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15 Jun 2011 13:47

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U.S.: Living in the U.S. takes a toll on your life, apparently

  • 75.6 average life expectancy, in years, for a man in the United States
  • 80.8 average life expectancy, in years, for a woman in the U.S. source
  • » Not so bad, right? It doesn’t seem like it — until you start comparing us to other countries. Compared to an average of the countries with the 10 best life expectancies, American men live roughly 13 years less and women live 16 years less. Not only does living in the U.S. mean you may not live as long, but if you live in Appalachia, the deep South, or in northern Texas, you can expect a lower life expectancy than anywhere else in the country. People tend to live longest on the Pacific coast and the Northern Plains. What is ironic about all this is that the U.S. spends more money on health per person than any other country in the world — so what’s wrong?
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jun 2011 13:54

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U.S.: Girl beats the odds, becomes a rare rabies survivor

  • unfortunateRabies is a disease that usually can’t be cured unless you’re vaccinated right after you get it. That was a problem for an 8-year-old girl in California — she contracted rabies from a feral cat and didn’t realize it. By the time her symptoms — including paralysis — were showing, it was too late.
  • fortunateDoctors placed Precious Reynolds in a medical coma and gave her antiviral medications. They didn’t have much hope for her because only two other people have ever survived the disease without the vaccines. Somehow, Precious beat the odds and survived. Definitely a story to smile about. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jun 2011 20:31

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Culture: Bill Gates explains his philosophy on philanthropy

  • The motto of the foundation is that every life has equal value. There are more people dying of malaria than any specific cancer. When you die of malaria aged three it’s different from being in your seventies, when you might die of a heart attack or you might die of cancer. And the world is putting massive amounts into cancer, so my wealth would have had a meaningless impact on that.
  • Bill Gates • Discussing his philanthropy organization, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and why it chooses to focus on malaria over cancer. Gates, the world’s second-richest man, doesn’t give a lot of interviews, but when he does, he makes them count. In this Daily Mail piece, he avoids focusing too much on his past and more on what he’s doing now — working to ensure his money gets used in ways that can positively affect people’s lives. His 85-year-old dad even helps. And he doesn’t do it from a distance, either: “It is important to see places. When you go into a ward with kids who have cholera, it’s horrific. They are losing their vital fluids and their brains are shutting down. As a father, as a human, it’s just horrific.” Gates’ work as a philanthropist could one day overshadow his work with Microsoft. It’s that important. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Jun 2011 14:12

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World: Blame bean sprouts: Source of E.coli outbreak finally found

  • The whole thing is a big scandal. People were very unsettled. Every day something difference was announced. Now I hear on the radio that it was the sprouts. But people were living buying less fruit. That is simply insane.
  • Riza Cetinkaya, a grocery store worker in Germany • It seems like German officials have finally found the source of the deadly E coli outbreak that’s been sweeping Germany, and it’s not the Spanish cucumber. The virus bacterium is coming from bean sprouts produced at an organic farm in Germany. They’re almost positive they’ve found the right source this time, and they’ve stopped the farm from producing anything until they get it figured out. However, lab tests have given them nothing but negatives on the sprouts … so they still don’t know how it happened to begin with. Definitely a story we’re going to keep watching. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jun 2011 13:16

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U.S.: Breast cancer trial: At-risk patients helped by new drug

  • 65% decreased risk after taking hormone-blocking pill source
  • » A huge step forward: The study, which involved 4,500 people, represents progress towards a safe-to-take drug that prevents breast cancer in at-risk patients. While anti-estrogen drugs already exist on the market, they’ve had pretty horrific side effects that discourage their use. So far, aromatase inhibitors don’t have any of these side effects — but it’s important to note that there haven’t been long-term studies with this, either. (This is the first time researchers tested an aromatase inhibitor tested clinically.) However, it’s still encouraging and worth keeping an eye on.
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jun 2011 13:34

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Biz: Protip: Sports drinks great for exercise, not for kids

  • Sports drinks probably aren’t the best choice for kids, because they could lead to obesity, according to a new study. Researchers suggest that children drink water for hydration instead, because there aren’t the extra calories you might find in sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade. The study also looked at kids that were drinking energy drinks after exercise, coming to the somewhat obvious finding that they’re bad for kids because of the extra stimulants in them — including caffeine. A spokesperson for the American Beverage Association, an industry group, notes that the drinks “are not intended for young consumers.” source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2011 13:55

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Tech: Yeah, that’s scary: WHO calls cell phones “carcinogenic hazard”

  • The World Health Organization has a new study out that says cell phones are possibly carcinogenic to humans — they’re in the same class as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform. They based their findings on a number of peer-reviewed studies on cell-phone safety. Long-term effects from cell phone radiation remain unknown, but research suggests that cell phone radiation is non-ionizing — similar to a very low-powered microwave. “What microwave radiation does in most simplistic terms is similar to what happens to food in microwaves, essentially cooking the brain,” notes Dr. Keith Black, who leads the neurology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He notes that beyond brain cancer, this could also cause memory problems because we hold cell phones close to the memory temporal lobes. Looks like it’s time to break out the earbuds. (photo via ElvertBarnes‘ Flickr page) source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 May 2011 14:59

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Politics: Rep. Rob Woodall uninterested in woman’s health care woes

  • Hear yourself, ma’am. Hear yourself. You want the government to take care of you, because your employer decided not to take care of you. My question is, ‘When do I decide I’m going to take care of me?
  • Rep. Rob Woodall • Responding to a constituent who opposes Paul Ryan’s plan to end Medicare as a guaranteed program, on the basis that her employer doesn’t offer medical benefits to retirees. Woodall’s response gets credit for exactly one thing, which is that it would seem to be an honest answer. However, that honesty underscores the callous hand-washing inherent to the Ryan plan that’s made it such a lightning rod for criticism. The basic premise of what Woodall and this constituent said to each other was “I can’t get medical coverage in this scenario,” to which Woodall essentially replied, “well, sorry, not my job.” This is, it seems to us, not hyperbolic, but the core subtext of Paul Ryan’s plan, and the incredibly callous nature of it is what’s handed the Democrats one of their signature, winning issues back to them on a shiny silver platter. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 May 2011 15:42

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U.S.: SCOTUS rules CA prisons unconstitutionally overcrowded

  • “Incompatible with the concept of human dignity”: So said Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the 5-4 Supreme Court majority that ruled California’s state prison system is so overcrowded that they say it violates constitutional rights (the level of health services available to inmates who sorely need them has been a relevant issue of late). As such, the ruling may force the state to release nearly 40,000 prisoners. “The release of prisoners in large numbers … is a matter of undoubted, grave concern, yet so too is the continuing injury and harm resulting from these serious constitutional violations,” said Kennedy. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Apr 2011 20:47

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U.S.: If you read any 6,000-word article on sugar today, let it be this one

The New York Times Magazine has a freaking massive piece on whether or not sugar is toxic. Want the answer? Well, you’re gonna have to read it, sweetheart. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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