Feel Free to Shake Hands

In China, July is the graduation season, and some scientists got to wondering whether the folks who shake hundreds of hands while passing out diplomas run the risk of coming away with a fistful of infectious microbes, such as Staphylococcus aureus.



Good news turns out the risk of being passed a disease-causing bacterium while pressing the flesh is pretty remote. That’s according to a study in the Journal of School Nursing.

"Quantifying School Officials’ Exposure to Bacterial Pathogens at Graduation Ceremonies Using Repeated Observational Measures", said Dave.


The researchers swabbed the palms of 14 school officials before and after graduation. They found that before the ceremony, and even after a slathering of sanitizer, hands were home to plenty of nonharmful bacteria. On the infectious scorecard, one dean brought Staph aureus to a commencement.

Two others at a different ceremony walked away with it. And one of those samples came from a left hand, which didn’t participate in any of the meeting or greeting. So the math says that of more than 5,000 handshakes, just one may have passed along something less welcome than a sheepskin.

So if you’re graduating this summer, don’t fear handshakes, it is not a big deal.

Wait, while you wonder if the last person who wore that robe had anything contagious...

* Originally Posted: Top Diagnosis

Now We’d Like to Vindicate for Bedwetting

Guide: Bed-wetting, this is not but a pleasant topic. Bedwetting now plagued 5,000,000-7,000,000 American children. If we can not explain why those children who are unluckily suffered from bedwetting bed, then let us at least to explore out the reasons for bed-wetting. Nowadays scientists believe that bedwetting is based on physiological factors, and some children suffer from common curable diseases or have structural defects.



Never a happy topic, bed wetting is a very distressing problem for five to seven million American kids. If we can’t explain why some people like to pick on these kids, can we at least shed some light on what causes bed wetting?

At one time, people punished bed-wetters for acting badly, but today scientists believe that this condition has several physical causes. Some kids suffer from problems like infections or anatomical defects that can be easily identified and treated.

Other causes are harder to pin down. One promising area of research is on the kidney hormone ADH. We all produce more ADH hormone at night. ADH signals the kidney to slow down production. This is why we don’t go to the bathroom for eight hours at night but could never last that long between bathroom breaks during the day.

Some children who wet their beds do not produce enough ADH at night. When given drugs that boost this hormone, they stop bed wetting.

Finally, some kids simply have small bladders and an undeveloped nervous system. The good news is that these kids, like most bedwetters, will grow out of it as their bodies develop and mature.

* Originally Posted: Top Diagnosis