A recent study has revealed Americans’ number one fear and the results are nothing short of fascinating, as they show unusual phobias, while more predictable ones are conspicuously missing.

Researchers from Chapman University analyzed the opinions of 1,541 adult Americans, through a survey administered by GFK (Knowledge Networks) between May 16, 2015 and May 25, 2015.

Respondents were questioned about 88 potential fears, concerning crime, sickness, aging, health, the future, the environment, the government, technology, natural and man-made disasters, and more quirky fears like clowns or zombies.

They were asked to select one of the following reaction categories: “very afraid”, “afraid”, “slightly afraid” and “not afraid”. Data was aggregated into 5 categories: domains of fear, personal fears, paranormal fears, acting out of fear and natural disasters. Eventually, the results were published in the Chapman University Survey of American Fears.

With reference to domains of fear, it was determined that respondents dread terrorism and other man-made disasters the most, while apprehensions regarding technology and the government are ranked second and third.

As far as personal fears are concerned, it appears that U.S. citizens are especially frightened of corruption among government officials. A staggering 58% of the respondents expressed worries regarding unethical behavior that their leaders might be engaged in.

The second-most terrifying thing for Americans was cyber-terrorism, which 44.8% of the participants considered a significant threat in their lives. Completing the trifecta was corporate tracking of personal information, which was disconcerting for around 44.6% of those surveyed.

Surprisingly, terrorist attacks were ranked just 4th in the list, being feared by 44.4% of the respondents, and they were followed by anxiety regarding government tracking of personal information (41.4%).

40.9% of the participants dreaded the possibility of bio-warfare, 39.6% of them found the idea of identity theft unsettling, while 39.2% felt apprehension at the possibility of economic collapse.

Number 9th in the top 10 list was the possibility of running out of money in the future (37.4%), while the last fear included in the ranking was credit card fraud (36.9% of those surveyed).

On the other hand, more respondents dreaded reptiles (33%) and public speaking (28.4%) than death (21.9%). Robots were also a source of terror among some individuals, 28.9% of the respondents worrying androids would replace them at work, and 22.% feeling anxious about artificial intelligence.

Overall, it appears that in 2015 people feel particularly vulnerable to financial difficulties, as well as to the idea of being monitored from the shadows by “big brother”.

“People often fear what they cannot control. Technology and the future of our economy are two aspects of life that Americans find very unpredictable at the moment”, explained study leader Christopher Bader.

Closely related to this were paranormal fears, which were more common than expected, being experienced by half of the respondents. Around 40% believed ghost-haunted houses exist, a quarter thought that psychic mediums can communicate with the dead and 8.5% feared zombies.

Also, about a fifth were of the opinion that dreams foretell the future, and a similar number insisted aliens had already visited Earth. Paranormal predilections were especially common among respondents from the Northeast, that are non-white, female, unmarried, Catholic and without college degree.

When it came to actions motivated by fear, researchers discovered that almost a quarter of the participants offered their vote to a candidate dreading another outcome, 16.7% installed a home alarm, and more than 10% bought a gun. Another decision driven by fear was sending kids to private school (5.4%).

As far as disasters were concerned, it was determined that more than half of the participants were apprehensive about such events, but at the same time they were grossly unprepared. 72% of them admitted they hadn’t planned an emergency kit, although 86% realized its importance.

They justified this carelessness mostly by claiming unrealistically that first respondents would immediately come to their rescue anyway. Other pretexts were lack of time or money, insufficient experience regarding making such a kit and unwillingness to think about calamities.

Image Source: Pixabay

An Oregon man has found a dead mouse in a Subway sandwich, at the restaurant located at 4648 US Highway 101 in Lincoln City.

Portland resident Jay Armstead was about to have lunch with his co-worker Matt Jones, on Tuesday, October 6, at around 2 p.m. After a Subway employee prepared a teriyaki chicken sandwich with a spinach topping for Jones, she continued by taking Armstead’s order as well.

That’s how the shocking discovery was made: as the serving lady was getting an Italian sub with spinach ready for her client, she dropped the sandwich in horror on the cutting board, after finding a dead mouse in the salad.

