UF Health Podcasts

Both people and dogs can suffer from seasonal allergies — it’s just that they’re affected in different ways.

In each case, allergic individuals overreact to certain environmental substances, like pollen, grass, dust or mold. But while people tend to develop upper respiratory signs — like sneezing and a runny nose — affected dogs become itchy in certain areas, or even all over. They can also be prone to ear and skin infections.

While canine seasonal allergies can’t be cured, they can be managed with baths, medications, antimicrobials and even allergy shots. So, if your buddy is affected, talk to your veterinarian about easing the discomfort. Once you have a diagnosis, you can get a jump on treatment before the next allergy season rolls around.

As the weather warms, dogs and their humans have something in common — that’s the threat of Lyme disease caused by bacteria spread by blacklegged, or deer, ticks.

As opposed to people infected with the bacteria — about 90 percent of whom get sick — most dogs don’t develop clinical signs. But for the five or 10 percent that do, common abnormalities include intermittent lameness, swollen joints and fever. A few may even develop severe kidney disease.

Once an infected tick attaches, it takes 24 to 48 hours to transmit the bacteria. But don’t count on finding and removing every tick, since some are as small as poppy seeds. While removal helps, tick preventative is the most reliable way to go. In addition, ask your veterinarian if your dog should be vaccinated against Lyme disease.

Scientists have long known that cats have an uncanny ability to land on their feet when they fall. But just how they do it remained a mystery.

Earlier this year, researchers provided some important clues after comparing the spines from donated cat cadavers to videos of live cats. They found that cats have an extremely flexible upper spine — able to twist nearly 360 degrees — but a stiffer and heavier lower one. That means they can quickly rotate their upper torso to face the ground, allowing them to see how to adjust the rest of their body for a safe landing.

Importantly though, this ability is far from foolproof. Even cats can be severely injured, or worse, if they fall from considerable heights. That’s why it’s crucial to keep your windows closed around your feline friends.

Turning to chatbots for emotional support is becoming more commonplace.

For bumblebees, beating the odds is old hat. After all, their ability to fly was once a mystery. Now we know that bumblebee queens can survive under water — sometimes for up to a week.

Each winter, some insects go into a period of suspended development called diapause when bumblebee queens may snuggle into burrows and nod off. But their underground nests are prone to flooding, and bees in diapause are too groggy to respond quickly. So, how do they save themselves?

First, diapause cuts a queen’s metabolism by about 95 percent. What’s more, queens have evolved the ability to use the oxygen in water and expel carbon dioxide. Finally, when oxygen is scarce, cells switch to anaerobic metabolism, which allows for the generation of energy without oxygen.

It’s just another amazing bumblebee strategy.

Becoming a centenarian is a big deal. It vaults you into a select group that few reach.

Just imagine: If you were born in 1926 and were celebrating your 100th birthday this year, you would have lived through the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War and the Space Race.

You would have seen the Berlin Wall come down, the birth of what we used to call the World Wide Web, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the global financial crisis in 2008 and COVID-19. This summer, you would celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States.

New research finds that while all that living may have taken its toll in many ways, it’s likely left your blood as perky as that of a healthy 40-year-old.

A team of Swiss scientists found blood samples from centenarians and compared them with the molecular profiles of hospitalized elderly patients with an average age of 86 and a group of healthy adults with an average age of 41.

The found 37 proteins in blood samples of those who reached 100, which they call “youth-associated proteins.” They believe the presence of these proteins might explain why some of us age so much more gracefully than others.

The centenarians also had lower levels of key inflammation markers than the hospitalized group in their 80s.

The findings are merely observational, so researchers point out that they don’t prove the proteins cause long life or that targeting them in any way might extend life.

Whether these youthful proteins are ever able to guide scientists to therapies that would help the general population age more comfortably is so far not known. But scientists at least now have a target to aim for.

How many bones did you break as a kid?

Some of us emerged from childhood unscathed. Others might have fond — and itchy — memories of casts getting signed. Maybe you remember propping up a pair of crutches near a chair, or wincing at a hip X-ray with a grandparent. Fractures are most common in kids and teens, followed by adults over 50.

Regardless of age, the more severe a bone break, the more likely medical intervention is needed. Typically, surgeons who help put you back together rely on a graft from your own bones or a metal implant. These substitutions help to stabilize your bones, but they also come with their own downsides.

One increases recovery time and surgical risk. Another is much stiffer than “natural” bone and can loosen over time.

Now, researchers from Switzerland are looking at a different filling: jelly.

Laser-printed hydrogel, to be precise.

