Health

New research from the University of Southern California indicates cannabis may help individuals reduce or quit opioid use. Lead author Sid Ganesh, a PhD student at USC's medical school, interviewed 30 opioid and cannabis users in Los Angeles. Participants, receiving services from a methadone clinic and syringe exchange, found cannabis useful for managing opioid use due to easier access. The study, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, highlights cannabis's role in easing withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

Children who live in cities with excise taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages tend to have lower body mass index (BMI) than those who live in cities that do not have such taxes, according to new data from California.

With both childhood obesity and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages linked to CVD risk, several US cities have enacted taxes on these drinks over the past decade that have decreased how much people not only buy but also consume them.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/15147089

A new study presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference links wildfire smoke to a higher risk of new dementia diagnoses. Conducted over ten years in California, the study analyzed health records of more than 1.2 million socioeconomically diverse Kaiser Permanente members aged 60 and older. Holly Elser, M.D., Ph.D., an author of the study, stated, "Previous research has found that exposure to PM2.5 is associated with dementia, but in light of our large, long-term study, it's apparent the risk from exposure due to wildfire smoke is an even bigger concern." The study found that wildfire smoke poses a stronger dementia risk than other sources of PM2.5 air pollution.

I'm not saying this doctor's suggestion is the only or best solution, but it is nice to see the issue get noticed. Excerpts from the Op/Ed:

This 30-year-old patient told me that she had struggled with her weight for years. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she had finally lost weight by eating more proteins and vegetables. Her food budget was supplemented by federal food programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as well as the stimulus money she received during the pandemic.

In recent years, however, as her career grew, so did her income, making her ineligible to qualify for federal assistance programs, such as SNAP. At the same time, the pandemic stimulus money disappeared. As a result of both factors, her supplementary incomes and support for food withered.

While screening for food insecurity is now a routine part of what we do in primary care, fixing the problem is impossible without also addressing the upstream causes. This patient’s food insecurity stemmed from not only the “cliff effect” of losing her supplemental benefits when her earnings pushed her out of a certain income bracket but also from the rising cost of food prices, including high-protein foods such as eggs and beef, given the rise of bird flu. The incidence of viruses able to spread from one species to another (called “viral spillover”) in the face of climate change is predicted to become more and more common in the coming years — all of which place a higher price tag on food.

I know that writing a prescription for weight-loss drugs is far easier for me and my colleagues than trying to address the real cost of rising food prices and food insecurity.

State and federal policy makers must begin by urgently addressing and mitigating the “cliff effect” for those who are making a livable wage.

New research into the 'exomes' of over 44,000 people uncovered many with cancer-causing genes that were otherwise not detected

The mutations were linked to heightened risks for colon, breast and ovarian cancers

People from minority groups may be especially prone to missing out on quality genetic screening

TL;DR: No, it's a confounding variable, because more affluent people are more likely to be screened, despite the Post's wanna-be eugenics-justifying title.

"A new, large study out of Finland suggests that people with good jobs have a greater genetic risk for cancer, especially breast and prostate cancers," but Dr. Jiyoung Ahn "believes screening behavior is key to this research," saying, "It is well-established that if you have higher socioeconomic status, you are more likely to get screened."

HIV-related programs in Maryland are facing significant funding cuts after a surplus fund operated by the Maryland Department of Health ran out of money last fiscal year. The Baltimore City Health Department's letter announced a 76% reduction in state funding for HIV programs, dropping expected funds from $22 million to $5.3 million. Kim Holmes, a volunteer with Project PLASE, said, "It's sad. It's really sad. You got something that's working. Why, if it's working, why try to break it?"

(Use readability to see full text)

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14378121

Adolescents who experienced housing insecurity beginning in infancy reported worse overall health outcomes, including anxiety and depressive symptoms, according to study results published in Pediatrics.

It is known that housing insecurity adversely affects child growth and abstract development, but less is known about the cumulative long-term effects, they wrote in the study.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14378121

Adolescents who experienced housing insecurity beginning in infancy reported worse overall health outcomes, including anxiety and depressive symptoms, according to study results published in Pediatrics.

