October, 2024

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Walking pneumonia is spiking, especially in kids. Here's what to know

NPR Health

If you or your kid has a cough that's been lingering, it could be a case of mycoplasma pneumonia. Cases are rising across the U.S. The good news — it's usually mild and easily treated. Here's how.

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Vote for Climate Champions: “It’s our parental duty”

Climate for Health

October is Children’s Health Month and as the Southeast picks up the pieces after hurricanes Helene and Milton, I, like many other parents, look at my own kids with increasing concern about the ailing world they will inherit.

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Stricter toxic chemical rules reduce Californians’ exposures

Environmental Health News

Californians have lower levels of toxic chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm in their bodies than people in the rest of the country, according to a new study. California has the strictest chemical regulations of any state, and its policies are more stringent than federal chemical laws. This study is the first one assessing whether those regulations have resulted in lower levels of toxic exposures.

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Long-term air pollution exposure increases asthma risk in children and adults

News Medical Health Sciences

Researchers review existing evidence on the effects of long-term exposure to air pollution in the form of fine particulate matter on the risk of developing asthma.

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Doctors struggle to treat long Covid patients in India; researchers point to inadequate studies

The Hindu

Global efforts to understand and manage long Covid post-pandemic, with varied symptoms and limited treatment guidelines worldwide.

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Exclusive: Emails Reveal How Health Departments Struggle To Track Human Cases of Bird Flu

KFF Health News

Bird flu cases have more than doubled in the country within a few weeks, but researchers can’t determine why the spike is happening because surveillance for human infections has been patchy for seven months. Just this week, California reported its 15th infection in dairy workers and Washington state reported seven probable cases in poultry workers.

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APHA Empowers the Public Health Field to Face the Climate Crisis at the 2024 Annual Meeting

Climate for Health

Climate change is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. We’ve seen record-breaking heat, devastating wildfires, storms and prolonged droughts impacting our health and mental well-being.

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Coal-based steelmaking in Pennsylvania causes up to 92 premature deaths and $1.4 billion in health costs every year: Report

Environmental Health News

PITTSBURGH — Pollution from Pennsylvania’s three remaining coal-based steelmaking plants cause an estimated 50 to 92 premature deaths each year, according to a new report. The report , published by Industrious Labs, an environmental advocacy organization focused on decarbonizing heavy industry, looked at pollution and health data to estimate the total, facility-level, and state-level costs of the 17 coal-based steelmaking plants that are still in operation across the U.S., located in Indiana, Oh

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Masks and smart seating cut COVID-19 risks on flights, review finds

News Medical Health Sciences

Air travel review reveals sporadic SARS-CoV-2 transmission, with mask use and seating proximity key to infection risk.

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Why did the govt. sanction a 50% hike in prices of commonly used drugs?

The Hindu

According to the government the recent 50% hike in prices of commonly used drugs was sanctioned keeping in mind the larger public interest and to ensure continued availability of drugs

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Tuberculosis infections highest on record: WHO

The Hill

Global tuberculosis cases reached an all-time high in 2023, with nearly 11 million people estimated to have become sick with the disease last year. According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2024 , roughly 10.8 million people "fell ill" with the bacterial infection in 2023. "The continued rise reflects the ongoing after-effects of disruptions to TB services during the worst years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and 2021).

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Remembering Dr. Richard Cash: How a 'simple' intervention helped save millions of lives

NPR Health

In the late 1960s, he went to Dhaka to work on cholera. There he became involved in the development of oral rehydration therapy — hailed as one of the most significant medical advances of the century.

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Paws of polar bears sustaining ice-related injuries in a warming Arctic

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet. The changes appear to be an unexpected consequence of climate change, related to changing conditions in a warming Arctic.

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Bayer’s new Roundup products more toxic than prior formulations, report asserts

Environmental Health News

This story was originally published in The New Lede , a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group, and is republished here with permission. New types of Roundup weed killing products marketed to U.S. consumers contain chemicals that pose greater health risks to people than prior formulations suspected of causing cancer, according to an analysis by an environmental health advocacy group.

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Healthcare organizations continue commitment to protect patients and healthcare workers with an update to masking guidelines

Public Health Insider

Healthcare systems in the Puget Sound region have updated their joint guidelines for masking in hospitals and outpatient clinics during respiratory illness season. This means local healthcare facilities may require patients, visitors and employees to wear masks when respiratory illnesses such as flu and COVID-19 are circulating widely in the community.

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Study offers clues to why COVID-19 vaccine protection wanes quickly

The Hindu

While most vaccines generate memory B-cells, not all of them turn into long-lasting plasma cells, and herein lies the rub

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Ozempic reduces knee osteoarthritis pain by almost half: Study

The Hill

The results of a clinical trial published this week found that the active ingredient in the diabetes and weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy was linked with a near halving of reported pain among patients with knee osteoarthritis and obesity. The study funded by Novo Nordisk , the manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy, involved 407 participants taking either the active ingredient semaglutide or a placebo for 68 weeks.

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New research finds trans teens have high satisfaction with gender care

NPR Health

The survey published in JAMA Pediatrics showed that trans teens taking puberty blockers or hormones had very low rates of regret.

