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The BBC reports that a new study has found that doodling may help with memory recall. Doodlers performed 29% better in the study than non-doodlers. The scientists said the doodling may keep people from distracting daydreaming and help keep them focused on the tasks at hand.

Plymouth University researchers carried out memory tests on 40 volunteers, asking them to listen to a phone call and recall names and places.

Doodlers performed 29% better than non-doodlers, the team found.
Experts said doodling stopped people from daydreaming, which was a more taxing diversion, and so was good at helping people focus on mundane tasks.

During the study, half of the volunteers were asked to colour in shapes on a piece of paper while they listened to a 2.5 minute telephone message.

It might help even more if your doodles are related to what you are trying to learn or remember.

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Scientists have mapped the entire genome of the common cold virus. It won’t lead to an immediate cure but it could be the next step in finding a cure.

“We have the pieces all in place. They can’t go in any other way. Now we have to understand what the pictures are telling us,” said Dr. Stephen B. Liggett, professor of medicine and physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of its Cardiopulmonary Genomics Program.

The research was published in the online edition of the journal Science on Thursday afternoon.

Technically known as the human rhinovirus infection, the common cold is responsible for half of all asthma attacks and is a factor in bronchitis, sinusitis, middle-ear infections and pneumonia. The coughs, sneezes and sniffles of colds impose a major health care burden in the United States — including visits to health care providers, cost of over-the-counter drugs for symptom relief, often-inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions and missed work days — with direct and indirect costs of about $60 billion annually.

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on the genetic map of the rhinovirus. Take a look:

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The World Health Organization says in its latest update that 21 countries have officially reported 1124 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection. The cases include 26 confirmed deaths – 25 in Mexico and 1 in the United States.

Mexico has reported 590 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 25 deaths. The United States has reported 286 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths – Austria (1), Canada (140), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (4), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (4), Italy (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (6), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (54), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (18).

The latest WHO update can be found here. WHO also has provided a map that shows the cases as of May 4th. More h1n1 resources can be found here.

WHO’s influenza pandemic alert raised from phase 4 to 5 but they have not yet upgraded it to phase 6.

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The World Health Organization says in its latest update that 20 countries have officially reported 985 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection. The cases include 26 confirmed deaths – 25 in Mexico and 1 in the United States.

Mexico has reported 590 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 25 deaths. The higher number of cases from Mexico reflects ongoing testing of previously collected specimens. The United States has reported 226 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths – Austria (1), Canada (85), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (2), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (3), Italy (1), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (40), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (15).

The latest WHO update can be found here. WHO also has provided a map that shows the cases as of May 3rd. More h1n1 resources can be found here.

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The first partial face transplant was conducted in France in 2005. The 38-year-old female patient named Isabelle Dinoire had lost her had nose, lips and chin after being attacked by a dog. The transplant was a success but the French woman says she is “still struggling to come to terms with what she sees in the mirror every day.” CBS says the transplants are complex and they carry the risk of both physical and psychological effects. Wikipedia lists a few other face transplants done on patiented who had suffered severe face damage in thresher accidents. The first U.S. face transplant was recently done and the patient is said to be “very happy.” Julie Chen talks to a plastic surgeon in the clip below about facial transplation.

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The World Health Organization raised the alert for swine flu to level five. This is one level short of a full pandemic and suggests a pandemic is imminent.
Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO’s director-general, said, “It really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic.”

There are at least 91 cases in the United States and one death. There are also a growing number of countries with mounting swine flu cases. Schools are closing in the United States in an attempt to stop the spread of the swine flu.
A vaccine is in the works but won’t be available until September, at the earliest. You can find links to some swine flu resources here.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a new swine flu update today. New countries confirming cases of A/H1N1 include Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Israel and Spain. There are suspected cases in several other countries.

The situation continues to evolve rapidly. As of 19:15 GMT, 28 April 2009, seven countries have officially reported cases of swine influenza A/H1N1 infection. The United States Government has reported 64 laboratory confirmed human cases, with no deaths. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths – Canada (6), New Zealand (3), the United Kingdom (2), Israel (2) and Spain (2).

Further information on the situation will be available on the WHO website on a regular basis.

WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders. It is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention, in line with guidance from national authorities.

The WHO update also noted that there is no risk of infection from swine flu from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.

The WHO’s swine flu page is located here. You can find links to swine flu resources here.

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The Medpedia Project has announced the public launch of the beta version of Medpedia.com, a health resource and technology platform for the worldwide health community. Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, Berkeley School of Public Health, University of Michigan Medical School and other health organizations, are contributing in various ways to Medpedia. The goal of The Medpedia Project is to create a new model of how the world will assemble, maintain, critique and access medical knowledge. Since the announcement of The Medpedia Project in July 2008, over 110 organizations have contributed or pledged over 7,000 pages of content to the knowledge base, and thousands of people have become a part of the community.

For the general public, this page explains how to use Medpedia and this page list all the topics covered on medpedia.com.

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The World Health Organization has a new update today that puts the total death toll from the H1N1 swine flu virus at 816. So far, most of the cases and deaths have occurred in the Americas.

The WHO has stopped asking countries to supply individual case counts but it appears they are still tracking deaths from the H1N1 swine flu virus.

Chart source: WHO

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A serious outbreak of swine flu in Mexico that has killed 103 people could become the next pandemic according to experts at WHO and the CDC. A pandemic is not a certainty yet, just a possibility. There have been at least 20 cases in the U.S. with no deaths and just one person was hospitalized. Cases have also been reported in Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, Isreal, France and Spain. Planes with sick passengers from Mexico are currently the main way the virus is spreading.

The swine flu in Mexico has reportedly killed primarily young health people aged 25-45. This raises concern that people are dying not directly from the flu itself but possibly from what’s called a cytokine storm. Tara C. Smith, writing at the Aetiology blog, explains more about the cytokine storm here. We still do not know for sure how exactly the flu outbreak is killing people in Mexico City.

A Guardian article says that health experts in Mexico suspect that “tens of thousands” may have been infected and recovered.

Across Mexico, more than 1,300 people were tested for suspected swine flu infection and 400 were taken to hospital for checks. Health officials believe that tens of thousands, and possibly more, have been infected but have since recovered.

If so, this would greatly reduce the percentage of those who die from the swine flu but it is still too early to ascertain what is going on.

You can find some resources here. We will be frequently updating this page with new resources and adding more local government health resources.

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