KFF’s Kaiser Wellness News (KHN) is launching a weekly one-minute health and fitness information phase for CBS News Radio stations that will assistance millions of listeners remain informed and make much better overall health decisions.
CBS News Radio began supplying the KHN Well being Moment to its more than 700 affiliate stations weekly on Jan. 12. The transient segments will contain a wide assortment of wellbeing tales and client information documented by KHN’s nationwide team of well being reporters. Listeners can anticipate stories ranging from navigating healthcare expenditures and personal debt, to modifications in health care supply and coverage and general public wellness. A signature aim of the minutes will be on what all the alterations and policy debates that persons hear about really mean for them.
In the initial KHN Health and fitness Minute, listen to how sound air pollution affects well being and why an optimistic outlook may well aid men and women are living more time.
The collaboration is the latest product or service of an ongoing partnership concerning CBS News and KHN.
“Expanding on KHN’s partnership with CBS, I’m thrilled to present the network’s radio listeners across the state the KHN Wellbeing Moment,” explained KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal. “It provides a enjoyable, fast and instructive way to retain up with the most recent and most significant health and fitness care news.”
“Every day health and fitness news is in the headlines as we fight new and emerging threats. Our listeners will advantage enormously with this topical facts that is both accessible and actionable,” stated Craig Swagler, vice president and normal manager of CBS News Radio. “The impressive viewers arrive at of the radio medium connects on-the-go listeners with wellness details they will need and can use instantaneously.”
Listeners can verify for the KHN Wellness Minute on their regional CBS News Radio station.
The broader partnership also features typical appearances by Dr. Céline Gounder, KHN’s senior fellow and editor-at-big for general public wellness, on all of CBS News’ platforms, as nicely as tales, segments, and specials drawing upon reporting from across KHN’s newsroom and bureaus. It incorporates the well known “Bill of the Month” collection, in which Rosenthal appears on a regular basis on “CBS Mornings” to go over astonishing medical expenses and what they notify us about the U.S. wellbeing care technique. “Bill of the Month” is a collaborative investigative venture of KHN and NPR.
KHN, a program of KFF, is an award-winning information support with a countrywide newsroom in Washington, D.C., and a promptly developing network of regional bureaus in California, the Midwest, the Mountain States, and the South, as very well as a new Rural Health Desk. KHN operates with lots of editorial associates, and media outlets can republish KHN stories at no charge. News corporations fascinated in doing the job with KHN need to speak to the information provider at [email protected].
About KFF and KHN KHN (Kaiser Wellness Information) is a nationwide newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about wellness troubles. Jointly with Plan Examination, Polling and Study Research and Social Effects Media, KHN is a single of the 4 major working programs at KFF. KFF is an endowed nonprofit firm offering information on health and fitness problems to the country.
About CBS Information Radio:
CBS Information Radio presents news, communicate, details, enjoyment, and particular gatherings coverage to much more than 700 radio stations in the United States, with affiliate marketers in 24 of the best 25 marketplaces. CBS News Radio is also read hourly on the SiriusXM System on P.O.T.U.S. (Channel 124). CBS News Radio is property to the “CBS Globe Information Roundup,” the nation’s longest-managing news method, debuting in 1938. In addition to giving breaking information and information and facts, the division gives simulcasts of the CBS Evening News, Facial area THE Country, and 60 MINUTES to affiliates. CBS Information Radio programming is readily available digitally via the CBS Information Radio app, Apple Audio, Amazon’s Alexa company, and on the website.
Even with sliding scale payments, coverage and on line options, treatment is costly. On line remedy products and services like BetterHelp and Talkspace have made treatment much more economical, at all around $60 to $90 for every session. Nonetheless, which is out of achieve for a lot of people.
Treatment is the gold common for mental wellbeing procedure. But sometimes, treatment isn’t accessible, whether or not simply because of place or funds. Consider these 4 tactics to improve your mental health and fitness with no expending any income.
Use psychological well being apps to observe day-to-day progress
Mental wellness applications supply resources to individuals who otherwise couldn’t get them. Though they are not a substitute for remedy and can’t diagnose problems, psychological wellbeing apps like Moodfit and Sanvello are excellent instruments to use on your psychological wellness journey. The most effective mental health apps will aid you decrease anxiety and panic and teach you how to regulate signs and symptoms in the future.
You will find a great deal of variety in what these apps offer you and the attributes that are designed in. Several give a excellent catalog of educational methods to support you find out about ailments and adapt coping strategies to control them daily.
