Tuesday, April 8

HEALTH & WELLNESS

The Trump administration has made the U.S. less ready for infectious disease outbreaks like coronavirus
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

The Trump administration has made the U.S. less ready for infectious disease outbreaks like coronavirus

As coronavirus continues to spread, the Trump administration has declared a public health emergency and imposed quarantines and travel restrictions. However, over the past three years the administration has weakened the offices in charge of preparing for and preventing this kind of outbreak. Two years ago, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates warned that the world should be “preparing for a pandemic in the same serious way it prepares for war”. Gates, whose foundation has invested heavily in global health, suggested staging simulations, war games and preparedness exercises to simulate how diseases could spread and to identify the best response. Colorized scanning electron micrograph of filamentous Ebola virus particles (blue) budding from an infected cell (yellow-green). NIAID,...
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E-cig flavors may be more than alluring; they could cause damage themselves
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

E-cig flavors may be more than alluring; they could cause damage themselves

Millions of Americans are vaping, and some are getting sick. Since June 2019, 2,711 have been hospitalized and 60 have died due to EVALI (e-cigarette-associated lung injury), the devastating lung disease linked to e-cigarettes. Five million users are middle and high school students. Some are as young as 11, although it’s illegal to sell vaping products to anyone under 21. A vape shop in New York City shows a line of flavorings on Jan. 2, 2020. Mary Altaffer/AP Photo, CC BY-SA Especially for kids, much of the lure is flavor. E-cigarettes offer attractive smells and tastes. Fruit, mint, candy and dessert flavors are the favorites, and studies suggest they ignite the desire to vape. That’s why the Trump administration just banned the sale of those sweet flavors from cartridge-based e-cigs, t...
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Lawyers are trying to scare you with Facebook ads
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Lawyers are trying to scare you with Facebook ads

Some ads can be more than misleading – they can put your health at risk. Last year, ads paid for by law firms and legal referral companies started cropping up on Facebook. Typically, they linked Truvada and other HIV-prevention drugs with severe bone and kidney damage. But like a lawsuit, these assertions do not always reflect the consensus of the medical community. They also do not take into account the benefit of the drug or how often the side effects occur. On Dec. 30, Facebook said it disabled some of the ads after more than 50 LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS groups signed an open letter to Facebook condemning them for “scaring away at-risk HIV negative people from the leading drug that blocks HIV infections.” Based on our research involving televised drug injury ads, advocacy groups are right ...
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Why teen depression rates are rising faster for girls than boys
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Why teen depression rates are rising faster for girls than boys

We’re in the middle of a teen mental health crisis – and girls are at its epicenter. Since 2010, depression, self-harm and suicide rates have increased among teen boys. But rates of major depression among teen girls in the U.S. increased even more – from 12% in 2011 to 20% in 2017. In 2015, three times as many 10- to 14-year-old girls were admitted to the emergency room after deliberately harming themselves than in 2010. Meanwhile, the suicide rate for adolescent girls has doubled since 2007. Rates of depression started to tick up just as smartphones became popular, so digital media could be playing a role. The generation of teens born after 1995 – known as iGen or Gen Z – were the first to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. They’re also the first group of teens...
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Joaquin Phoenix’s lips mocked – here’s what everyone should know about cleft lip
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Joaquin Phoenix’s lips mocked – here’s what everyone should know about cleft lip

After discussing actor Joaquin Phoenix’s appearance on her talk show earlier this month, Wendy Williams received near universal condemnation for mocking those affected with cleft lip – a common birth defect in which the upper lip does not form completely while still an embryo. To her credit, Williams was quick to apologize. Note that it is also unclear whether Phoenix has a cleft lip or simply a scar. Unfortunately, however, the incident was another reminder of how individuals with facial differences (and their families) often feel stigmatized and can face discrimination and social isolation. We have each devoted major portions of our professional lives to understanding what causes clefts and to the treatment and advocacy of those affected. We are geneticists and a pediatric craniomaxillo...
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Are ‘vaping’ and ‘e-cigarettes’ the same, and should all these products be avoided?
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Are ‘vaping’ and ‘e-cigarettes’ the same, and should all these products be avoided?

As concerns over vaping continue to grow, researchers and public health officials are investigating the causes of more than 40 deaths and 2,000 illnesses. It’s confusing even for experts. The term “e-cigarette” refers to a battery-powered device used to inhale an aerosol that typically, but not always, contains nicotine, along with flavorings and other chemicals, but not tobacco. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognize e-cigarettes as a broad category that includes a variety of different products that operate similarly and contain similar components. So, “e-cigarettes,” “vapes,” “vape pens,” “Juul,” etc., all refer to the same class of products, with “e-cigarette” being the product itself, and “vaping” referring to use of t...
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How to help someone with depression
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

How to help someone with depression

16.2 million adults have at least one major depressive episode in a given year. Healthline.com in June 2018 reported that persistent depressive disorder often results in deep sadness, hopelessness, low energy and indecision, and it occurs in approximately 1.5 percent of adults annually. And while more women than men suffer from at least mild depression, healthline.com estimates 16.2 million adults have at least one major depressive episode in a given year. Other forms of depression, such as seasonal and postpartum, are prevalent as well, but many people suffer from low moods particularly during the holidays, from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. Often, family members, co-workers and friends have no idea how to help someone in a depressive state. For these people, Dr. K. Luan Phan, cha...
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Apps for those seeking help with addiction
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, TECHNOLOGY

Apps for those seeking help with addiction

The challenge called on companies, scientists, health care institutions and citizens to come up with unique ways to address the modern opioid epidemic. One idea selected was for an app developed by DynamiCare Health in Boston. On average, more than 130 people in the United States are dying daily due to opioids, according to the CDC and the state of Ohio, which embarked on the Opioid Technology Challenge two years ago. The challenge called on companies, scientists, health care institutions and citizens to come up with unique ways to address the modern opioid epidemic. One idea selected was for an app developed by DynamiCare Health in Boston. Eric Gastfriend, DynamiCare Health’s co-founder and CEO, said the app ”... includes a personal recovery coach, substance testing and incentive fund...
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, TECHNOLOGY

As Abortion Access Dwindles, This App Offers Safe, Discreet Options

Obtaining medically accurate information about abortion can be difficult yet dire for pregnant people desperate for answers. Each year, 25 million unsafe abortions are performed around the world. The rate of unsafe abortions is higher where access to skilled providers and effective contraception is limited or unavailable, or where sexual education is lacking. Accessing medically accurate information about abortion can be a sensitive pursuit for people desperate for answers; it’s particularly dire if they’re pregnant without wanting to be. Decisions based on misinformation can lead to disability—and even death. Earlier this year, Hesperian, a Berkeley, California-based nonprofit that develops and publishes health information on a range of global issues, created the Safe Abortion ap...
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Strategies for handling back-to-school stress
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Strategies for handling back-to-school stress

With the start of a new academic year come increased appointments, chaotic schedules and new environments. Millions of high schoolers and college students are already back in classrooms. With the start of a new academic year come increased appointments, chaotic schedules and new environments. Helpful strategies minimize stress and frustration build-up. Real Simple’s tips include: ‒ Get enough sleep. High schoolers need a solid eight to 10 hours, according to the National Sleep Foundation. ‒ Plan ahead. A whiteboard in a prominent place, featuring a week’s worth of appointments, practices, classes, tutoring, etc., is a visual reminder. A study of 197 college freshmen published in 2017 by the National Institutes of Health determined that ”... increased stress level was significantly assoc...
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