Just out of a hot shower, you feel fresh and clean. Then you grab that travel to pat dry yourself, smelling fresh, further cleaning off all and any droplets on your body. But wait, your towel may be transferring bacteria to your body. You may have come off clean from that shower, but with that towel, the cleanliness is no longer there.

Many of us put that towel into a washing machine once a week, in a study among 100 people, a third of them did so once a month. In fact, a UK survey found that few only did it once a year. While we do not see any signs of dirt in our towel, they are actually a breeding ground for millions of microbes.

As per a 2023 study titled Analysis of biofilm and bacterial communities in the towel environment with daily use, the towel is not only contaminated with bacteria commonly found on human skin, but also with those found in our guts. These can transfer back to our skin. Often, bacteria and airborne fungi too can settle on the towel as they are hanging up.

In Japan, some households use leftover bathwater for laundering the next day, while it may be a great way to save water, as per the researchers at the University of Tokushima, many of the bacteria found in used bath water can be transferred to towels and clothing. If you are someone who hangs the towel in the bathroom, there is more bad news for you. Every time you flush, the bacteria from your toilet and specks of your and your family's bodily waste settles on that towel. This is the same towel you use to wipe your face and rest of the body.

As time passes, these microbes start to form biofilms, and it changes how the towel looks. If you have ever noticed the color of your towel change, turning to a dark dirt color, it is because of these biofilms. After two months, even with regular washing, you cannot get the color back, as the bacteria living in the cotton fiber starts to dull the appearance of the cloth.

So, how often should you wash your towel?

There are 1,000 different species of bacteria that live on our skin alongside the viruses and fungi. Most of it can be good for us, and help us keep safe from infections from other infections. However, many of what we find on our towels are common in the environment we live in, including Staphylococcus bacteria and Escherichia coli, found in the human gut. The towel could also contain Salmonella and Shigella bacteria, which causes foodborne illness and diarrhoea.

Some of these bacteria could also be opportunistic pathogens, where they can cause more harm to humans, whether through a cut, and they enter the body, causing to produce more toxic, and weakening the immune systems. While skin is a natural barrier against infection, washing and scrubbing and rubbing with a dry towel can disrupt this skin barrier function, and bacteria could enter your body.

As per a 2021 study titled The Stability of Model Human Coronaviruses on Textiles in the Environment and during Health Care Laundering, COVID-19 virus can survive on cotton for up to 24 hours, even though transmission through touching contaminated surfaces is not the main way how the virus spreads.

Research also shows that the human papillomaviruses, common cause of warts and verrucae can also spread through contact of towels shared with other people. This risk of spreading viruses through a shared towel is the reason why hospitals and other public places now use disposable paper towels.

Weighing all such risks, the correct answer to how often should you wash your towels would be: the sooner you can do it! Though experts recommend that there is no set rule to wash it once a week, but it is of course better than doing it once a month or even a year!

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a virus that affects every sexually active person at some point of their life, even if there are no symptoms. The World Health Organization explains that it can affect the skin, genital area, and throat. While preventative measures do help, they cannot totally protect themselves from transmission. Despite the contagious nature of the virus, these infections go away without treatment. However, there are some likely scenarios where they can cause abnormal cells to develop, which later on become cancer.

What deters many people from getting themselves checked out is the general stigma surrounding sexually transmitted infections or diseases. So, when at home tests became available, the rates screenings improved a lot!

A new study suggests that women are much more likely to get screened for HPV (human papillomavirus) if they can do the test themselves at home in private. This is a big deal because almost all cervical cancers are caused by HPV. Researchers found that when women were offered a mail-in test kit, the number of women getting screened more than doubled.

Why At-Home Testing is a Game-Changer

Around 11,500 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year in the U.S. Sadly, more than half of these women have either rarely or never been screened for HPV. Traditional screening often involves a pelvic exam at a clinic, which can be uncomfortable or distressing for some women. It also requires them to take time off and travel to the clinic.

The good news is that the first at-home screening test for cervical cancer recently got approved for use in the U.S. and should be available very soon. This new option could make a huge difference in how many women get screened.

How the Study Proved Its Point

To see how at-home testing would work in real life, researchers studied nearly 2,500 women aged 30 to 65. They divided the women into three groups:

• One group received a phone call reminding them to go to a clinic for screening.
• Another group was mailed an at-home self-collection test kit.
• The third group received an at-home kit and also got a follow-up call if they didn't return their kit quickly.

The results were clear: women who were offered an at-home test kit were more than twice as likely to get screened. About 41% of those who received a kit participated, compared to only 17% who just got a phone reminder to go to a clinic. When women who received a kit also got follow-up reminders, participation jumped even higher, to 47%. Interestingly, over 80% of the women in the test kit groups who participated chose to mail in their kit for analysis, rather than going to a clinic.

Making At-Home Tests Accessible

The study also found that about 13% of the women who returned a kit tested positive for a high-risk type of HPV. As these self-collection tests become more widely available, it's crucial to ensure they are offered in clinics and health centers, especially for people who face bigger challenges in accessing healthcare. By removing these hurdles, experts hope to increase screening rates and significantly reduce the burden of preventable cervical cancer.