Jones’s initial reaction was that of utter disbelief, as he began nervously laughing at the totally unexpected find. Meanwhile, his friend was just as dumbfounded, but has kept a good attitude about this event, calling it “a freak accident”.

“It was unfortunate I was the lucky recipient. It was wet and dead. His tail was curled up and you could see his two front teeth”, said Armstead in an interview with KGW.

Jones photographed the frightful sandwich, posted it on Facebook, and now the picture has gone viral across the nation. He also got a full refund for his own tainted sub, and together with his friend, he received a voucher for a free sandwich, but it is unlikely they will be using those any time soon.

The two men have also contacted the Subway customer service line in order to file a complaint. However, it appears that no lawsuit will be brought against the fast food restaurant franchise. As Jones and Armstead explained, they simply wish to ensure that this incident is made public, so that other customers can be warned.

This has actually raised fears that salads and sandwiches have been contaminated for a while at the Lincoln city location, following a rodent infestation.

The workers had wanted the restaurant manager to at least notify all the people who had bought sandwiches with spinach toppings that day. This suggestion however was met with amusement, as the Subway executive claimed there was no possibility to actually track prior customers.

Authorities seem to agree with this viewpoint, suggesting that this doesn’t qualify as a public health emergency and there is no need to contact the unfortunate buyers. According to officials from the state health department, the dangers related to actually getting sick due to consuming this tainted lettuce are in fact extremely low.

While it may not have been the most scrumptious sight in the world, health inspectors and physicians agree that people should not be in alert, according to Cheryl Connell, director of Lincoln County Health and Human Services.

Meanwhile, Subway has refused to disclose the identity of the vendor that had supplied the tainted spinach to the Lincoln City restaurant, claiming that this information is confidential.

An investigation is currently under way, with a view to determine how the rodent reached the sandwich unit. In order to avoid future contamination, all the products from that location have been discarded, and the restaurant has been thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.

Image Source: Facebook

Psychopaths have a liking for bitter food, it has been revealed by recent research, accepted by journal Appetite on September 25.

The surprising discovery has been made by Tobias Greitemeyer and Christina Sagioglou, social psychology professors at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

The findings resulted from 2 studies, which involved 504 and 449 participants, respectively. The surveyed subjects, with an average age of 35, were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk, a crowd-sourcing internet marketplace for “Human Intelligence Tasks”.

In both trials, the participants were asked by experts to take several personality tests, and also to report their personal food preferences, by selecting their favorite meals on a checklist of items.

In the first test, the list included 40 types of food, with 10 per taste category: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Subjects had to rate each item from 1 (strong dislike) to 6 (strong like), and afterwards mean scores were calculated.

The second trial used a list of only 20 items, divided into sweet and bitter, and again preferences and attitudes were noted, with the possibility to say “I don’t have an opinion”.

Personality tests included the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire, the 12-item Dark Triad, the ten-item personality inventory (TIPI) and the Comprehensive Assessment of Sadistic Tendencies.

Prior research had shown that upon ingesting bitter food, individuals are more likely to be hostile towards the others, while becoming more harsh and judgmental. As a result, study authors theorized that displaying heightened preference for bitter taste may suggest that the individual has a belligerent personality.

Indeed, the findings revealed a clear link between favoring bitter foods (coffee, beer, tonic water, dark chocolate) and possessing an uncongenial character and malevolent personality traits. In fact, according to study authors,”particularly robust associations were found for everyday sadism”.

Moreover, researchers determined that those whose taste buds favor bitter items are more predisposed to being narcissistic, antisocial, aggressive, and Machiavellian. In other words, they are more likely to suffer from the personality disorder known as psychopathy.

Conversely, it was determined that those who aren’t as fond of this type of taste were more likely to be agreeable and cordial towards the others.

“Taken together, the results suggest that how much people like bitter-tasting foods and drinks is stably tied to how dark their personality is”, concluded the researchers.

This isn’t the first time that specific food penchants and aversions have been connected with personality. For example, supertasters, who are extremely sensitive to bitter compounds, have been found to be highly emotional. Non-tasters, on the other hand, are usually more placid and unaffected.

Another study conducted in 2009 analyzed sweet taste preference when it came to white wine, and correlated it with heightened impulsiveness and lower openness. On the other hand, it didn’t confirm prior theories that had linked neuroticism with a liking for sweet taste.

