Guest Author • Sep 19, 2017 •
Last week, Centre of Research Excellence Te Pūnaha Matatini hosted #WaiNZ, a national conversation providing New Zealanders with an opportunity to read blog posts and other media from key influencers talking about their relationships with water. With permission, Sciblogs is re-publishing some of the blog posts here, starting with Dan Hikuroa‘s call to listen to the voice of the river. … Read More
Ken Perrott • May 16, 2017 •
Recent research reveals that community water fluoridation benefits adults as well as children. While research into the effects of fluoridation in adults started earlier than for children, early studies suffered from a lack of information on effects of socioeconomic status and other confounding factors. Recent studies with adults have been more robust but there is still some confusion – especially since … Read More
Guest Author • Apr 15, 2017 •
By Ben Desbrow, Griffith University For a long time people have been told that caffeine is a diuretic. For some, this translates into advice to avoid or remove caffeinated beverages from the diet of people at risk of dehydration, or during periods of extreme summer heat. While possibly well meaning, this advice is wrong. By definition, … Read More
Eric Crampton • Mar 27, 2017 •
And here we go for another edition of “Because you’ve misspecified the problem, your proposed solution might make things worse.” The past couple of weeks have had renewed anger about water bottling plants. If you buy land with water drawing rights attached to it, you don’t get charged for drawing that water. The value of the water is baked into … Read More
John Kerr • Mar 09, 2017 •
New research reveals how raindrops on soil create bioaerosols – tiny droplets of bacteria-laden water – which can help spread harmful microbes, including kiwifruit pathogen Psa. Although soil bacteria are usually pretty slow at getting around, wet weather has been suggested to give them a hand travelling large distances. But exactly how rain gets bacteria from the soil into the air has been … Read More
Ken Perrott • Jan 24, 2017 •
A new Australian study confirms that lifetime access to community water fluoridation (CWF) is associated with reduced tooth decay for adults – at least in the age groups 15 – 34 years and 35 – 44 years. The study is reported in the paper: Do et al., (2017). Effectiveness of water fluoridation in the prevention of dental caries across … Read More
Ken Perrott • Jan 21, 2017 •
Community water fluoridation (CWF) will persist in science news for the foreseeable future – not for any valid scientific reason but because of reaction to political pressures against it. This is particularly so in New Zealand where our parliament will be discussing legislative changes to fluoridation decision-making this year. This is not to say that all the relevant news will be … Read More
Ken Perrott • Jan 20, 2017 •
Anti-fluoridation activists are soon likely to be promoting a new paper reporting a study which found a relationship between maternal (in utero) exposure to fluoride and cognitive development delay in infants. Could the increased incidence of premature births explain cognitive deficits observed in areas of endemic fluorosis? Image credit: New Kids-Center. Of course, they will be unlikely … Read More
Guest Author • Dec 05, 2016 •
Matthew Haines, University of Huddersfield A recent BMJ Case Report outlined the story of a 59-year-old woman who went to A&E after experiencing pain when urinating and abdominal pain. Her symptoms were consistent with urinary tract infection (UTI, commonly referred to by some as cystitis) for which she was prescribed antibiotics and painkillers. During her visit … Read More
Peter Griffin • Sep 14, 2016 •
As debate rumbles away in some New Zealand communities about whether public water supplies should be fluoridated, a new report from the Australian Government looks at the situation across the Tasman and gives fluoridation a big tick. The National Health and Medical Research Council’s draft consultation paper, Effects of water fluoridation on dental and other health outcomes was published today … Read More