Doctors in China are reporting a startling and unexplained spike in fetuses with situs inversus, a rare congenital condition in which the organs in the chest and abdomen are arranged in a mirror image of their normal positions.

In the first seven months of 2023, the rate of fetuses identified with the condition quadrupled compared with historic rates, according to a brief report appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine Thursday.

For the report, doctors from two big obstetric centers in the cities of Shanghai and Changsha combined their centers' clinical records from January 2014 through July 2023. The doctors found that from 2014 to 2022, the yearly total of situs inversus cases was typically about five to six per 10,000 pregnant people undergoing ultrasounds. But, in 2023, the rate jumped to nearly 24 cases per 10,000 ultrasound screenings.

Looking at the 2023 cases by month, the researchers noted that the surge in situs inversus began in April and continued to June before returning to background rates in July. In all, there were 56 cases of situs inversus between January and July of 2023 among 23,746 pregnant people undergoing ultrasounds.

Microplastics have been detected in human endometrium samples for the first time.
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The characteristics of microplastics were identified qualitatively and quantitatively through laser direct infrared.
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Drinking habits might be correlated with a higher level of microplastic exposure in human body.
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Chewing gum is potentially associated with microplastic exposure.

Nichols declined to repeat the birds' bawdy language on the radio, but said one of their favourite phrases "begins with F and ends in F."