A microbiology meeting this week held out a tantalizing bit of data: the food we eat influences the types of bacteria that grow in our colons. Diets high in complex carbohydrates encouraged the growth of favorable bacteria that produced beneficial chemicals and vitamins. Diets high in meat encouarged the growth of less favorable bacteria which might contribute to the production of carcinogenic substances in the gut.

A group of researchers report findings that water from plastic bottles have a higher estrogen effect on snails than water from glass bottles (at least in Germany). This is a fascinating result and the group claims this is the first time anyone has shown an estrogen effect in living creatures. Hopefully this will be the final nail in the coffin on the bottled water craze. This whole fad seems to have run its course though I'm not sure it will completely go away. New York City in particular is going through a lot of soul-searching over the environmental harms of bottled water.

Hypospadias is considered as the most common birth defect of a male genitalia in which the penile meatus is not at the tip of the penis. The meatus is the term for opening the penis through which urine usually exits the bladder. This deficiency can be found in 1 in 125 boys born in the US. The name "hypospadias" comes from the Greek word (hypo under and spadias rent). It refers to the position of the opening through which the child urinates.

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). People who have autism have trouble communicating and interacting with other people. A child who has autism may seem very withdrawn may not make eye contact with people may not talk or play the way other children do or may repeat certain motions and behaviors over and over again. Researchers are investigating a number of theories including the link between heredity genetics and medical problems.

Physicians say that increasingly they are seeing younger people and children with kidney stones which can be highly painful and they wonder if its not due to the increasing number of obese children. There are no hard and fast numbers on the amount of children who are presenting with kidney stones but childrens clinics say that their numbers are up. "There is very little available on pediatric stone disease in particular " said Dr. Caleb Nelson a urologist at Children's Hospital Boston.