A paper published in 2012 also showed that those who favor sweet foods tend to be higher in agreeableness and helpfulness, and are more likely to adopt pro-social behaviors and intentions.

Image Source: Pixabay

A recent study has shown that summer babies grow up to become healthier adults than their counterparts born during colder periods of the year.

The paper, published in the journal Heliyon, was authored by experts from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, at the University of Cambridge.

Researchers analyzed data regarding the growth and development of approximately 450,000 participants, from the UK Biobank study.

As scientists explained, the time of conception and birth tends to be random, without being influenced by factors such as the parents’ age or health.

Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine if there was a link between birth month and characteristics such as birth weight, puberty onset and adult height.

Prior research had also suggested a correspondence between season of birth and infant weight, and also linked asthma and food allergies with being born during autumn.

However, this paper studied health outcomes more carefully and deliberately, by taking account overall growth and development.

It was determined that children that have been born during summer months tend to weigh more at birth, and grow up to be taller adults.

In addition, an association between seasonality and puberty has also been established for the first time. It was revealed that puberty in the case of girls born in June, July or August tends to debut at a later age than for infants that have been born during winter.

This is also an indicator of better overall health throughout adulthood, since early developers usually risk diabetes, breast cancer and cardiovascular disease.

According to researchers, these differences encountered among babies conceived in the autumn may be caused by greater exposure to sunlight, especially in the second trimester of pregnancy.

While being in the uterus, the developing fetus receives a greater amount of vitamin D, and as a result, the baby enjoys superior health throughout childhood and adulthood as well.

In the past, vitamin D has been proven to be essential for bone health, as well as efficient in guarding the body against cancer, multiple sclerosis and juvenile diabetes.

It appears therefore that the womb’s environment actually has far-reaching consequences, and researchers have nicknamed this impact that stretches across the years “programming”.

While study authors believe that their work has shown that birth month “has a measurable effect on development and health”, they insist that further research needs to be carried out before this process can be explained fully.

The scientists now seek to determine if indeed vitamin D exposure of the fetus is the factor that influences the onset of puberty and other physical traits. Only by delving deeper into this issue will the mechanism associated with prenatal programming reveal itself fully.

Image Source: Pixabay

Listeria contamination has prompted a Whole Foods cheese recall involving a massive batch of Papillon Organic Roquefort products.

US Food and Drug Administration officials conducted tests on a sample from an uncut wheel of this blue cheese. This is how they encountered evidence of the Listeria Monocytogenes bacteria, which can be fatal in 21% of the cases.

As a result of these findings, the American supermarket chain issued a voluntary recall of the popular cheese brand, to prevent a deadly listeria outbreak in the U.S.

Whole Foods generally benefits from a strong reputation as a seller of organic foods, after being on the market for more than 35 years.

The Fortune 500 company has very strict quality standards, and normally prides itself on selling natural products, which are minimally processed and don’t include hydrogenated fats or artificial coloring.

As a result, this health crisis comes as a shocker given the nutritional screening that Whole Foods tends to conduct prior to making items available on its shelves.

The listeria contamination involves all the Papillon Organic Roquefort batches from the stores, regardless of their sell-by dates. The items have been sold in all the Whole Foods supermarkets across the country.

So far, it appears no illnesses associated to the contamination have been reported, but it remains to be seen what the next weeks will bring, since the bacteria tends to have a lengthy incubation period.

According to food safety lawyer Bill Marlerhas, symptoms can appear as early as 2 days following ingestion, or as late as 60 days afterwards. Due to this delayed response of the immune system, the illness is extremely difficult to identify and track.

The signs are usually similar to those of influenza or meningitis, and they tend to include severe headaches, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain and high fever.

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn, listeria is a dangerous infection, which poses a risk especially to infants, elderly people and immunocompromised patients. In addition, pregnant women are also vulnerable to the bacteria, which can result in miscarriage or stillbirth.

Every year, approximately 1600 Americans are infected with listeria, and around 260 die following this disease. Given the severity associated with this contamination, federal health authorities urge those who have purchased listeria-infected products to discard them immediately, or to return them to the supermarket for a refund.

