Thursday, April 3

HEALTH & WELLNESS

A Dentist Explains Why And How Best To Protect Your Teeth
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

A Dentist Explains Why And How Best To Protect Your Teeth

Healthy teeth are wondrous and priceless – a dentist explains why and how best to protect them. At an auction in England in 2011, one of John Lennon’s teeth sold for just over US$31,000. How much are your teeth worth? Teeth are amazing little miracles. They light up our smiles, we use them to speak and we chew with them more than 600 times at every meal. Yet, in a society where 1 out of 5 Americans ages 75 and up live without their teeth, many people may not realize that teeth are designed to stay with us for a lifetime. I’m a dentist and an assistant professor spanning clinical dentistry and craniofacial regeneration research. Researchers like me are still deepening our understanding of tooth development, with the ultimate goal of serving patients with on-demand regrown ones. In...
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A Boom In Potent Forms Of Cannabis That Present New Hazards For Adolescents
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

A Boom In Potent Forms Of Cannabis That Present New Hazards For Adolescents

Cannabis legalization has led to a boom in potent forms of the drug that present new hazards for adolescents. Eventually, most adults reach a point where we realize we are out of touch with those much younger than us. Perhaps it is a pop culture reference that sparks the realization. For me, this moment happened when I was in my late 20s and working with adolescents in school settings to help them quit smoking. When other drugs would occasionally come up, I didn’t understand some of the slang terms they used for these drugs. Many people may have that feeling now when the topic of cannabis comes up – especially in its different and newer forms. As a professor of psychology, I focus my research on substance use in adolescents and young adults. A major change during my time in research...
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COVID-19 Took A Toll On People With Diabetes That Continues Today
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

COVID-19 Took A Toll On People With Diabetes That Continues Today

The disproportionate toll that COVID-19 took on people with diabetes continues today. At the start of the pandemic, many people living with diabetes were wondering what COVID-19 meant for them. Diabetes was already known to put people at higher risks from other infectious diseases, including flu. Would it be the same with COVID-19? At the time, all scientists could do was make educated guesses. In 2024, things look very different. A great deal more research is available, as well as effective vaccines, and life has in many ways returned to something like normal. COVID-19 hasn’t disappeared, however, and for the more than 400 million people living with diabetes worldwide, very real risks and impacts from the pandemic remain. I specialize in drawing on and combining existing evidenc...
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Today Nicotine Marketing Targets Adolescents Just As It Did Decades Ago
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

Today Nicotine Marketing Targets Adolescents Just As It Did Decades Ago

Millions of current smokers became addicted when they were teens – and nicotine marketing targets adolescents today just as it did decades ago. About 37 million children ages 13 to 15 around the world use tobacco, according to a 2024 report from the World Health Organization. In 2023, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product in the U.S., with 7.7% of middle school and high school students reporting e-cigarette use. Cigarettes were the next most common, with 1.6% of middle- and high school students saying they had consumed them in the past month. Research shows that most people who use tobacco start in childhood. I am a public health researcher who studies the different ways in which corporations influence adolescent health, with current projects focused on identifyi...
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An Aging Population And Deadly Heat Waves
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, TOP FOUR

An Aging Population And Deadly Heat Waves

Heat waves can be deadly for older adults: An aging global population and rising temperatures mean millions are at risk. A deadly heat wave gripped large regions of Asia for weeks in April and May 2024. As temperatures climbed past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) in India on May 7, campaigning politicians, local news announcers and voters waiting in long lines passed out from the oppressive heat. From as far north as Japan to as far south as the Philippines, the relentless heat wreaked havoc on everyday life. Students and teachers in Cambodia were sent home from school, as their hand-held fans provided little protection against the stifling heat and humidity in their poorly ventilated classrooms. Farmers in Thailand saw their crops wither and mourned the loss of livestock that ...
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Stress, How Much Is Too Much?
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism, VIDEO REELS

Stress, How Much Is Too Much?

How much stress is too much? A psychiatrist explains the links between toxic stress and poor health − and how to get help. COVID-19 taught most people that the line between tolerable and toxic stress – defined as persistent demands that lead to disease – varies widely. But some people will age faster and die younger from toxic stressors than others. So how much stress is too much, and what can you do about it? I’m a psychiatrist specializing in psychosomatic medicine, which is the study and treatment of people who have physical and mental illnesses. My research is focused on people who have psychological conditions and medical illnesses as well as those whose stress exacerbates their health issues. I’ve spent my career studying mind-body questions and training physicians to treat...
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For Many Doctors, Aromatherapy Still Doesn’t Pass The Smell Test — But Millions Of Americans Believe It Works
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

For Many Doctors, Aromatherapy Still Doesn’t Pass The Smell Test — But Millions Of Americans Believe It Works

Millions of Americans believe aromatherapy works – but for many doctors, it still doesn’t pass the smell test. The history of using essential oils and their aromas to improve health and well-being dates back thousands of years. Like today, patients would inhale or topically apply these oils, which were typically extracted from plants – from leaves to flowers to roots to bark. But not until the 1930s was this form of therapy considered to have true potential in mainstream health care. That was when Rene Maurice Gattefossé, a French chemist who coined the word aromatherapy, wrote extensively about the properties of essential oils. Today, depending on whom you talk to, aromatherapy comprises anything from pleasant odors associated with personal hygiene and cleaning products to a serious t...
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Emerging Across The US — Nitazenes, A Powerful Class Of Street Drugs
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, IMPACT, TOP FOUR

Emerging Across The US — Nitazenes, A Powerful Class Of Street Drugs

Nitazenes are a powerful class of street drugs emerging across the US. Two deaths in Boulder County, Colorado, in 2023 are the latest in the U.S. to be blamed on the powerful class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes. Most health systems cannot detect nitazenes, so the exact number of overdoses is unknown, but they’re implicated in more than 200 deaths in Europe and North America since 2019, including . One of the two Boulder County deaths is linked to a new formulation called N-Desethyl etonitazene, which was identified by a national laboratory, and is thought to be the first related death. The Conversation interviewed Dr. Christopher Holstege, professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and director of the Blue Ridge Poison Center, wh...
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The Impact Of Lack Of Access To Health Care For Gay Black Men And HIV
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

The Impact Of Lack Of Access To Health Care For Gay Black Men And HIV

Lack of access to health care is partly to blame for skyrocketing HIV rates among gay Black men. Over the past 20 years, people living with HIV in the United States have seen a drastic improvement in their overall quality of life. But the medical achievements that have made those lives better and created longer life expectancies have not benefited all communities. In fact, some communities still have higher rates of new cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This is especially true for Black gay and bisexual men. Black queer men are six times more likely to die as a result of HIV-related complications when compared with queer men of different races. In addition, in the most recent available data, Black queer men made up 26% of all new cases of HIV in 2019 despite making up less than 3...
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What Food Choices Will Help You Get More Restful Sleep
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, SELF, TOP FOUR, VIDEO REELS

What Food Choices Will Help You Get More Restful Sleep

What’s the best diet for healthy sleep? A nutritional epidemiologist explains what food choices will help you get more restful z’s. You probably already know that how you eat before bed affects your sleep. Maybe you’ve found yourself still lying awake at 2 a.m. after enjoying a cup of coffee with dessert. But did you know that your eating choices throughout the day may also affect your sleep at night? In fact, more and more evidence shows that overall dietary patterns can affect sleep quality and contribute to insomnia. I am a nutritional epidemiologist, and I’m trained to look at diets at the population level and how they affect health. In the U.S., a large percentage of the population suffers from poor sleep quality and sleep disorders like insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea, a conditi...
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