or placebos found that only four of the dozens of associated statin side effects occurred among statin users—and those occurred among a very small proportion of patients. (Read) |
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"Like the other patients, they caught me at school ... I was 12 then. I cried like the dickens for my mother and for my family." |
—A leprosy patient forced to live in isolation on a Hawaiian island |
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