Vox: “Despite the extremely well-established science linking sun exposure to skin cancer, bad sun safety advice on social media simply will not stop — and a lot of people are buying it. In several recent surveys, between one and three out of every 10 adults believed a range of falsehoods about sunscreen and sun exposure;… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Health Care
US Postpartum Mortality Rate 395 Percent Higher Than Other Wealthy Countries
TruthOut: “A new report from The Commonwealth Fund shows that, despite better outcomes since the pandemic, the United States “continues to have the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income nation” in the world. Around four out of five of these deaths “are likely preventable,” the report states, suggesting that the U.S. could save… Continue Reading
Long-Term Health Effects of COVID-19
National Academies: Disability and Function Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection (2024) – “Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in early 2020, many individuals infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have continued to experience lingering symptoms for months or even years following infection. Some symptoms can… Continue Reading
All the place where you can now find microplastics
Washington Post [unpaywalled]: “Microplastics have popped up in rivers, oceans, soil, food, tea and even Antarctic snow — and now these tiny plastic particles are showing up in clouds. A group of researchers from Waseda University in Tokyo recently found microplastics in the clouds above Mount Fuji. In a paper published in Environmental Chemistry Letters,… Continue Reading
It’s Official: Long COVID Is a Chronic Disease
HealthCentral: “A new report from the Social Security Administration and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine confirms that COVID can cause long-term illness and, for some, permanent disability. We spoke to one of the report’s leading scientists. HealthCentral first asked the question, “What If COVID Is Chronic?“ in early 2021. As the initial… Continue Reading
New discovery about carbon dioxide is challenging decades-old ventilation doctrine
StatNews: “Carbon dioxide monitors have been around for decades. But in 2020, they became, almost overnight, a hot commodity. All of a sudden, people wanted them to help assess the safety of indoor spaces — to gauge the likelihood of breathing in coronavirus-laced particles that until very recently had been in someone else’s lungs. No… Continue Reading
Meth-addict fish, aggro starlings, caffeinated minnows: animals radically changed by human drugs
The Guardian: “From brown trout becoming “addicted” to methamphetamine to European perch losing their fear of predators due to depression medication, scientists warn that modern pharmaceutical and illegal drug pollution is becoming a growing threat to wildlife. Drug exposure is causing significant, unexpected changes to some animals’ behaviour and anatomy. Female starlings dosed with antidepressants… Continue Reading
How climate change is making us sick
Grist: “These climate-driven impacts are taking a serious toll on human health. Cases of disease linked to mosquitos, ticks, and fleas tripled in the U.S. between 2004 and 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The threat extends beyond commonly recognized vector-borne diseases. Research shows more than half of all the pathogens… Continue Reading
Nationwide Heat and Health Tool to Protect Communities Most Impacted by Extreme Heat
“Today, on National Heat Awareness Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a new tool to help communities prepare for extreme heat and prevent heat-related illness, especially among those most at risk. The Heat and Health Index (HHI) is the first nationwide tool to provide heat-health outcome information at the… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 31, 2024
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 31, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on… Continue Reading
Misinformation works and a handful of social ‘supersharers’ sent 80% of it in 2020
TechCrunch: “A pair of studies published Thursday in the journal Science offers evidence not only that misinformation on social media changes minds, but that a small group of committed “supersharers,” predominately older Republican women, were responsible for the vast majority of the “fake news” in the period looked at. The studies, by researchers at MIT,… Continue Reading
Lawyers to Plastics Makers: Prepare for ‘Astronomical’ PFAS Lawsuits
The New York Times [no paywall]: “At an industry presentation about dangerous “forever chemicals,” lawyers predicted a wave of lawsuits that could dwarf asbestos litigation, audio from the event revealed…A wide swath of the chemicals, plastics and related industries are gearing up to fight a surge in litigation related to PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl… Continue Reading
