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SCIENCEFriday 8 January 2016
Meteorologists: El Nino ties record for strongest seen AP: Yeast infection
drug-miscarriage link
SETH BORENSTEIN These false-color images provided by NASA satellites compare warm Pacific Ocean water tem-
AP Science Writer peratures from the strong El Nino that brought North America large amounts of rainfall in 1997, hinted in new study
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. right, and the current El Nino as of Dec. 27, 2015, left. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the
meteorologists say the cur- strong El Nino in the Pacific Ocean shows no sign of weakening. The Pasadena lab said that the AP Medical Writer
rent El Nino has stormed its Dec. 27 image of ocean warming produced by data from its Jason-2 satellite is strikingly similar to CHICAGO (AP) — A pre-
way into the record books, one from December 1997 during a previous large El Nino event. scription drug for yeast
tying 1997-1998 as the infections may increase
strongest recorded. (NASA via AP) chances for miscarriages
Mike Halpert, deputy di- when used early in preg-
rector of the federal Cli- does during January, when meteorology director Jeff nia in its sights,” as a series nancy, a large study in
mate Prediction Center, Denmark suggests. The 17-
said initial figures for Octo- its impact peaks. Masters said “Darth Nino of storms may dent record year study involved oral
ber-November-December versions of fluconazole,
match the same time peri- Weather Underground may finally have Califor- drought. q available in pills or liquid. It
od in 1997 for the strongest doesn’t provide any proof
El Nino. of harm, although the drug
Meteorologists measure El has been linked with other
Nino based on how warm problems when used in
parts of the central Pa- high doses in pregnancy.
cific for three consecutive The researchers looked at
months. Records go back more than 1 million preg-
to 1950. nancies in Denmark, com-
El Nino is the natural warm- paring outcomes among
ing of the central Pacific women who used oral flu-
that changes weather conazole and those who
worldwide, didn’t. Women who used
the drug during the first
including bringing more six months of pregnancy
rain to California. were almost 50 percent
Halpert said what really more likely than nonus-
matters is what El Nino ers to have a miscarriage.
Women at increased risk
Shrinking Amazon may lose thousands of trees species included those on a low
150-milligram dose; those
AP Science Writer gree to which deforesta- 2006, study authors said. have an estimate.” on higher doses faced
WASHINGTON (AP) — A tion comes under control If deforestation continues About 15 years ago, the greater miscarriage risks.
first-of-its-kind examina- in the next 35 years, be- at the same pace, nearly Amazon was losing about While fewer than 10 per-
tion of the Amazon’s trees tween 36 and 57 percent 8,700 tree types are in trou- 11.6 million square miles cent of women in each
found that as many as half of the 16,000 tree species ble, but the number of spe- (30 million sq. kilometers) group had miscarriages
the species may be threat- in the tropical rainforest cies at risk could be as low of forest a year, said Tim — they totaled 710 — the
ened with extinction or area would be considered as 5,500 if nations are able Killeen, a scientist from Ag- researchers said doctors
heading that way because threatened. Their study was to cut back as planned, teca Amazonica in Bolivia. should use caution in pre-
of massive deforestation. published recently in Sci- said study co-author Nigel But that figure has dropped scribing the drug early in
Among the more than enceAdvances. The range Pitman from the Field Mu- to about 3.8 million square pregnancy. The study, by
5,000 tree species in deep rests on whether cutting seum in Chicago. miles (10 million sq. kilome- researchers at State Serum
trouble: the ones that pro- down the region’s forest “We’ve never had a good ters) a year, he said. Institute in Copenhagen,
duce Brazil nuts and ma- continues at the rate of idea of how many species Killeen said the tree that was published this week in
hogany. An international the late 20th and early 21st are threatened in the Am- produces Brazil nuts is seri- the Journal of the Ameri-
team of 158 scientists found centuries or slows down to azon,” Pitman said Friday. ously under threat, while can Medical Association.
that depending on the de- lesser levels proposed in “Now with this study, we “mahogany is commer- Yeast infections are com-
cially extinct throughout mon among women and
the Amazon.” He said that occur more often in preg-
means there’s no more in- nancy because of hor-
dustry harvesting the wood, monal changes. Over-the-
but some trees exist. counter creams and sup-
Duke University ecologist positories, and prescription
Stuart Pimm, who was not fluconazole, in pills or liquid,
part of the study, praised are among treatments.
the work as sensible and Fluconazole is available in
important.q generic versions and under
the brand name Diflucan,
typically prescribed in a
single dose. q