Researchers now plan to investigate how to best use these HPV self-collection tests in different healthcare settings. While at-home HPV testing offers great promise, the next challenge is to make sure it's adopted safely and effectively into regular medical practice. This includes figuring out how healthcare providers can best follow up with women who have abnormal test results.

As per the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, June is the cataract awareness month. This has been designated as a month to spread awareness around cataract and educate the public about it. This is also the leading cause of vision loss worldwide. This month-long observance also highlights the importance of early detection and treatment of cataracts, and emphasizes that prompt intervention can significantly preserve vision.

Why Is It Declared As The Cataract Month?

As per the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), this has been done to provide patients and professionals with free educational resources on cataract, which is the clouding of eye's lens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide and the leading cause of vision loss in the United States. An estimated 20.5 million Americans aged 40 year and older have cataract in one or both eyes.

What Is Cataract?

It is the clouding of eye's natural lens, which sits just behind the iris. In a healthy eye, this lens focuses light onto the retina, allowing us to see clearly. Over time, due to aging or other factors, this lens may become cloudy, leading to blurred or dimmed vision.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), cataracts account for nearly 51% of world blindness and affects over 65 million people.

History Of Cataract Awareness Month

Prevent Blindness declared the month of June as Cataract Awareness Month and it has been joined by other organizations, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), and UNC Ophthalmology. This month spotlights an ocular disease.

The earliest documented case of cataract was reported to be in a museum in Cairo that houses a small statue from the 5th dynasty. The wooden statue is of a priest reader who has a white patch carved into the pupil of the left eye. It is thought to represent a cataract.

The earliest procedure of cataract removal is couching. Several illustrations too have been found inside Egyptian temples and tombs depict surgical instruments that indicate the use of couching, a procedure that involved dislodging the eye lens to clear the cataract.

How Does Cataract Affect Vision?

The following symptoms are:

• Blurred or foggy vision
• Increased sensitivity to light or glare
• Difficulty seeing at night
• Colors appear faded or yellow
• Frequent changes in glasses prescription
• Seeing halos around lights

What Causes Cataract?

Cataract are caused by various factors, some of which include diabetes, prolonged exposure to UV rays, smoking and alcohol consumption, long-term use of corticosteroids, and eye injuries.

The best way to prevent them is to wear UV-protective sunglasses, manage systemic conditions like diabetes and also go for regular eye exams, especially after the age of 40. It is also important to focus on your diet and other lifestyle habits, and consume more green leafy vegetables, and fruits.

Nature is filled with amazing flora and fauna, all with different sets of abilities and unique features. While considered impossible for humans, there are many animals that can regenerate part of their bodies. Sea creatures like starfish and octopuses can regenerate their limbs in case they get hurt or have to decapitate themselves to escape from a difficult situation. Living in the wild, these creatures evolved to adapt to the harsh nature of their surroundings.

This is not the case for humans. Many people have to live without their limbs or organs, whether it is due to being born that way or being hurt/experiencing an accident. However, taking inspiration from one such animal, researchers are looking into human limb regeneration.

Axolotls, with their unique smiles and frilly gills, have become very popular. But these friendly salamanders are more than just cute faces. Scientists are studying them because they might help us solve a big medical mystery: Can people someday grow back lost body parts, like an arm or a leg?

Why Did Researchers Pick Axolotls?

In a groundbreaking study published on June 10 in Nature Communications, Monaghan's team utilized genetically engineered axolotls that glow in the dark to better understand this astonishing process. What makes axolotls so special? They have an incredible ability to regrow any part of their body, no matter how old they are. If they lose a leg, they can grow it right back.

Even if their heart, lungs, or brain gets hurt, they can fix themselves! This amazing ability makes them champions among animals for their extreme healing powers. One of the long-standing questions in limb regrowth has been how cells "know" precisely which part of the limb to rebuild. For instance, if an axolotl loses its upper arm, it regenerates the entire arm. However, if the injury occurs further down the limb, only the lower arm and hand regrow.

Body's Internal GPS

The key to this mystery appears to be a small molecule called retinoic acid, a compound related to vitamin A and commonly found in skincare products under the name retinol. This molecule acts like a GPS, providing cells with crucial positional information, guiding them on where they are on the body and what specific part needs to be rebuilt.

How Retinoic Acid Directs Regrowth

The study's findings were compelling. When axolotls were given a drug that prevented the breakdown of retinoic acid, their limbs regenerated incorrectly, with an upper arm forming where a lower arm should have been. In contrast, axolotls not given the drug regrew their limbs normally. This strongly suggests that retinoic acid precisely instructs cells about their location and what structure to grow.

Hope for Human Healing

While we are still a long way from growing human limbs, this study is a big step in that direction. The scientists believe this research could eventually help people. We all have the same basic genetic instructions for building limbs that we used when we were developing as babies. The challenge now is to figure out how to turn those same instructions back on later in life, which axolotls can do but humans can't yet. This is one of the oldest and most exciting questions in biology. Thanks to the growing interest in axolotls, especially among kids, these unique animals are helping to advance amazing scientific discoveries. It's quite surprising how popular axolotls have become, showing up everywhere from airports to toy stores.