Mental health applications can also be a reminder to examine in on oneself. Most mail force notifications all through the working day, which can be employed as an indicator to end and assess how you are emotion.
Wiphop Sathawirawong/Getty Visuals
Put into practice cognitive behavioral treatment tactics on your personal
Cognitive behavioral therapy is usually made use of to deal with despair, anxiousness and habit. CBT methods and instruments are intended to be taken outside the house of treatment classes and applied in day-to-day daily life.
It truly is referred to as self-directed remedy. All over again, it is just not a alternative for regular treatment with a skilled, but it can supplement your mental health and fitness efforts when you don’t have access to discuss treatment. This self-support strategy is ideal reserved for those people with reasonable signs that will not influence day-to-day tasks.
A systematic assessment of 33 research observed that self-assistance treatment plans can reduce anxiousness and melancholy. Self-directed treatment benefits were “average,” in accordance to the overview. So persons didn’t feel 100{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} improved, but they reported emotion less anxious or frustrated. If you’re fascinated in self-directed therapy approaches to strengthen your mental perfectly-remaining, we advise examining out the Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies list of books. The guides on the record have been given a “seal of benefit.”
Popular self-directed treatment techniques:
Journaling: Producing down your ideas and emotions and reflecting on them can assist you discover negative thoughts and actions styles. The moment you happen to be mindful, you can acquire meaningful ways towards earning changes.
Guided programs: With self-directed treatment, you have to get started somewhere. Guided programs can assistance you learn procedures and practices for daily administration. You can check with the Countrywide Alliance on Mental Illness for its mental health instruction listing.
Psychological health and fitness applications: Quite a few psychological health applications use cognitive behavioral treatment procedures to lower anxiety and enable deal with indicators.
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Remain related to other people
It can be critical to join with other persons, specially people dealing with comparable points. Experiments present that connecting to other folks can supply a perception of that means and goal and lower loneliness. Group treatment or assist groups are usually led by a mental health and fitness professional or team chief and can be low-expense or free. No matter whether it be good friends, household or strangers, sharing your thoughts and encounters is vital.
Connections with people usually are not the only kinds that can support increase your mental health and fitness. Pets and animals can cut down tension and stress and anxiety levels. Acquire some intentional time to hold out with your pet — play with your pet, hug your cat. If you will not have a pet, you can volunteer at a neighborhood animal shelter or humane society. Fostering or pet-sitting animals is also an choice.
Observe mindfulness and meditation
Meditation has a background that stretches again hundreds of many years, but it can be become an exceptionally preferred worry-relieving exercise in the previous couple. Mindfulness can help you turn into more attuned to what you are experience and contemplating, which will help you regulate your ideas and thoughts additional correctly, alternatively than starting to be overwhelmed by them. Mindfulness takes advantage of tactics like meditation and breathwork to boost your mental health.
Mindfulness can support you take care of symptoms of anxiety and other psychological well being ailments by serving to you have an understanding of and cope with what you happen to be experience. Reports show that meditation can aid lower anxiety, relieve indications of melancholy or stress and anxiety and support you sleep. The concentrate is on intellect and entire body integration, which can aid you increase your psychological well-remaining.
You can also use meditation apps to cut down worry and assistance manage your mindfulness routine. These absolutely free or low-cost apps are wonderful for newbies.
Go through much more:Headspace Assessment: Get Instruments for Mindfulness, Meditation and Additional for Just $5 a Month
Other simple strategies to increase your mental health and fitness without having remedy:
Exercising: A number of psychological overall health gains are linked with exercise, like relieving nervousness or enhancing your mood. Exercising also can enhance your assurance and release endorphins. You you should not have to bounce straight into major lifting any physical exercise can assist.
Go exterior and soak up the sunlight: Sunlight boosts serotonin in the mind, which can enhance your temper. When you will not get sufficient sun, your serotonin ranges fall, top to seasonal affective ailment.
Prioritize your slumber:Inadequate sleep is joined to a greater threat of anxiousness or melancholy, bad temper and higher worry degrees. Prioritize your snooze by sticking to your bedtime routine — get prepared for bed by doing some thing calming, aim for the identical bedtime each and every night time and transform off your screens.
Just take a stage again from social media: Consistent social media use can boost signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety and melancholy. A electronic detox may possibly be warranted if you look at by yourself to others on the web or discover a dip in your mental health and fitness. Start out by limiting your time on social media. Then, try to fill that time with matters you take pleasure in or people you like expending time with.
