Weekly Health Quiz: Diabetes, Disability and the Nobel Prize

1 Which of the following treatments has been shown to eliminate the need for insulin in Type 2 diabetics within a month’s time?

• Intermittent fasting (24-hour fasting three times a week or every other day)

  Diabetic patients who did 24-hour fasting three times a week or every other day were able to stop taking insulin within a month. They also lost 10 to 18 percent of their body weight. Learn more.

• Eating a high-carb, low-fat diet
• High-intensity exercise, once a week
• Getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night

2 The DARPA project, “Insect Allies,” uses insects to disperse infectious viruses with which of the following aims?

• As a form of biowarfare
• To genetically modify plants in the field

  The DARPA program, “Insect Allies,” is the first to propose and fund the development of insects to disperse infectious GE viruses engineered to edit the chromosomes in plants. Learn more.

• To control other pests
• To kill weeds

3 When milk production in a CAFO dairy cow starts to decline, the cow is routinely:

• Retired to pasture
• Sold to a petting zoo
• Killed and processed into ground beef

  CAFO dairy cows are routinely sold for meat, typically ground beef, when their milk production wanes. This is a hidden food safety hazard, as waning milk production is often caused by illness, including Salmonella infection. Learn more.

• Killed but not processed for food

4 Which of the following opioid alternatives has no scientific support for its use as a pain reliever and/or withdrawal aid?

• Kratom
• Medicinal cannabis
• Gabapentinoids
• Fentanyl

  Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid associated with a growing number of overdose deaths. It is so potent just a few grains can be deadly. Opioid alternatives backed by science include kratom, cannabis and gabapentinoids, all of which have been shown to have either pain-relieving effects and/or ease opioid withdrawal symptoms. Learn more.

5 The only mammal that can survive on a diet consisting of eucalyptus alone is the:

• Koala

  If you’re wondering how koalas can eat it, they are the only mammal that can survive on a diet consisting of eucalyptus alone. Learn more.

• Panda bear
• Kangaroo
• Antelope

6 Which of the following conditions is the leading cause of disability in nearly all high-income countries?

• Heart disease
• Chronic back pain

  Chronic back pain is now the leading cause of disability in nearly all high-income countries. In the U.S., more than 60 percent of people who see their physician for lower back pain are prescribed an opioid painkiller, but research shows placebo pills can offer significant relief for many patients struggling with long-term chronic back pain. Learn more.

• Diabetes
• Osteoporosis

7 In 2017, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three U.S. biologists for which discovery?

• Cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain
• Mechanisms of autophagy
• Master genes that control your body’s circadian rhythms

  Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three U.S. biologists — Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young — for their discovery of master genes that control your body’s circadian rhythms. Learn more.

• Process of activation of innate immunity