This is Beirut

"Mirror Bacteria": Could Lab-Created Life Trigger the Next Pandemic?

Bélinda Ibrahim, 26/06 12:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Mirror Bacteria Pandemic Lab-Created Health Chirality

What if a completely foreign form of life—built according to rules opposite to our own—were to emerge from a laboratory? Long confined to the realm of science fiction, the idea is gaining new relevance with recent advances in synthetic biology. At the heart of the concern is the possible creation of a “mirror bacterium,” an organism based ...

Golden Skin, Hidden Risks: The Nutrition and Beauty Truths Behind Tanning

Bélinda Ibrahim, 15/06 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Tanning Health Skin Sun

Just like sugar, the sun carries a double edge—it caresses the skin, then leaves its mark. In summer, tanning becomes a quiet ritual: pursued on beaches, flaunted on Instagram and sustained by a booming cosmetic and wellness market. But the glow we chase rests on a false promise—the belief that bronzed skin signals health and beauty. In truth, ...

Segmented Sleep: Rethinking the Myth of Uninterrupted Rest

This is Beirut, 04/06 12:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Segmented Sleep Health Naps Sleep Patterns

For decades, the standard was clear: a good night’s sleep had to be long, uninterrupted and last between seven and nine hours. This is what we call monophasic sleep. Yet, this way of sleeping is neither as universal nor as natural as we might think. In reality, our ancestors didn’t sleep the way we do, and recent research suggests that ...

Lebanon Regains WHO Voting Rights, Pledges Health Reforms

This is Beirut, 23/05 19:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Lebanon WHO Health Reform Geneva Refugees

Lebanon has regained its voting rights at the World Health Organization (WHO) after a two-year suspension due to unpaid membership fees. Speaking from the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Minister of Public Health Dr. Rakan Nassereddine said the reinstatement “restores Lebanon’s influential role in the organization’s discussions and ...

The Anti-Inflammatory Power of Food

Bélinda Ibrahim, 18/05 17:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Inflammations Food Health Well-Being

Inflammation is, in itself, a natural defense mechanism. When a foreign body, infection, or injury occurs, the body mobilizes immune cells to repair tissue. Redness, swelling, heat—these are signs that the body is healing. But there is another, more insidious and damaging form: chronic inflammation. Invisible to the eye and symptom-free for a ...

US Baby with Rare Illness Treated with Tailor-Made Gene Edit

This is Beirut, 16/05 11:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

USA Health genetics Illness Gene-Editing

A US infant with a rare condition has become history's first patient to be treated with a personalized gene-editing technique that raises hopes for other people with obscure illnesses, doctors said Thursday. The wee pioneer is KJ Muldoon, now a 9-and-a-half-month-old boy with chubby cheeks and big blue eyes. Shortly after birth, he was diagnosed ...

Trump Says Will Sign Order Aimed at Cutting US Drug Prices

This is Beirut, 12/05 05:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

United States Donald Trump Health Drugs

President Donald Trump unveiled plans Sunday for a new policy on pharmaceuticals he claimed would reduce US prescription drug prices by between 30 and 80 percent. "They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!" Trump wrote in a social media post, adding he ...

Essential Oils: Potent Natural Remedies with Hidden Risks

Bélinda Ibrahim, 11/05 17:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Essential Oils Health Wellness

Lavender, peppermint, tea tree, lemon and ravintsara—essential oils have taken over natural medicine cabinets. They prominently feature in skincare rituals, cosmetic products and home remedies for everything from winter ailments to stress and pain relief. As concentrated extracts from aromatic plants, they embody a return to nature in a world ...

The Healing Power of Tears: Nature’s Own Painkiller

Bélinda Ibrahim, 07/05 12:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Tears Healing Health

Crying. This universal gesture, so often confined to the private sphere or burdened with shame, is in fact one of the most powerful signals the human body can send. We cry in response to pain, loss, injustice or overwhelming emotion – not only to express what words cannot, but also, biologically, to find relief. Emotional tears – distinct ...

Detox: Miracle Cure or Marketing Illusion?

Bélinda Ibrahim, 04/05 18:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Detox Health Body

At the beginning of each year, following the indulgences of the holidays, or as summer approaches, the concept of “detox” resurfaces with renewed vigor. Celery juice, detoxifying herbal teas, crash diets and supplements with enticing names all promise a purified and lighter body, prepared to embrace the new season. The premise is simple and ...

Shaken Baby Syndrome: A Devastating Form of Abuse

Bélinda Ibrahim, 30/04 15:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Shaken Baby Syndrome Damage Child Abuse Baby Health

Shaken baby syndrome (SBS) is one of the most extreme and tragic forms of child abuse worldwide. Often triggered by a moment of anger or helplessness in response to persistent crying, a single violent shake can cause catastrophic brain injuries in infants – altering the course of a life before it has even begun. Behind this tragic reality lies a ...

Study Links Chemicals In Plastic To Cardiovascular Deaths

This is Beirut, 30/04 12:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Plastic Pollution Health Chemicals

Daily exposure to chemicals used for many plastic household items, could be linked to more than 356,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease worldwide in 2018, according to a study published on Tuesday. The study published in the Lancet eBioMedicine journal, led by researchers at NYU Langone Hospital in New York, focused on a phthalate chemical ...

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