Month: December 2022

  • Health department sees increase in COVID-19 cases | Local News

    Health department sees increase in COVID-19 cases | Local News

    Glynn County is suffering from a major rise in COVID-19 circumstances, almost 5 occasions as lots of as in mid-November.

    Never panic. The county stays a minimal threat local community.

  • Northwest Arkansas man believes he’s a victim of CBD mislabeling

    Northwest Arkansas man believes he’s a victim of CBD mislabeling

    HARRISON, Ark. (KY3) – An Arkansas guy elevated issue about the mislabeling of CBD merchandise.

    The male thinks the products and solutions may well incorporate Delta-8 THC, which triggers physiological consequences. CBD is a chemical uncovered in cannabis. CBD does not consist of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana that produces a higher. The standard

    CBD formulation is oil, but CBD is also marketed as an extract, a vaporized liquid, and an oil-centered capsule.

    One Arkansas resident not long ago procured goods from the vapor shop Vapor Maven in Harrison labeled as strictly CBD, only to afterwards find out that was not the case.

    “I had a therapist that proposed some CBD and went to a store and acquired what was labeled as CBD, and it wasn’t,” stated the person. “I’m sitting there in the middle of function, and all of a sudden, I’m stoned, I’m large. It is like, this is not appropriate. What’s likely on below?”

    This Arkansas resident says he was striving CBD items to assistance with pressure and PTSD. Just after a severe response to the product or service, a drug take a look at only verified that he experienced THC in his procedure.

    The target adopted up with the shop, which forwarded him to the Springdale-dependent distributor, where he located no responses. We attempted to access them Wednesday and were being unsuccessful.

    Vapor Maven in Harrison suggests it has taken action because remaining notified of the concern.

    “When the consumer brought it to our consideration, we introduced them off the shelf. We have kept them off the shelf,” explained affiliate Shawna Moreland. “We’re seeking to seller return them and hoping to determine out what occurred.”

    Vapor Maven claims the item is labeled as an “in-house blend” from the distributor, which makes certain it’s THC free. But it is not using likelihood.

    “We want to make confident we’re acquiring them the right merchandise that is likely to assistance them as opposed to having them in problems like this condition,” reported Moreland.

    The state clinical cannabis fee states they do not control CBD and Delta-8.

    “It’s, I never want to say it is the wild west when it arrives to CBD,” explained Scott Hardin, with the commission. “But actually, when it will come to packaging, there really are not any crystal clear standards for CBD packaging in the point out, and that raises a large amount of issues in by itself.”

    Hardin suggests the condition healthcare cannabis commission can only oversee the 38 dispensaries and the 90,000-in addition buyers with medicinal playing cards.

    “From the point out stage, we have been given fairly a few calls from throughout the point out who have had related incidents,” explained Hardin. “They’ll ask, ‘what do we do and we refer them to area law enforcement. I imagine the bottom line is it’s not to say there are not precious CBD merchandise out there. Arkansans need to be quite watchful when on the lookout to order these merchandise and where they get them from.”

    As for the target, he’s just fearful of any penalties.

    “I would just like to discover out who the producer is. I imply, if I have been to drop my task, I would like anyone to be responsible for that,” he said. “Because evidently it was mislabeled packaging, that a lot was admitted to.”

    To report a correction or typo, be sure to electronic mail [email protected]

  • Fitness tips to keep osteoporosis away and prevent falls | Health

    Fitness tips to keep osteoporosis away and prevent falls | Health

    Bones are built up of a structural ingredient acknowledged as hydroxyapatite and a protein referred to as collagen where by hydroxyapatite tends to consist of modest crystals of calcium and phosphorus and allows with the stiffness of the bone while collagen is a protein molecule that binds the hydroxyapatite crystals jointly and generates tensile toughness in the bone. Nonetheless, one’s bone wellness tends to get influenced because of to a variety of health and fitness troubles and a person of them is osteoporosis.

    What is osteoporosis?

    In an job interview with HT Way of life, Dr Nitish Arora, Trauma, Limb Reconstruction, Deformity Correction and Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon at Medicover Hospitals in Navi Mumbai, stated, “It is a skeletal ailment that has an effect on equally these parts of a bone in terms of decreased good quality together with amount. This weakens the bone and would make them prone to fracture even with minor falls. Did you know? Osteoporosis is a silent condition until eventually sophisticated by a fracture in the aged.”

