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Showing posts from February, 2024

From COVID-19 to Measles, Florida’s War on Public Health

T he culture of public Health and medicine rests on open discussions in which different points of view are considered for the betterment of patient care and Health . This process depends on psychological safety so individuals feel free and safe to speak and openly disagree. These factors collectively create a just culture, which improves systems and organizations and is being widely implemented in Health care nationwide. However, in the face of politicized anti-science and anti-expert sentiment and attacks, we need to ask if just culture is being restricted in public health. Following a series of legislative policy changes in Florida affecting academic institutions, health care, and public health, we see a regression in the open dialog of medical and public health experts about infectious disease control practices related to COVID-19 and now measles. On January 3, 2024, in marked opposition to the CDC, FDA, and medical and public Health experts, State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Lada...

AI Is Turning Social Media Into the Next Frontier for Suicide Prevention

“We stumbled upon your post…and it looks like you are going through some challenging times,” the message begins. “We are here to share with you materials and resources that might bring you some comfort.” Links to suicide help lines, a 24/7 chat service, and stories of people who overcame mental- Health crises follow. “Sending you a virtual hug,” the message concludes. This note, sent as a private message on Reddit by the artificial-intelligence (AI) company Samurai Labs, represents what some researchers say is a promising tool to fight the suicide epidemic in the U.S., which claims almost 50,000 lives a year. Companies like Samurai are using AI to analyze social media posts for signs of suicidal intent, then intervene through strategies like the direct message. There is a certain irony to harnessing social media for suicide prevention, since it’s often blamed for the mental-health and suicide crisis in the U.S., particularly among children and teenagers. But some researchers believe t...

Kelly Osbourne Says Ozempic ‘Trend’ Is ‘Amazing’ Amid Mom Sharon’s Struggles With Weight Loss Drug

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Kelly Osbourne is pro-Ozempic! The TV personality gave the type 2 diabetes drug her stamp of approval in a recent interview, calling the “trend” of using it for weight loss “amazing.” “There are a million ways to lose weight, why not do it through something that isn’t as boring as working out?” Kelly, 39, told E! News at Dolly Parton ‘s Pet Gala red car Pet on January 30. The “One Word” singer also hit back at those who criticize other people, especially celebrities, for using Ozempic as a weight loss drug even though it’s for patients with type 2 diabetes. “People hate on it because they want to do it,” she added. “And the people who hate on it the most are the people who are secretly doing it or pissed off that they can’t afford it. Unfortunately, right now it’s something that is very expensive but it eventually won’t be because it actually works.” Kelly Osbourne Made 'Big Changes...

Your Life Is Better Than You Think

T he undeniable popularity of self-help books, wellness podcasts, and happiness workshops reflects the constant human desire to make life better. But could it be that many of our lives are already better than we recognize? While we may have a loving family, a good place to live, and a decent job, we often fail to notice those things. It’s not because we are ungrateful or stupid. It’s because of a basic feature of our brain, known as habituation. Habituation is the tendency of neurons to fire less and less in response to things that are constant. You enter a room filled with roses and after a short while, you cannot detect their scent any longer. And just as you get used to the smell of fresh flowers, you also get used to a loving relationship, to a promotion, to a nice home, to a dazzling work of art. Like the front page of a daily newspaper, your brain cares about what recently changed, not about what remained the same. And so, what once took your breath away becomes part of life’s fu...

Teens use HIV prevention meds way more if they get these simple interventions

Teens and young adults often don't use HIV- prevention medications known as PrEP , even when they could benefit from these drugs. But a few simple strategies, including tele Health coaching appointments and automated text messages, can dramatically boost usage in this group, a new study finds. The nearly 900 young people in the trial were split into four groups, with one group getting only text messages, two receiving texts and one additional intervention each, and a final group getting a trio of interventions. This last group — who received text messages, coaching and access to an online support group of peers — doubled their use of PrEP, from 10% to 20%. If mirrored nationally, this rate would bring young people's PrEP coverage more in line with that of U.S. adults indicated for the medications. The three interventions all provided information about PrEP and connected participants with services to help pay for the medications. But beyond that, they aimed to help t...