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Global carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires increase by 60 percent

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

A major new study reveals that carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have surged by 60 percent globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-sensitive northern boreal forests.

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La contaminación es una de las principales amenazas de la biodiversidad. ¿Por qué nadie habla de ella en la COP16?

Environmental Health News

CALI, COLOMBIA– Más de 23.000 líderes, activistas ambientales e investigadores se reunirán esta y la próxima semana en Cali, Colombia, para la COP16 de las Naciones Unidas sobre biodiversidad, un evento trascendental para el futuro de los animales, plantas, hongos y microorganismos del mundo. En la reunión, 196 países transformarán las metas del Marco Kunming-Montreal de 2022 , firmado durante la última cumbre de biodiversidad, en acciones concretas para detener a los principales motores de la p

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Study reveals increased mental health issues among university students during COVID-19

News Medical Health Sciences

PhD in Public Health candidate Elaine Russell and her mentor Kenneth Griffin, professor in the department of Global and Community Health, in George Mason University's College of Public Health, worked with Tolulope Abidogun, also a PhD in Public Health student, and former Global and Community Health professor Lisa Lindley, now of Lehigh University, to analyze data from the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA III) in an effort to understand how univers

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Manufacturing licence of ‘Insulin’ homeopathic tablets cancelled

The Hindu

RTI activist K.V. Babu had filed a complaint with the Prime Minister’s public grievance cell over violation of Section 106 A(C) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.

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CDC recommends lower age for people to get vaccine against pneumonia

The Hill

All adults aged 50 and older should receive a vaccine against bacteria that can cause pneumonia and meningitis, federal health officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday adopted a recommendation from its scientific advisory panel to lower the age for pneumococcal vaccination from 65 to 50 years old. Advocacy groups, including the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs and the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, said the new

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She says her husband tried to kill her. Enter the 'Pink Wheels' squad

NPR Health

How do you encourage women to report domestic violence? In one Pakistani city, there's a new strategy: sending in female cops on pink scooters.

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Catastrophically warm predictions are more plausible than we thought

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

Researchers developed a rating system to evaluate the plausibility of climate model simulations in the IPCC's latest report, and show that models that lead to potentially catastrophic warming are to be taken seriously.

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LISTEN: Laura Diaz on how social and environmental stress impact children’s health

Environmental Health News

Laura Diaz joins the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcast to discuss the intersection of social and environmental stressors on children’s health. Diaz, a current fellow and a Ph.D. student in Environmental Health Sciences at UC Berkeley, also talks about how her own childhood shaped her understanding of environmental injustice, and how being a mother has shaped her research – and her life.

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For People With Opioid Addiction, Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Raises the Stakes

KFF Health News

CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — It was hard enough for Stephanie to get methadone treatment when she moved to Florida from Indiana last year. The nearest clinic was almost an hour’s drive away and she couldn’t drive herself. But at least she didn’t have to worry about the cost of care. As a parent with young children who was unable to find a job after moving, Stephanie qualified for Medicaid despite Florida’s tight eligibility rules.

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Regulator finds 49 drug samples not of standard quality

The Hindu

India's drugs regulator recalls 49 medicines due to quality issues; action taken against makers of four spurious drugs.

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Restricting sugar in children helps prevent diabetes later in life: Study

The Hill

Children whose parents keep them off sugar during their first two years of life have lower rates of diabetes and high blood pressure for the rest of their lives, a new study has found. That protection remains even if the children begin eating more sugar after age 2, according to findings published on Thursday in Science. Processed sugar begins to be harmful to children while they are still fetuses in utero, the scientists found.

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Minnesota is a refuge for trans health care. Here's how doctors are meeting the need

NPR Health

As more states ban gender care for youth, doctors and clinics in Minnesota are building up capacity to help the influx of trans patients who are traveling or moving to the state for care.

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Researchers flip genes on and off with AI-designed DNA switches

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

Researchers have used artificial intelligence to design thousands of new DNA switches that can precisely control the expression of a gene in different cell types. Their new approach opens the possibility of controlling when and where genes are expressed in the body, for the benefit of human health and medical research, in ways never before possible.

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Pollution is one of the top drivers of biodiversity loss. Why is no one talking about it at COP16?

Environmental Health News

CALI, COLOMBIA– More than 23,000 world leaders, environmental activists and researchers are meeting this week and next in Cali, Colombia, for the COP16 United Nations (UN) biodiversity summit, a consequential event for the future of the world’s declining animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms. At the meeting, 196 countries will transform the goals of the 2022 Kunming-Montreal agreement , signed during the last biodiversity summit, into concrete actions to stop the main drivers of biodiversity

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New insights on the association between genes, gut microbiota, and mental health

News Medical Health Sciences

The study identifies links between gut microbiota, genetic variants in IBD, and mental health disorders, offering insights into potential biomarkers for CMDs.

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Centre eyes ‘presumed consent’ for cornea retrieval in hospital deaths

The Hindu

THOTA may be amended to facilitate retrieval of cornea from all Indians who die in hospitals, without family consent.

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