Health

After they hatch, deer ticks take two years to reproduce. In that time, they morph from tiny larvae to nymphs to adults, with each stage feeding on a different group of host animals. For researchers studying the dynamics of Lyme disease, understanding host-tick interactions could reveal weak spots that may leave ticks vulnerable to control. A recent University of Illinois study simulates these interactions and provides guidance for effective management.

URBANA, Ill. – When adolescents don’t get enough sleep or experience sleep problems over time, parents may start to see their children struggle with difficulties with emotions, behaviors, and attention. Although a number of factors are linked with sleep, new research is showing that for some kids, negative interactions with peers may be a contributing factor behind poor sleep quality.

URBANA, Ill. — Nearly half of the home-packed lunches that children brought to school each day rarely or never included vegetables, a University of Illinois researcher found in a new study of families in California.

However, the number of vegetables in kids’ lunches increased if they participated in deciding what foods to pack, said Carolyn Sutter, a postdoctoral research associate with the U. of I.’s Family Resiliency Center and the lead author of the study.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new compound that targets a receptor within sarcoma cancer cells shrank tumors and hampered their ability to spread in mice and pigs, a study from researchers at the University of Illinois reports.

URBANA, Ill. – The USDA and the University of Illinois have announced nearly a quarter million dollars in new funding to support seven doctoral students in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, an interdisciplinary graduate program within the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at U of I.

URBANA, Ill. – You may not find it on the list of typical “superfoods,” but bioactive compounds found in the pigment of purple corn are showing potential to prevent or improve complications related to Type 2 diabetes.

July 3, 2003

It’s about time to gather your bait and tackle and head down to your favorite fishing hole. Before you bring home your catch and fry it up however, you ought to find out if there are fish consumption advisories for that body of water. This is especially true if the fish will be eaten by a pregnant or nursing woman or a child.

Monkeypox, a virus hailing from the rainforests of central and west Africa, recently crossed the Atlantic and appeared for the first time in the Western Hemisphere, infecting prairie dogs and people primarily in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana. Pet owners and veterinarians became infected after handling prairie dogs that had been in close contact with Gambian giant rats—believed to be the source of the outbreak—at an exotic pet distributor in Illinois.

URBANA, Ill. — University of Illinois Extension, in collaboration with other institutions and partners, has published a research article on the benefits of Abriendo Caminos, a family-based intervention program that aims to reduce obesity among Hispanic children.

June 25, 2003

URBANA - Incidents of deadly bacteria found in meat and poultry have raised public health concerns. And although irradiating the meat would greatly reduce outbreaks of E.coli and Salmonella, fear of the food becoming radioactive has prevented the process from becoming widely accepted in the United States.

Irradiation was approved for use on certain foods by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the early 1960s. Not only does it decrease bacteria in foods, it also reduces spoilage and delays ripening so produce can stay fresh longer.