5 Things You Need to Know Today: May 31

 1. FDA Sour on Corn Sugar: The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday denied a Corn Refiners Association (CRA) petition to rename high-fructose corn syrup “corn sugar,” saying the action would only serve to confuse U.S. consumers and could even pose a health risk to those suffering from fructose intolerance. The FDA ruling, issued in a letter to Corn Refiners Association President Audrae Erickson following 20 months of review, rejected all three arguments made in the CRA’s petition, which was filed on September 14, 2010. The CRA had asked the FDA to implement a name change after launching a multi-million dollar advertising and marketing campaign that argued that sugar and HFCS were identical.

2. Cooties, for Real: This New York Times report is kind of scary, about a stubborn illness called Chagas disease caused by a "kissing bug," aka Triatominae parasites. It's being called “the new, AIDS of the Americas” in a lengthy editorial published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. (The insect's best-known relative is the tsetse fly, which causes sleeping sickness.) Chagas disease has a long incubation period, like AIDS, and can be transmitted from mother to child or by blood transfusion. About a quarter of its victims eventually will develop enlarged hearts or intestines, which can fail or burst, causing sudden death. Treatment involves harsh drugs taken for up to three months and works only if the disease is caught early. Where's my mosquito net?

3. Hormone Replacement Therapy Risks: This one goes out to women of a certain age: If you're considering HRT, make sure you've done your homework. New research reinforces the idea that while HRT may help stave off osteoporosis, there are still risks of chronic diseases, including stroke and cancer. So do your homework, 'kay?

4. On This Day in History: The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, "The Karnival Kid", is released May 31, 1929.

5. Born Today: You share your birthday with  Genghis Khan, (1162); Walt Whitman, (1819); and Clint Eastwood, (1930).