This Is the Best Time to Get a Flu Shot

G etting the flu shot any time during respiratory virus season is better than not getting it at all. But vaccine protection wanes, so timing the shot properly can help antibodies peak when cases are highest. Researchers wanted to figure out the optimal time for getting a flu shot, and took advantage of the fact that children tend to get vaccinated in the month they were born. In a study published in BMJ , they analyzed Health insurance data from more than 800,000 children, ages 2-5, who got a flu shot from 2011 to 2018. The data showed that kids vaccinated in October had the strongest protection—they were about 12% less likely to get the flu compared to kids vaccinated in August. “It makes sense that October is the ideal time to get vaccinated,” says the study's senior author Dr. Anupam Jena, professor of Health care policy at Harvard Medical School and professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Get vaccinated in August or September, and immunity might wane too soon...

What Does Kelly Ripa Eat In a Day? Her Nutritionist Breaks Down Strict but Healthy Meals

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Kelly Ripa has been known to be extremely strict and regimented when it comes to what she eats in a day, and now her nutritionist has confirmed exactly what she consumes to stay Health y and fit. However, many people might be feeling hungry after finding out how limiting her food intake is. What Does Kelly Ripa Eat for Breakfast? The Live cohost’s longtime nutritionist Dr. Daryl Gioffre told E! News in a February 18, 2024, interview that Kelly starts her day with a glass of water including a scoop of his brand of Acid-Kicking Green powder, consisting of dehydrated greens. Before going on the air, Kelly will have her morning coffee, blending it with grass-fed butter and his Acid-Kicking Coffee Alkalizer. She doesn’t eat any chewable food until the show wraps, and then Kelly will have a snack where she mixes a green apple, several tablespoons of almond butter and a teaspoon of cinnamon into a porridge-like texture. What Does Kelly Ripa Eat for Lunch...

How to Get 4.5 Million Americans to Quit Smoking

Y ou wouldn’t think it would be easy to get nearly 4.5 million Americans—the equivalent of the entire state of Louisiana or Kentucky—to give up smoking. But it can be done in a single, straightforward step: prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes. That’s the conclusion of a new study in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research . The study is one more piece of evidence in favor of a nationwide menthol ban, the authors say. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed just such a ban in 2022, but in Dec. 2023, the Biden Administration postponed implementation following intense lobbying by tobacco company lobbyists and convenience store owners, who complained that the action could cost untold jobs and billions of dollars in sales. “The FDA has done its work,” says Sarah Mills, the paper’s lead author and an assistant professor in the department of Health behavior at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Public Health . “The White House has decided to put off...

AI Writes Scientific Papers That Sound Great—but Aren’t Accurate

F irst came the students, who wanted help with their homework and essays. Now, ChatGPT is luring scientists, who are under pressure to publish papers in reputable scientific journals. AI is already disrupting the archaic world of scientific publishing. When Melissa Kacena, vice chair of orthopaedic surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine, reviews articles submitted for publication in journals, she now knows to look out for ones that might have been written by the AI program. “I have a rule of thumb now that if I pull up 10 random references cited in the paper, and if more than one isn’t accurate, then I reject the paper,” she says. But despite the pitfalls, there is also promise. Writing review articles, for example, is a task well suited to AI: it involves sifting through the existing research on a subject, analyzing the results, reaching a conclusion about the state of the Science on the topic, and providing some new insight. ChatGPT can do all of those things well. Kacena ...

How Long Should You Isolate With COVID-19? Experts Are Split

S ince 2021, people with COVID-19 have been told to isolate themselves for at least five days to avoid spreading the disease. But that practice may soon join most mask mandates as relics of the peak pandemic era. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is said to be weighing a new, symptom-based approach to isolation for the general public, the Washington Post reported on Feb. 13. Under that potential approach, which may be rolled out for public feedback this spring, people could leave home when their symptoms are mild and improving and they’ve been fever-free for at least 24 hours without medication, according to the Post . That possible shift, which echoes similar moves in California and Oregon, would bring the CDC’s recommendations for COVID-19 in closer step with its guidance on the flu. When people are sick with the flu, the CDC recommends they stay home until at least 24 hours after their fever has broken naturally, or until other symptoms clear—which the agenc...