    He added, “The most typical web-sites of fracture contain hip, wrist, and backbone fractures. It is a person of the widespread issues that one can come upon and interferes with one’s ability to have out each day activities with relieve. On the other hand, there is excellent news! It is doable to avert this dilemma by adhering to a healthful life-style.”

    Some critical ideas to hold osteoporosis absent

    Dr Nitish Arora advised the pursuing preventive actions for osteoporosis:

    1. Physical exercise – Are you mindful? Common and enough training will aid to reinforce the bones and muscle mass. It will be essential for you to choose for fat coaching. Executing so can raise muscle mass and make your bones more powerful. Try to work out for at least 5 days a 7 days for 40 minutes and you will truly feel great. Not only this, you can wander, cycle, do yoga, operate, swim, and even jog. Strength schooling will go a prolonged way in helping you to present aid from pain and swelling. Try out to also do stretches for the back and retain appropriate posture. Moreover, the gait have to be taken care of throughout the lifespan to avoid fracture. Steer clear of overexerting as it can guide to an personal injury.

    2. Choose for a calcium and vitamin D-wealthy diet – You will have to give up on spicy, oily, and canned foods and take in a nicely-balanced diet plan. Check out to have calcium and vitamin D-wealthy food stuff in a typical diet regime which allows to bolster the bones. Go for milk, cheese, and other dairy foods. Inexperienced leafy veggies, this sort of as broccoli, cabbage, okra, soya beans/ragi, tofu, nuts, salmon, cod liver oil, egg yolk, sunshine-dried mushrooms, or vitamin D-fortified foods are also superior alternatives. Acquire calcium and Vitamin D supplements as for every the doctor’s assistance.

    3. Get plenty of sunlight – It is excellent for the bones. Check out to expose yourself to the sunlight in the early morning around 8:00 am. Do not do so during the afternoon as the solar can be severe on the pores and skin.

    4. Do not get oral glucocorticoids or any prescription drugs without having the doctor’s tips. Also, do not use antacids or some other medicine (anticovulsant) that raises the odds of osteoporosis and fracture. Limit caffeine intake to a lot less than 1 to 2 servings per working day.

    Recommendations to prevent falls

    Dr Nitish Arora encouraged, “It is required to make improvements to lights on the staircase, alongside the corridor, evening lamps, in the kitchen, bathroom to steer clear of falls. Try to install grab bars in close proximity to the toilet seat, in the bathing spot. Decide for non-slip mats exterior the washroom, kitchen area, bedroom, and living home. Install handrails alongside the stairs, and corridor, get rid of rugs, and other obstacles or clutters from the flooring or pathway that the aged of our home are very likely to use on a regular basis. Do not keep the floor vet as 1 can slip and tumble. Keep away from keeping furnishings in in between though walking as there are odds of falling.”

    At present, the cases of osteoporosis are rising at a speedy charge. It is the require of the hour to follow some foolproof suggestions to maintain osteoporosis at bay. Acquire superior care of your bones and direct a nutritious existence.

  • Don’t overlook this health and safety warning on your holiday lights

    Don’t overlook this health and safety warning on your holiday lights

    To get ready for the “most great time of the 12 months,” my relatives went to select up our new Xmas tree that arrived outfitted with built-in lights.

    What we did not be expecting when we unboxed it was this huge warning: “Most cancers and reproductive harm.”

    We frequented the link printed on the package deal and realized that the warning was for the holiday lights — which according to the web site — can bring about enhanced chance of cancer and reproductive hurt.

    It appears that some of the getaway lights we all invest in at our nearby large-box store or pull out of storage just about every yr are coated in destructive chemical compounds like direct.

    If you appear diligently on the packaging for solutions like home furnishings, vases and even selected foods, you might be probably to see a Proposition 65 warning. That’s many thanks to the condition of California, whose legislation “necessitates corporations to provide warnings to Californians about considerable exposures to chemicals that induce most cancers, start problems or other reproductive harm.”

    My household returned our tree and changed it with one that isn’t going to have designed-in lights. We’re searching ahead to decorating for the vacations and feeling safe though we do it.

    Here is how you can make guaranteed you happen to be guarded from any health and fitness hazards as you store for holiday decorations this yr.

    3 strategies for decorating securely with holiday break lights

    As opposed to other exposures for the duration of this time of the yr, holiday lights are a delicate concern, in accordance to Dr. Fred Henretig, senior toxicologist at the Kid’s Clinic of Philadelphia.