It is known that housing insecurity adversely affects child growth and abstract development, but less is known about the cumulative long-term effects, they wrote in the study.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14342600

A study published in JAMA Network Open by Included Health and Harvard Medical School found that patients in high deductible health plans are less likely to seek virtual behavioral healthcare when costs are reintroduced. The study analyzed 15,000 patients and revealed that those required to pay out-of-pocket attended 1.5 fewer telemental health visits per month, with 11.7% stopping visits altogether.

Eight weeks of acupuncture was found to reduce the dose of methadone needed to control opioid cravings, which could make patients likelier to stick with their treatment.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14305293

Large nonprofit health systems like Geisinger, Ascension, and Henry Ford are forming joint ventures with investor-owned psychiatric hospital operators such as Acadia and Universal Health Services. While these hospitals often carry the names of the nonprofits, for-profit companies with questionable track records manage day-to-day operations.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14297883

Between the ages of 8 and 12, MRI scans of children with ADHD show significantly lower cerebral blood flow in regions of the brain known to be related to attention, motor skills, executive function and impulsivity.

(Conclusively demonstrating that it's not just "in someone's head")

Millions of Americans likely to develop and die from heart disease live in cardiology deserts — areas of the country without a single heart specialist to care for them.

New research published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that nearly half of all counties in the U.S. lack a practicing cardiologist.

Most of those counties are rural, with residents who tend to be sicker in general with complex medical problems.

“The counties that do not have cardiologists probably need this type of specialty care even more,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Haider Warraich, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14265061

Pregnant women enrolled in a federal aid program have better outcomes than those who are struggling to put food on the table, new research shows.

The new study, from a team at Ohio State University, found that women enrolled in WIC had a lower risk of poor pregnancy outcomes. Those outcomes included gestational diabetes, blood transfusion, preterm birth and stays in intensive care for mom and baby alike.

The study dovetails with concerns about Congressional proposals to slash WIC funding for the first time.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14149201

Medicare is initiating an eight-year pilot project, GUIDE, to provide direct support to caregivers of dementia patients, aiming to alleviate the emotional and financial burdens they face. The program will provide care coordinators to assist families with managing symptoms, coordinating medical visits, and arranging short-term care, with the goal of keeping patients healthier and at home longer. This initiative is expected to reduce hospitalization rates and save Medicare money, although its long-term cost-effectiveness remains uncertain.

The new market report titled ‘Plasma Fractionation Market,’ published by Roots Analysis is one of the most sought-after solutions for businesses operating in the Plasma Fractionation Market.

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The average liter of bottled water has nearly a quarter million invisible pieces of ever so tiny nanoplastics, detected and categorized for the first time by a microscope using dual lasers.

Scientists long figured there were lots of these microscopic plastic pieces, but until researchers at Columbia and Rutgers universities did their calculations they never knew how many or what kind. Looking at five samples each of three common bottled water brands, researchers found particle levels ranged from 110,000 to 400,000 per liter, averaging at around 240,000 according to a study in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

These are particles that are less than a micron in size. There are 25,400 microns — also called micrometers because it is a millionth of a meter — in an inch. A human hair is about 83 microns wide.

Previous studies have looked at slightly bigger microplastics that range from the visible 5 millimeters, less than a quarter of an inch, to one micron. About 10 to 100 times more nanoplastics than microplastics were discovered in bottled water, the study found.

. . .

Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Biden Administration on Thursday announced it is setting new policy that will allow it to seize patents for medicines developed with government funding if it believes their prices are too high.

The policy creates a roadmap for the government's so-called march-in rights, which have never been used before. They would allow the government to grant additional licenses to third parties for products developed using federal funds if the original patent holder does not make them available to the public on reasonable terms.

White House advisers said on a press call that cost to consumers is a factor government agencies may consider when thinking of using march-in rights.

"We'll make it clear that when drug companies won't sell taxpayer funded drugs at reasonable prices, we will be prepared to allow other companies to provide those drugs for less," White House adviser Lael Brainard said on the call.

. . .

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/2473461

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/2473459

Americans' Exposure to Harmful Industrial Chemicals Must Be Addressed https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/americans-exposure-to-harmful-industrial-chemicals-must-be-addressed-5377012 By 2045, the trends suggest, the median man will have a sperm count of zero: half of all men will produce no sperm at all, and the other half will produce so few that they might as well produce none. This is often referred to as a “spermageddon” scenario.