Moreover, if someone has already consumed the blue cheese and has started developing any of the symptoms pertaining to the disease, they should immediately seek medical care.

Image Source: Roquefort-Papillon

According to a recent study conducted by British researchers, firstborn kids may face greater myopia risk than their siblings due to increased parental involvement.

The trial analyzed 89,000 subjects from the British Biobank longitudinal survey, aged between 40 and 69. They measured demographic data against ophtalmological health, educational background and daily lifestyle. The initial purpose was to determine if there was a connection between birth order and nearsightedness.

While 30% of the participants were proven to have this vision disorder, it was discovered that firstborns are approximately 10% more likely to suffer from myopia than offspring that have been born later. In addition, they are also 20% more susceptible to developing severe nearsightedness, according to estimations made by health experts.

While correlating these results with education levels, a possible contributing factor for this condition was identified. It appears that high levels of education are to blame for 25% of the association between myopia and birth order.

Basically, what researchers suggest is that parents tend to devote much more of their time and energy to firstborns. They are much more invested in educating them and ensuring that their academic performance is up to par, and this engagement may diminish when it comes to later-born children.

Due to the fact that firstborn children have been more involved in activities such as reading or workbook exercises, they continue to apply themselves to hobbies that favor nearsightedness.

“Our study provides an extra piece of evidence linking education and myopia, consistent with the very high prevalence of myopia in countries with intensive education from an early age”, explained study author Jeremy A. Guggenheim, professor of optometry and vision sciences at Cardiff University’s Eye Clinic in U.K.

Indeed, a prior trial whose findings were published on September 15 in the journal JAMA also suggested that being a bookworm isn’t the most beneficial type of behavior when it comes to preventing vision impairment.

The research, which included 1,900 children in China, revealed that schoolkids who prefer the outdoors have a 23% lower risk of becoming nearsighted. Another paper featured in the Singapore Medical Journal showed that myopia rates are much more elevated in subjects with more years of formal education.

This recent study, published on October 8 in the Journal JAMA Ophthalmology, sheds new light on this vision condition, which is becoming increasingly more common among the younger generation. For instance, in some parts of East Asia myopia is prevalent among a staggering 80 to 90% of the population.

Nearsightedness is usually caused by factors such as genetics, limited time spent outside and greater involvement in activities that require focusing up close. For example, spending time watching television or using tablets and smartphones is greatly detrimental to eye health.

According to estimations, this growing myopia epidemic might affect up to 5 billion people by 2050, and it could even leave 1 billion of them blind.

Image Source: Pixabay

A recent study has revealed that suicide and self-harm are much more prevalent following weight loss surgery, which suggests that patients should be more closely monitored following such interventions.

In an effort to improve their lives, people affected by obesity sometimes resort to bariatric surgery, which includes a variety of procedures meant to produce weight loss.

Although normally insurance companies require patients to take a mental health test prior to the operation, few of these individuals show up for follow-up examinations concerning their emotional well-being.

Now this research shows that bariatric procedures may be greatly detrimental to some people, by disrupting their already unstable psychological balance even further.

The survey was carried out by Canadian experts, and included more than 8,800 adult patients, who had undergone weight-loss surgery between 2006 and 2011. Most of these people had opted for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Researchers monitored the number of self-harm incidents that participants reported 3 years before and after their operation, and published the findings in the journal JAMA Surgery.

It was determined that prior to the surgery these subjects were twice more susceptible to physically hurting themselves or to overdosing on drugs. In total, 62 incidents had been recorded in the years before the bariatric procedure, the equivalent of 2.33 incidents per 1,000 patients every year.

However, the number soared following the intervention, 96 self-harm emergencies being reported, with intentional overdoses being the most common (73% of the cases). 3.63 incidents were recorded for every 1,000 participants, and a large number of them required immediate hospitalization.

Most of the self-harm events took place in the 2nd or 3rd year following the medical procedure, especially among those who couldn’t attend follow-up evaluations. More precisely, many cases involved people from lower incomes or rural areas, or patients over the age of 35.

Former studies have proven that mental health problems like depression or drug addiction are much more likely among obese people. For instance, weight-loss surgery candidates usually have a quadrupled risk of attempting suicide, compared to the general population.