    Throughout the vacations, poison manage centers are significantly extra involved about young little ones acquiring into remedies that belong to household visitors, Henretig notes. 

    Nevertheless, there are some things you can do if publicity to damaging chemical substances from holiday lights considerations you. 

    The Proposition 65 warning indicates:

    • Washing your fingers, and your kid’s palms, immediately after placing up or getting rid of vacation lights, especially if you happen to be preparing to prepare meals or eat instantly immediately after
    • Ensuring that young kids aren’t taking part in with the lights or placing them in their mouths
    • Aiming to use getaway lights that are labeled “lead-absolutely free”

    “Some individuals [also] recommend that you dress in gloves when hanging vacation lights,” Henretig adds.

    Why specified holiday lights pose threats of cancer, reproductive hurt

    When dealing with particular sorts of holiday getaway lights, individuals can appear in get hold of with chemical compounds like guide and phthalates – which is common in numerous plastics, Henretig states.

    “It seems to be predominantly in the wiring,” he adds.

    And the hazard of most cancers is probable involved with phthalates, based on experiments that study exposure to the substances and enhancement of selected childhood cancers, he says. Though, there isn’t really a lot details in humans.

    Nonetheless, phthalates have been linked to effects on hormonal equilibrium and “might negatively affect childhood enhancement cognitively,” Henretig states.

    As for guide exposure, the major worry is for pregnant females and little ones below the age of 5 or six, he states.

    “I you should not believe this is a critical concern where men and women have to quickly throw out all of the lights in their house,” he says. “I imagine that you really should hold holiday break lights out of the get to of young kids.”

    Just touching the lights is not the issue, but touching your mouth just after handling them in advance of washing your palms can transfer the chemicals from the wiring into your system, in accordance to Proposition 65’s warning.

    And for pregnant females, “these chemical substances can move from mother to newborn,” the warning states.

    Low-level direct publicity can have adverse results on kid’s cognitive abilities, states Henretig, including developmental delays. 

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  • Sick at school? – North Carolina Health News

    Sick at school? – North Carolina Health News

    By Michelle Crouch

    Co-published with Charlotte Ledger

    One morning last month, Ben Jacobs, a senior at Myers Park High School, woke up feeling nauseated with a terrible headache. He ran to the bathroom and vomited. Then he pulled himself together and hustled to school before the end of first period.

    Jacobs, who had already missed some school because of a medical issue, said he didn’t want to risk another absence in light of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ attendance policy – one of the strictest in the state, according to an informal analysis by The Charlotte Ledger/ NC Health News.

    The CMS policy says a high school student who misses more than 10 days of any class – whether the absence is excused or unexcused – will fail the course. To avoid a failing grade, a student must get a special medical waiver or make up the time through a process called “attendance recovery.”

    Although the rule has been in place since 1970, CMS is aggressively enforcing it this year as it tries to get students back on track after the pandemic, when absences soared and school performance tanked.

    Research shows excess absences – missing 10 percent or more of school days – is strongly linked to lower academic achievement.

    The policy is sparking controversy among parents and students who say it encourages students to go to school sick at a time when respiratory illnesses are surging. In addition to the ongoing threat of COVID – which triggers a five-day quarantine under CMS rules – respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and flu are also on the rise.

    “It’s ridiculous,” said Erin Garvey, whose daughter is a sophomore at Hough High. “Ten days is not a lot when we have all sorts of illnesses spreading like wildfire. I know absenteeism has gotten out of hand with some kids. But there’s a big difference between kids who are just skipping and a straight-A student whose family says, ‘My kid was sick.’”  

    The goal: keep kids in school

    Matthew Hayes, CMS deputy superintendent for academic services, said emphatically that CMS does not want sick kids to come to school. At the same time, the district wants to send the message that families need to make school a priority and try to schedule vacations and appointments outside of school time.

    Chronic absenteeism leads to lower grades and test scores, less engagement in school and higher dropout rates, research shows.

    “If students are not in the classroom, they are missing instruction,” Hayes said. “Even if it’s an excused absence, it still is going to create a gap in the continuation of a student’s learning.”

    The CMS policy allows students who are absent for an extended amount of time for medical reasons to apply for a medical waiver with documentation. In addition, missing class for a school-sponsored activity such as a field trip or an athletic competition doesn’t count toward a student’s total absences.

