Morning News Run
January 12, 2007 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Morning News
Why Do We Procrastinate? – AP via MSNBC
Procrastination in society is getting worse and scientists are finally getting around to figuring out how and why. Too many tempting diversions are to blame, but more on that later. After 10 years of research on a project that was only supposed to take five years, a Canadian industrial psychologist found in a giant study that not only is procrastination on the rise, it makes people poorer, fatter and unhappier.
Pacifiers May Help Prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – Science Daily
Babies offered a pacifier don’t sleep as deeply as those who sleep without a pacifier, study author Jane Soxman said in the January/February issue of General Dentistry. SIDS is any sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant age 1 month to 1 year. “Pacifier sucking makes it possible for the infant to be aroused from a deep sleep that could result in the stopping of breathing,” Soxman, a diplomat of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, said in an Academy of General Dentistry news release. “Pacifiers also increase sucking satisfaction and provide a source of comfort to infants.”
Survey Shows Needs for Oral Chemotherapy Guidelines – Reuters
A survey of 42 National Cancer Institute-designated treatment centers in the United States revealed that while oral chemotherapy drugs were widely prescribed there were variations in the way they were prescribed, coordinated and monitored. Ten of the centers that responded reported at least one serious adverse event linked to oral chemotherapy in the past year and 13 had a serious near miss. No details were given.
Syphilis Rates ‘Soring’ in China – BBC
The Lancet reports that China – which virtually eliminated syphilis in the 1960s and 70s – is now seeing the disease return with alarming intensity. It reveals that reported rates have risen from 0.2 cases per 100,000 in 1993 to 5.7 cases per 100,000 in 2005.
Stutterers May Speak Easier With New Device – ABC
Dennis Drayna, a geneticist at the National Institutes of Health, says that stuttering “is one of the great medical mysteries of [all] time.” Scientists aren’t sure what causes the condition, but a new device called the SpeechEasy is helping more stutterers speak clearly.