Although no definite cause has been identified for these psychological issues, some experts speculate that they may be caused by inflammation, hormone disruption or elevated stress. Now, it appears that bariatric surgery may worsen the mental state of the patients even further.

“The operation affects so much physiologically but also socially for the patient and I think all of those are going to contribute to the increased risk”, explained Dr. Amir A. Ghaferi, director of bariatric surgery at the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Healthcare System in Michigan.

As the researcher explains, some of the people who undergo gastric bypass or similar interventions often feel ostracized by society, because people judge them for not having lost weight naturally, through diets and exercise. In addition, patients sometimes feel abandoned by their loved ones, who sometimes envy or shun their slimmer figure.

These findings indicate that stricter follow-up guidelines should be introduced, in order to have more people attend physical and mental check-ups after the intervention.

Currently, although there are evaluations taking place periodically especially in the first year following the procedure, few people actually attend them. This leaves them without the essential assistance for coping with their emotional turmoil, and they eventually turn to desperate measures.

Even so, researchers don’t believe that mental health therapy would be recommendable to these patients, since that would mean unfairly singling them out from other people that undergo surgery.

Moreover, self-harm rates aren’t actually high enough to require psychological counselling for all bariatric subjects, so careful screening of the patients and post-surgery monitoring remain the safest bet.

Image Source: Flickr

A recent study has revealed that recommended daily workouts are not enough in order to ward off heart failure. While doctors suggest exercising at moderate intensity for 30 minutes every day, it appears this amount of time should actually be doubled or quadrupled in order to achieve visible effects.

The findings were published on Monday in the journal Circulation, by experts from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Researchers reviewed 12 prior studies, which included 370,460 men and women, with different levels of physical activity. Each respondent had presented their daily schedule, which gave experts the possibility to assess the amount of exercise that every individual engaged in.

Correlations were made between these values and the number of heart failure events, which had amounted to 20,203 in a period of 15 years.

Although the American Heart Association urges people to work out for 30 minutes every day to prevent the onset of heart disease, it was established that such a routine actually led to “modest reductions” in heart failure risk.

There was just a difference of 15% to 22% between those who had sedentary lifestyles and those who exercised the recommended amount of time. On the other hand, experts identified “a substantial risk reduction”, of up to 35%, among study participants who had worked out for one or two hours every day.

These findings may come as a surprise to many, given that the 30-minute-a-day-exercise formula has been proposed as the magic solution against cardiovascular disease for such a long time. Sedentary lifestyles have been linked with a higher risk of heart attack and stroke, while working out has been proven to reduce blood pressure and atherosclerosis.

In fact, the American Heart Association advises middle-aged people to spend 2 hours and a half every week doing moderate exercise such as brisk walks. However, this is certainly not enough to protect against heart failure, especially when the individual has hypertension or diabetes.

Researchers point out that in fact physical activity and congestive heart failure are “dose dependent”. In other words, the more a person exercises, the lower the risk of suffering heart failure, irrespective of the person’s age, race or gender.

As a result, experts insist that health watchdogs and authorities, as well as general practitioners should recommend much higher doses of physical activity, as a preventive strategy against heart failure.

Those who already have busy schedules could engage in more vigorous exercise, because as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains, 30 minutes of high-intensity training are the equivalent of one hour of moderate activity. These exercises could be done on a daily basis, under a doctor’s supervision, so that patients with underlying health conditions don’t over-exert themselves.

Only this way will individuals indeed be guarded against heart failure, which already affects more than 5.1 million adults in the United States. This disease, which causes shortness of breath and reduces physical endurance, leaves the heart unable to pump enough blood to the rest of the body.

In fact, heart failure is one of the main culprits when it comes to hospitalizations and deaths among senior Americans. Even more worryingly, this “growing epidemic” which leads to annual health costs surpassing $30 billion, has been predicted to surge by 25% between 2010 and 2030.

Image Source: Pixabay

General Mills has recalled 1.8 million boxes of mislabeled Cheerios, which had wrongly been packaged as gluten-free. In fact, these cereals contain wheat, which means that they cannot be consumed by people who suffer from celiac disease or gluten allergies.

This decision involves regular Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios that had been produced back in July, at a processing plant from Lodi, California.

