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The average age of a medical student is 24, making it incredibly difficult for them to empathize with some of their older patients. New doctors may be able to sympathize with their elderly clientele, and may be able to give them medically sound advice, but they likely never experienced the symptoms they will be treating on a daily basis. Enter “We Are Alfred,” a virtual reality program that allows medical students to experience what it is like to be an elderly person with audio and visual issues first hand.

Before coming to write for Natural Society, I worked for a national law firm. I primarily wrote about lawsuits, the majority of them concerning prescription drugs. It was there that I began to learn how dangerous many drugs can be, and how desperately the pharmaceutical industry wants the public to place blind trust in its products.

Lowe’s hardware store, a chain throughout the United States and Canada, has two new hires this week: a man and his dog. But they aren’t just any human-canine duo. Owen, whose surname has not been released, has previously suffered from a brain injury which he says has made it difficult for him to find employment. Blue, his canine companion, is his service dog.

Basil smells and tastes sweet, and it’s also highly nutritious. For example, 1/4 cup of chopped basil gives you 31% of your daily vitamin K needs – so it’s a great addition if you’re lacking in that vitamin.

An agricultural, biotech giant, Monsanto has become ‘more vulnerable than ever,’ largely due to having an unnaturally-intense poor public image. In recent times, the company has seen successive stock drops and weaker sales of its biotech-created corn and the best-selling herbicide, Roundup. The company had to report falling profits again and again, slashing jobs.

In the U.S., 77,500 people are on the organ transplant waiting list. Every 10 minutes, someone is added to that list. On average, 22 people die each day awaiting a transplant. The numbers certainly are discouraging. To try and tackle the problem, scientists at UC Davis have developed embryos that are part human and part pig, and are implanting them in sows. [1] [2]

Parts of Florida experienced heavy flooding last weekend in the wake of Tropical Storm Colin, and health officials are concerned that residual standing water that has collected in large and small containers could cause an explosion in the mosquito population.

If you plan on visiting Lake Tahoe (a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S.) anytime in the near future, you might want to make sure you’re thoroughly covered up and wearing some sort of natural insect repellent. A flea from a yellow chipmunk in the area tested positive for plague, the U.S. Forest Service announced June 6.

Mosquitoes can be quite the bother this time of year, especially for those of us who like to spend some time outside and in the garden. The good news is, it’s possible to deter the insects in a way that actually improves your garden – by incorporating plants that repel insects. I’ll outline 7 plants that repel mosquitoes naturally below.
Source: DC Mosquito Squad. Click for larger version.

While the government is redesigning nutrition labels, the Center for Biological Diversity is using the momentum to help make the public aware of the potential damage being done to the environment and wildlife by consuming meat products. Surprisingly, the labels don’t just discuss the animal you’re eating, but also many other animals that are harmed in the process of deforestation that factory farming requires to sustain itself.