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The smoke is getting worse for everyone
Wildfire smoke is likely to cause more respiratory problems in low-income families, a study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of California at Berkeley found. The researchers said lower-income families are more exposed to the risk of respiratory problems due to the smoke. As many as 65% of people who live in…
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The Age of Flames Reaches the US East Coast
As US parts of the country witnessed unhealthy air quality due to smoke from Canada’s wildfires, a paediatrician said, “Kids breathe faster and take in more polluted air.” She added, “You can get a high-efficiency air filter and put it on a box fan to get about 50% reduction in air pollution indoors.”
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The age of flames has reached the US East Coast
Wildfire smoke from wildfires in Canada is the result of climate change and human interference in order to send toxic smoke to the East Coast, said Johns Hopkins University professor Peter DeCarlo. The air quality in the US was expected to be poor on Thursday and Friday due to the smoke. However, the weather conditions…
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The Canadian fires have caused a haze to blanket the East Coast
The Air Quality Index (AQI) in some areas of the US has risen as high as 100 on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The AQI is expected to continue to rise on Thursday and Friday amid the smoke from Canada’s wildfires, a report said. Wildfires in Canada have caused over 1 lakh…
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There is a haze over the East Coast due to the Canadian wildfires
Air quality in the US has deteriorated to “very poor” or ‘poor’ levels due to the smoke from wildfires in Canada, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). New York City’s public school system said that it was cancelling all outdoor activities. Millions of people along East Coast and further inland woke up to…
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The battle against tobacco has not been won
African Tobacco Control Alliance has ranked 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa according to how much influence the tobacco industry wielded over them. The main components include monitoring tobacco use, banning tobacco use in public spaces, providing cessation services to people who want to quit, placing graphic warning labels on tobacco products and banning tobacco companies…
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There’s a secret key that is blowing in the wind
Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle have claimed to have found an automated way to collect eDNA from the UK’s air Quality Monitoring Network (QMAN) using existing networks of air-monitoring stations. They ran a pilot study in which they had access to existing UK air-quality monitoring stations in London and near Edinburgh. These…
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The surgeon general made a wake-up call
A report by the Johns Hopkins University in the US has said frequent use of social media can lead to changes in the brain that’s important for emotional learning and behaviour. The report also cited research that up to 95% of teens reported using at least one social media platform, while more than one-third said…
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Surgeon General Warns that social media can be a serious risk to youth
American Medical Association (AMA) has issued an advisory for policymakers, technology companies and researchers on how to improve the protection of children and minors from beingharassed and from harmful content on social media. It has recommended more research into the impacts of social media use. It also called for social media companies to share data…
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A mental-health crisis gripping science is caused by toxic research culture
The science of mental health is emerging an epidemic in the US, Canada and India, according to a report. The report cited a study which found that rates of depression and burnout are similar with those found in high-risk occupations such as health care. “Yet the research system still tends to put power in hands…
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The Surgeon General thinks that social media may be harmful to teen health
The US Surgeon General, Dr Vivek Murthy, has said that the age of frequent social media use reveals criticality in brain development. The report says, “A highly sensitive period of brain development occurs between the ages of 10 to 19, coinciding with a period when up to 95% of 13 to 17 year olds and…
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Women are suing Texas claiming the state’s anti- abortion laws hurt them
Eight more women are joining a lawsuit against the state of Texas that claims its abortion bans put their health at risk while facing pregnancy-related medical emergencies. “It concerns me, yeah, because…the statute was never intended to restrict access to medically-necessary abortions,” the women said. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union…
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The appeals court seems to be suspicious of the steps that F.D.A. takes to ease access to abortion pill
The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal filed by pharmaceutical company Danco on an emergency stay issued by a lower court on its sale of mifepristone, also called RU-486, and use of it without a prescription. Danco argued that the emergency stay was “an unprecedented judicial assault” on the regulatory process that…
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Death cap mushrooms and poison fungi have a new antidote in the works
A team of Chinese and Australian researchers has claimed to have discovered an antidote for death cap poisoning that’s already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Researchers tested the antidote by exposing cells to Amanita phalloides, which is considered one of the most poisonous mushrooms. They found that mutations in the STT3B…
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The emergency over! Do we smile or worry?
A US public health worker, who tested positive for COVID-19 last year, has said he does not take work and stress of it home now. “I’m able to handle my mental health a little bit better, and cope with what I need to cope with post-pandemic,” he added. Malachi Stewart is the first public health…
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Biden has a power-plant rule and it involves carbon capture
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new rule that requires large coal-fired power plants to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 90% from 1990 levels. “The public health and environmental benefits of this proposed rule will be tremendous,” said EPA administrator Michael Regan at a press conference on 10 May.
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The grants for controversial coronaviruses research were restored by the federal government
The US’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) has allowed EcoHealth Alliance, an organisation that studies coronavirus genomics, to use the newly released funds. EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak said, “I don’t know if any other single institution from NIH has been subjected to this level of oversight.” He added that the organisation has nearly 300…
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There is a warning that the end of the covid emergency is imminent
The US has declared a transition point for the coronavirus pandemic, which will end on May 11. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stop tracking community levels of transmission and instead will track overall hospitalisation and death rates. The messaging around “it’s over, we’ve won” is setting us up for a “huge betrayal…
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Women’s health research does not receive funding
Scientists have found that funding for gynaecological cancers in the US over the past 10 years was less than for other cancers when compared to years of life lost for each new diagnosis. Funding to death for many gynaecological cancers fell during the period. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) mandates researchers use both…
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Some two-thirds of people don’t want to ban medication abortion
An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll has found that majorities of Americans oppose laws banning medication-induced abortions, disagree with judges overturning the Food and Drug Administration approval of prescription drugs, and don’t have much confidence in the US Supreme Court. The finding come as the Supreme Court left in place access to the drug mifepristone, used in…
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The Supreme Court does not allow abortion pill access to be denied
The US Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a lower court judge’s order that banned the sale of Mifeprex, the generic form of mifepristone, pending its ruling. Danco Laboratories, manufacturer of Mifeprex, had sued the US Food and Drug Administration after it refused to allow it to manufacture and sell the drug. However, the court stayed…
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The Supreme Court is going to make it easier for women to get the abortion pill
US President Joe Biden has said that he continues to stand by the US Food and Drug Administration’s decision to approve the drug mifepristone, which is used in abortions, for sale. “I will continue to defend FDA’s independent, expert authority to review, approve, and regulate a wide range of prescription drugs,” Biden added.
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The law was signed by the governor of North Dakota
A new US bill makes Minnesota a’sanctuary’ state for so-called gender-affirming care, and also threatens the “fundamental right of parenting”. The Maryland Trans Equity Act broadens the kind of treatments covered under the state’s Medicaid plan, aligning it with care that private insurers offer. The law takes effect in April and means Colorado won’t participate…
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John wants to pay it forward by speaking about his depression
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman said that he was not the kind of Senator people in Pennsylvania deserved, when he was depressed. “I didn’t realise that I was depressed,” he added. Fetterman said that he initially didn’t think his depression was in remission but now his depression is in remission and he didn’t realise he was…
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Two teens are charged with murder for a shooting that left four dead and dozens injured in Alabama
Two teenagers have been charged with murder in connection with a shooting that killed four young people and wounded 32 others at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, investigators announced on Wednesday. The teenagers will be tried as adults by Alabama law when they are charged with murder. Another 32 people were wounded…