It’s only months ago that the multinational food company gave a facelift to its beloved Cheerios brand, by introducing 5 gluten-free varieties, aside from the regular ones. General Mills had announced this revamp 8 months ago, and products which contained no wheat, barley or rye began shipping in July.

In theory, such items should not contain any allergens, because they are targeted at people who suffer from celiac disease. This autoimmune condition makes patients respond abnormally to gluten ingestion, by suffering inflammation of the small intestine’s inner lining.

However, it appears that in the manufacturing process, wheat floor actually entered the “gluten-free oat flour system”, due to “purely human error”. Following this incident, Cheerios boxes were mistakenly labeled as gluten-free, and shipped to retailers. The “undeclared allergen” poses a risk to consumers with celiac disease, and as a result the voluntary recall had to be issued.

“We sincerely apologize to the gluten-free community and to anyone who may have been impacted”, declared Jim Murphy, senior vice president of General Mills’ cereal division.

As representatives have detailed, the Honey Nut Cheerios boxes affected by this contamination had been produced over a 13-day period, and have “Better if used by” dates ranging between July 12, 2016 and July 25, 2016.

The original Yellow Box Cheerios had been packed during a 3-day period, and their “Better if used by” dates are between July 14, 2016 and July 17, 2016. Aside from these expiration dates, the products included in the recall can also be identified by the code “LD”, which refers to the factory’s location (Lodi, California).

General Mills has ordered to have these contaminated boxes removed from supermarkets and warehouses, so as not to cause any health problems to people who suffer from wheat allergies or celiac disease. Customers who have bought these food items can contact the manufacturers for a replacement or a refund.

As company officials have noted, Cheerios boxes produced in other processing plants are not subject to this recall. Moreover, other Cheerios varieties such as Multi Grain Cheerios, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and Frosted Cheerios are also safe to consume.

About 1% of the total number of Cheerios  boxes produced in a year have been affected by this incident. According to financial analysts, this may cause reputational damage to the brand, as consumers become less trusting of the company’s new products.

Image Source: Flickr

Chicago heroin overdoses, which have reached the overwhelming number of 74 in just 3 days, may have been caused by laced narcotics, as officials have revealed.

According to Lary Langford, a representative for the Chicago Fire Department, the cases began being reported on Tuesday, and by Friday 74 emergency situations had been identified. This number of incidents is actually more than double compared to the corresponding period from last year.

More than 14 people required immediate hospitalization at the Mount Sinai Hospital, which usually records just 2 or 3 such cases per day. Some of the patients still had heroin needles in their veins when they were admitted, and a couple of them have remained in intensive care.

Health and fire officials speculate that the bad heroin had been mixed with painkiller fentanyl, resulting in a deadly combination. Lab tests have been conducted by the Chicago Department of Public Health, and now results are pending.

“We suspect what is happening is the same thing that happened in 2006, when people were getting heroin that was cut with fentanyl, which is a very strong narcotic”, declared Diane Hicks, emergency room director at Mount Sinai.

Thankfully, the victims were stabilized after paramedics gave them Narcan (Naloxone), an opiate antidote which reverses the effects of heroin overdoses.

As fire officials have reported, some of the persons actually required double or triple the usual amount of this medication, since their reactions had been extremely severe. Afterwards, they were transported to local hospitals for additional medical care.

Currently, an investigation is under way, by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Chicago law enforcement officers. Authorities are trying to identify the source of these batches, in order to prevent even further incidents of this kind and punish the culprits.

It is believed that the drugs had been sold at 2 separate locations from the West Side, and one of them is in North Lawdale. Investigators are also awaiting toxicology results, to determine if a 49-year old man who died following a drug overdose in the East Garfield Park area had also used laced heroine.

Back in March, the DEA had circulated a health alert warning people of the dangers of combining heroin with fentanyl. This potent painkiller is normally used during difficult, painful surgeries. Although some claim that lacing heroin with this substance gives the drug an extra edge, in fact the mixture can be lethal.

Between 2005 and 2007, more than 1,000 people died as a result of bad heroin that had been blended with fentanyl, and ever since that time the dangerous concoction has been to blame for numerous overdoses across the country.

Image Source: Flickr