A new study suggests natural compounds found in dark sweet cherries may help slow the growth and spread of one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.

Scientists at Texas A&M University said natural plant pigments called anthocyanins, which give cherries their deep red color, appeared to slow tumor growth, metastasis and therapy resistance in test mice with triple-negative breast cancer fed a cherry extract.

If the findings are successfully applied to humans, they don't portend a cherry-based cure but rather an additional anti-cancer tool, underscoring the reality that no single treatment approach is successful by itself.

Body of Knowledge

An adult human contains 1.2 to 1.5 gallons of blood, accounting for 8%-10% of their body weight. A baby, on the other hand, carries only about a cup, or the same as the average adult cat.

Get Me That, Stat!

The rate of syphilis among pregnant people, which soared between 2016 and 2022, continues to climb. A report from the National Center for Health Statistics says the maternal syphilis rate increased 28% from 2022 to 2024, following a 222% increase between 2016 and 2022. By the end of 2024, nearly 360 per every 100,000 babies were born with the sexually transmitted infection. Increases were seen across most ethnic groups and all age groups.

Experts attribute the rise — the highest since the 1950s — to decreased condom use, reduced public health funding for STI prevention, pandemic-related disruptions in care, increased substance abuse and inadequate prenatal screening.

Doc Talk

Pruritus: Itching

Phobia of the Week

Globophobia: Fear of balloons, especially popping

Best Medicine

Q: What do black humor and health care have in common?

A: Not everyone gets it.

Hypochondriac's Guide

Auto-brewery syndrome occurs when people experience the effects of intoxication, including hangovers, without consuming a significant amount of alcohol, or any alcohol at all. It is caused by a type of fungi or bacteria breaking down fermenting carbohydrates in the gut to produce ethanol.

Observation

"I like long walks, especially when they're taken by people who annoy me." — Comedian Fred Allen (1894-1956)

Medical History

This week in 1842, physician Crawford W. Long of Jefferson, Georgia, was the first to use ether as an anesthetic during a minor operation. He placed an ether-soaked towel over the face of James Venable and then removed a tumor from his neck.

This event predated William Thomas Morton's public demonstration of ether by four years but was not disclosed until 1849 in the Southern Medical Journal. Long's accomplishment is now widely seen as representing the discovery of surgical anesthesia.

Ig Nobel Apprised

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate achievements that make people laugh, then think. A look at real science that's hard to take seriously and even harder to ignore.

In 2007, the Ig Nobel Prize in Biology went to a Dutch researcher who conducted a census of all the mites, insects, spiders, pseudoscorpions, crustaceans, bacteria, algae, ferns and fungi with whom we potentially share our beds at night.

Conclusion: One never sleeps alone.

Self-Exam

Q: What is the normal resting heart rate range for most adults?

A) 40-60 beats per minute

B) 60-80 beats per minute

C) 60-100 beats per minute

D) 100-120 beats per minute

A: B) 60-80 beats per minute, though well-trained athletes may have rates closer to 40-60 beats per minute. Rates consistently above 100 or below 60 may signal a health condition.

Last Words

"Only you have ever understood me. And you got it wrong." — German philosopher Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel (1770-1831) to his favorite student. Hegel was often frustrated by those unable to grasp his wide range of ruminations, from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology to political philosophy to the philosophy of art and religion.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Vino Li at Unsplash