Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents such as natural or synthetic drugs that kill or inhibit the growth of these organisms. Antimicrobials are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals, and plants. They include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics, and arguably rank among […]

Kenyan humanitarian Umra Omar has put her entrepreneurial spirit and energy into a social enterprise that provides healthcare to marginalized and indigenous communities within the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. The archipelago is a group of 65 islands over 6,474 square kilometers (around 2,500 square miles) near the northern coast of Kenya. Omar’s organization, Safari Doctors, […]

On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident occurred on Japan’s north-eastern Pacific coast, becoming the second worst nuclear accident in history. According to Britannica.com, officials reported that tsunami waves from the Japan earthquake disabled the plant’s cooling systems, resulting in fuel rods in three reactors partially melting down, releasing radiation. By April, […]

Studies show that animals have evolved mechanisms for protecting themselves from infection and illness. Did you know, for example, that chimpanzees eat plants not just for their nutritional value, but to ward off disease? This is important for humans because we share about 99% of our DNA with these animals, making them our closest living relatives. So instead […]

This horse seems to understand people in need. He’s Peyo, a stallion that visits people in hospitals and retirement homes in France. After a thorough cleaning, he’s allowed to enter these establishments and walk down the corridors until he stops at the door of someone’s room. That means he wants to visit them. Those he […]

Bacteria can fight such medical conditions as cancer, obesity and diabetes, acne, and malaria. Each person’s skin and large intestine harbor a complex array of microorganisms, called microbiota, that affect many aspects of their health and physiology, the way in which a living organism or bodily part functions. Recent studies show that some of these bacteria […]

Today, October 1st, is World Vegetarian Day. Not that The Good Times necessarily endorses vegetarianism. But according to the North American Vegetarian Society, the day was first observed in 1977 to “promote the joy, compassion and life enhancing possibilities” of not consuming meat. The practice also includes abstaining from eating poultry, seafood and the flesh of […]