The substance is designed to imitate how your body heals on its own. And, like you, it’s mostly made of water. The gel is neatly printed into hyper-fine bone-like structures even thinner than a human hair. In test tube studies, bone-forming cells descended on the human-made bone structure in droves and produced collagen, one of the early building blocks of bone.

For bone repair to be successful, all kinds of cells need to move into the implant. Then, they must thrive — and work together.

In the future, the research team hopes to see the hydrogel implants enter clinical use. For now, they plan to see how the hydrogel performs inside living organisms, and if it can bring back bone strength over time.

That’s a point to jelly. Peanut butter, you’re up next.

Imagine you go to the doctor because you suspect something is off-kilter: You keep outgrowing your shoes and your rings no longer fit.

Now imagine that before you see the doctor, you are escorted to a room where an assistant takes two photos — one of the back of your hand, the other of your clenched fist.

Researchers at Japan’s Kobe University have developed an artificial intelligence-powered system that can detect acromegaly [ack-row-meg-uh-lee], a rare endocrine disease.

Caused by an excessive production of growth hormone, acromegaly leads to enlarged hands and feet, changes in facial appearance and abnormal growth of bones and internal organs. It appears most often in middle age.

Because it develops over many years, it can be difficult to catch early. Left untreated, acromegaly can lead to serious health problems and shorten life expectancy by about a decade.

Keeping patients’ privacy concerns in mind, the researchers decided to focus their tool on hands, rather than faces. That led patients from 15 medical institutions to contribute more than 11,000 images used to “train” and test the model.

The researchers said they were surprised at how sensitive and accurate the AI tool was when identifying the disease simply from hand images. The system outperformed experienced endocrinologists who reviewed the same images.

They also noted that they now hope to adapt their system to detect other medical conditions that produce visible changes in the hands, like rheumatoid arthritis and anemia.

Surely, the scientists deserve a round of applause for their creation — a hand, if you will. Or maybe we can just send them a picture.

Despite its increasing antiquity, PAC-MAN’s 8-bit graphics — and gameplay — continue to grip imaginations across generations. The sphere-shaped protagonist consumes dots and fights pesky, pixelated ghosts.

Now, keep that visual in mind.

Researchers at University of Waterloo have figured out a way to engineer bacteria into doing just that with tumors — an enemy much more harmful than a digital specter.

Here’s how it works: The inside of a tumor has plenty of nutrients and no oxygen, creating a paradise for the specially engineered microbes. The little bacteriaat, and eat and eat until they grow big enough to take over the unwanted mass.

Our hero in this approach is Clostridium sporogenes [klos-TREH-dee-um spore-AH-gen-ease], a bacterium typically located in soil, whose survival is predicated upon there being no oxygen to disrupt its existence. This is why it can thrive in a place with no air — like the inside of a tumor.

At first, the bacteria would die off as they ate closer to the edges of the tumor, where small amounts of oxygen are often present. To combat this, scientists added a relative of Clostridium sporogenes that can better tolerate oxygen — allowing the engineered bacteria to survive longer and get the job done.

To prevent them from growing toward areas rich in oxygen, like the bloodstream, researchers also developed a control system for the bacteria to grow to a certain amount before their “oxygen-seeking” or “oxygen-tolerant” behaviors kicked in.

Next steps will include combining both of these behaviors into a single bacterium and taking it from the lab to testing it on tumors in clinical trials.

All in all, the 80s would be proud.

Humanity has sought an effective treatment for tinnitus since ancient Egypt. Luckily, few survive to the present day.

One ancient remedy worked on the assumption that the ear is inhabited by a small animal and that a fight with another creature would drive it out. The supposed cure was to allow smoke from burning snake skins to enter the ear.

This therapy is absurd, of course. But it reflects the desperation for a treatment through the ages. Now, a study by British researchers shows that repercussions of the physical ailment even extend to the workplace.

Tinnitus is a ringing, buzzing or humming sound in the ear that affects 15% of the population. It has no cure.

The study involved 449 people with tinnitus who had lived with the condition for an average of 12 years. About two out of 10 participants reported that ear ringing had significantly affected their jobs. Some reduced their work hours, quit jobs or struggled to complete tasks they had formerly done with ease. The ringing makes it difficult for many to concentrate.

Scientists, however, offered a road forward.

About 200 study participants completed an eight-week cognitive-behavioral therapy program. This included teaching them relaxation techniques, how to manage their attention, tips on improving sleep and other coping strategies. Such courses are widely available.

Participants had initially rated their tinnitus distress at 52.5 on a 100-point scale. After the therapy, that number fell to 33. Two months later, 75% reported that they no longer had work-related issues due to tinnitus.

Scientists hope the study raises awareness of how ear ringing affects livelihoods. Therapy can work wonders — no burning of snake skins needed.