    Hayes noted that absences skyrocketed during the pandemic when CMS suspended its attendance rule. About 29 percent of CMS students were “chronically absent” in the 2021-2022 school year – that’s twice as many as before the pandemic. CMS considers students chronically absent if they miss at least 10  percent of days in a school year – or about 18 days.

    Since the board reinstated the policy this school year, absences have dropped. In a Nov. 11 Charlotte Observer article, outgoing interim superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh listed better student attendance as one of his accomplishments, noting that chronic absenteeism is down to about 15 percent today.

    Hayes said the attendance policy is not intended to penalize students: “It’s about making sure they have the resources and the knowledge they need in order to be successful, not just for the course they are currently in but also for future courses.”

    One CMS high school teacher said he’s glad the district is cracking down. “I had students last year with 30-plus absences. I cannot do my job like that,” he said.

    The teacher said he did not want to be named because he feared retribution from school administrators – or from angry parents. “I’ve already been asked by parents to ignore the policy, falsify the recovery of time or allow students to make up the remediation work on their own time,” he said.  

    “A really wrong-headed idea”

    Although CMS may want sick kids to stay home, students and families said that’s not always what happens.

    Jacobs said he recently sat next to a student in class who admitted to having a fever, but who said she was there because of the attendance policy. And Garvey said her daughter returned to school early when she had a cold earlier this year.

    “She felt like garbage but went back, and I know she was not the only one. She has several friends who have gone back prematurely because they felt the pressure,” Garvey said.

    Meanwhile, some psychologists have another concern: they say the policy is creating unnecessary anxiety among teens with mental health issues, and it’s making kids opt out of getting therapy they need, because they can’t get appointments outside of school hours.

    “Our kids are in crisis,” said Kristin Daley, a psychologist at Base Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Charlotte. “With all of the isolation during the pandemic, referrals are through the roof. Ideally, of course, we would love for all of these kids to be seen outside of school hours, but it’s just not feasible.”

    Daley said the CMS attendance policy came up at a recent staff meeting in her office, and it has also been a frequent complaint on a Facebook page of Charlotte area counselors, therapists and psychologists. There was even discussion about publishing an open letter urging the district to reconsider the policy, Daley said.

    “It just feels like a really wrong-headed idea,” Daley said. “It’s causing families to prioritize compliance to school over their physical health and mental health. Increasing anxiety is not going to improve test scores.”

    Other districts more lenient

    The Ledger/NC Health News reviewed the attendance policies of other large N.C. school districts as well as the ones immediately surrounding Charlotte and found that the CMS policy is among the toughest.

    • In Wake County, for example, high school students are “referred to the school-based attendance team” if they exceed 20 excused or unexcused absences – double the number that CMS allows. The team will then consider “appropriate interventions to improve the student’s attendance,” according to the district’s policy manual.
    • Cabarrus County schools call for a review (not an automatic failing grade) if a student exceeds eight absences in a semester. The review should consider the circumstances of the absences, other measures of academic achievement and the extent to which the student completed missed work, according to the district’s policy.
    • In Asheville, the Buncombe County school board voted to loosen its policy earlier this year, allowing high school students to miss 14 days of a year-long class, rather than the 10-absence limit it imposed before, said spokeswoman Stacia Harris. “We know that we must give grace and work with families as much as possible,” Harris said in an email.

    5-day limit in handbook not being enforced

    The CMS 2022-2023 parent-student handbook actually differentiates between students in year-long and semester-long classes. The handbook says students in a semester-long class will receive a grade of “F” for the course once they exceed  five absences.

    Hayes told the Ledger that CMS is not enforcing that five-absence limit and is focusing instead on students who exceed 10 absences total.

    He also noted that CMS counselors and teachers reach out to families long before they hit the 11th day.

    “When we see students with consecutive days out, teachers are speaking to counselors, and counselors making phone calls home: Is this a transportation issue? Is there something else keeping a student from getting to school? We want to solve for that.”  

    No state guidelines mandating failure

    The state Department of Public Instruction offers no specific guidelines requiring districts to fail students who miss a lot of school, said Rob Taylor, deputy state superintendent for district and school support services. 

    Years ago, the state required a certain amount of seat time before a student could earn course credit. That policy was eventually eliminated in favor of a focus on content mastery, but it may be why some districts still tie excess absences to failure, Taylor said in an email. 

