Researchers in North Carolina found lead contamination in spices and herbal remedies in the homes of some children with elevated blood lead levels, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The food items that had the highest levels of lead included samples of chili powder/red pepper, cumin, coriander, anise, turmeric and vanilla. For children, there is no safe blood lead level.
Does blood pressure have to rise with age?
Cardiologists generally think blood pressure inevitably increases with age. Now a study offers a new take. Researchers looked at two communities in the Venezuelan rain forest: the Yanomami, among the world's most isolated people, and the Yekwana, isolated but with an airstrip that allows the delivery of Western food and medicine. The average blood pressure among the Yanomami was 95/63; it was 104/66 for the Yekwana. By age 60, the Yanomami's blood pressure was unchanged, while the Yekwana average had risen to 114/73. Noel T. Mueller of Johns Hopkins University said just cutting our salt intake in half could prevent an estimated 15 million U.S. cases of hypertension.
News Services
More From Star Tribune
More From Science
Duluth
Historic $7.8M jury award in death of Minnesotan struck by driver who was high from huffing aerosol
An attorney for the manufacturer said her client intends to appeal.
Nation
A wild orangutan used a medicinal plant to treat a wound, scientists say
An orangutan appeared to treat a wound with medicine from a tropical plant— the latest example of how some animals attempt to soothe their own ills with remedies found in the wild, scientists reported Thursday.
Nation
Remote Lake Superior island wolf numbers are stable but moose population declining, researchers say
Researchers forced to cut short an annual survey of wildlife on a remote Lake Superior island this winter due to unusually warm weather announced Tuesday that they managed to gather data that shows the wolf population is stable.
Business
After hiring bonanza, tech workers now grapple with layoffs and disillusionment
Companies went on a tech hiring spree in the pandemic, but many of those jobs have since been cut.
Business
Minnesota DFL wants faster clean energy permits, but some are wary of shortcutting public input
Lawmakers promise an effort to cut red tape for clean power won't result in meaningfully less oversight or public involvement.