  • Biden Signs Medical Marijuana Research Bill

    Biden Signs Medical Marijuana Research Bill

    President Joe Biden turns the Healthcare Marijuana Investigation Bill into regulation, modifying how American experts can do investigate on marijuana.

    As anticipated by Marijuana Minute very last 7 days, the White Property declared on Friday that President Biden signed the Health care Marijuana and Cannabidiol Study Enlargement Act, “which establishes a new registration approach for conducting investigate on marijuana and for manufacturing marijuana solutions for analysis purposes and drug growth.”

    The bipartisan invoice was launched in July, quickly passed in the Home in the identical thirty day period, and unanimously approved by the Senate in November.

    Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Democrat), who sponsored the invoice, launched a joint press statement along with Cannabis Caucus Co-Chairs Barbara Lee (Democrat), Dave Joyce (Republican), and Brian Mast (Republican) stressing the great importance of these accomplishment.

    “For decades, the federal governing administration has stood in the way of science and progress—peddling a misguided and discriminatory technique to cannabis. Now marks a monumental phase in remedying our federal hashish legal guidelines. The Professional medical Cannabis and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act will make it a lot easier to analyze the impacts and probable of hashish,” the statement reads.

    Moreover, the Reps highlighted how elementary is healthcare analysis on marijuana to realize the comprehensive medicinal likely of the plant to treat a extensive array of medical problems and pledged to function on ending the war on medication via a sequence of approaching proposals that will reshape the position of marijuana at the federal amount.

    The regulation drastically eases the lives of researchers who would like to review cannabis for healthcare applications, as they had to stick to strict restrictions that could delay their research.

    The new legislation removes federal restrictions in buy to simplicity investigate from finding out the plant and speeds up the software process to approve marijuana-similar scientific scientific studies.

    Below the new legislation, the federal govt has to guarantee an adequate, uninterrupted offer of cannabis obtainable to researchers for studies on health-related marijuana.

    For that reason, researchers will be capable to find out extra about the plant’s clinical attributes and ask for large quantities of marijuana to use for analysis.

    In point, the legislation now needs that in 60 times of obtaining a researcher’s software, the U.S. Attorney Basic has to approve it, request a lot more facts, or deny it specifying the reasons. If scientists submit extra information on request, the Lawyer Common has 30 times to make your mind up.

    Universities and analysis establishments will now be ready to receive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) license to expand, manufacture, distribute, dispense and possess cannabis for investigate reasons, with advice from the Department of Well being and Human Expert services (HHS) and the U.S. Foods And Drug Administration.

    Scientists who would like to do cannabis investigation may perhaps update their protocol without having informing the DEA if the quantity and kind of cannabis, the supply, and the storage disorders of the product won’t alter.

    The laws also encourages the Fda to acquire marijuana-derived medications and addresses the HHS to identify the opportunity healthcare rewards of cannabis or cannabidiol (or CBD) as a drug.

    The Healthcare Cannabis and Cannabidiol Exploration Enlargement Act also intervenes in the doctor-affected individual relationship by allowing for medical professionals to focus on the at this time acknowledged possible harms and benefits of marijuana cannabinoids, such as CBD, as a therapy or the recognised doable damages and advantages of cannabis and its compounds.

    However, the legislation does not permit experts to get cannabis from point out-operate dispensaries and will not likely reschedule marijuana at the federal amount.

    In point, marijuana will continue to be unlawful at the federal stage underneath Routine I of the Managed Substances Act.

    However, the laws signifies a considerable action ahead for professional medical investigation on marijuana in the U.S.

    In advance of the new legislation, doing investigate on marijuana was really difficult in the U.S. as experts necessary acceptance from multiple agencies to perform experiments, which could sometimes choose yrs.

    Additionally, researchers were being only permitted to use marijuana developed by the College of Mississippi, even though the DEA has not too long ago awarded six other cannabis cultivation licenses for investigate to U.S. corporations.

    Biden’s signature of The Health-related Cannabis and Cannabidiol Study Growth Act follows the executive get in October pardoning about 6,500 persons convicted for cannabis possession at the federal degree.

    On that celebration, he also asked the Secretary of the HHS and the Attorney Common to “initiate the approach of examining how cannabis is scheduled less than federal legislation.”

    Though the new legislation doesn’t put into practice a lot more reform at the federal level, it may possibly pave the way for new federal legislation on cannabis, such as the Protected Banking Act, that may possibly relieve the federal limits on the cannabis industry.