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When must I see a therapist?
Self-directed remedy and effectively-staying practices are extremely helpful, but they are not the be-all and conclude-all in psychological health. Deal with time with a certified therapist is vital for individuals with significant situations and symptoms.
The to start with issue you must do is look at your insurance plan. Employer-presented insurance policies and Medicaid may address screenings, psychotherapy and counseling. Your coverage protection will depend on your state and your overall health strategy, but several strategies involve psychological wellbeing protection for in-network therapists.
Read a lot more: How to Uncover the Best Therapist Around You
Your funds shouldn’t halt you from obtaining the support you require. It may well take some investigate into therapists and systems, but there are minimal-expense possibilities.
Sliding scale payments: Some therapists present sliding scale fees — you pay out what you can pay for. The charge will be centered on your income. Not all therapists provide this, but lots of do.
Very low-price or free products and services: Some therapists offer reduced-expense or cost-free counseling for unique and group sessions. If you dwell near a university or university, the graduate section might supply free or discounted treatment sessions.
Area and on line help teams: Regional corporations and volunteers in quite a few spots supply assistance teams for issues like grief and addiction. Use Mental Wellness America’s record of assistance groups to come across one that most effective fits your requirements. You can participate in a peer-led help group by means of the Countrywide Alliance of Mental Disease (NAMI).
See also
The info contained in this report is for instructional and informational functions only and is not intended as well being or clinical information. Usually check with a physician or other qualified wellness service provider with regards to any questions you may perhaps have about a clinical issue or overall health goals.
Intermittent Fasting Not Linked To Long-Phrase Fat Reduction, Examine Displays
A research undermines intermittent fasting as a body weight command trick, while a different research exhibits that folks with a bigger BMI metabolize vitamin D in different ways. Meanwhile, there is certainly pushback on the new AAP childhood being overweight therapy guidelines
When it comes to getting rid of body weight, how substantially food stuff you eat very likely issues additional than the timing of your foods, in accordance to a study released Wednesday in the Journal of the American Coronary heart Association. (Bendix, 1/18)
Vitamin D may well be metabolized in another way in people today with a larger overall body mass index, according to a new research from Boston researchers who observed that the vitamin’s benefits could depend on someone’s human body bodyweight. Scientists from Brigham and Women’s Clinic concluded that people with an elevated BMI experienced a “blunted response” to vitamin D supplementation — which the researchers stated describes distinctions in outcomes, these types of as cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune disease. (Sobey, 1/18)
Faith Anne Heeren vividly remembers the working day she first became mindful of her pounds. It was to start with grade. Nurses arrived to her North Carolina personal college to follow using vitals, which included weighing in front of the full course. (Rodriguez, 1/19)
The Food and drug administration, in 2014, later accredited a GLP-1 RA for persistent body weight administration. Extra medications in the class have due to the fact been permitted for pounds reduction. Of the almost 35 million People with form 2 diabetes, much more than just one in 10 have been approximated to be having these prescription drugs in 2019, in accordance to the Journal of the American Health-related Association. (Rosen, 1/19)
For decades, wellbeing advocates have chided the tobacco business for promoting hazardous nicotine products and solutions to young children, ensuing in more towns and states, like New York, outlawing flavored tobacco merchandise, which include e-cigarettes. Now as hashish outlets proliferate throughout the place, the very same concerns are escalating over the packaging and promoting of flavored cannabis that critics say could entice children to partake of goods labeled “mad mango,” “loud lemon” and “peach desire.” (Calvan, 1/19)
As they increase older, a lot of People begin to imagine about the very best time to retire. Nevertheless a new review throws some warning symptoms close to that final decision — as retiring early could actually worsen people’s health. A new paper posted in the Journal of Financial Habits & Organization indicates that early retirement may perhaps accelerate cognitive decrease in late adulthood. (Sudhakar, 1/18)
Vitality conservation insurance policies may possibly guide to higher mortality charges and other community wellness penalties, a new research exhibits. Researchers approximated that about 7,710 persons died prematurely in Japan every 12 months for the duration of electricity financial savings strategies in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima catastrophe, as the authorities sought to avert popular electrical power shortages. Most of the excess fatalities occurred through the warm summer months as elderly residents averted strength-intense air conditioning. (Oda, 1/19)
As CEOs and world leaders gather for the Globe Financial Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, they might be surprised to see much less snow out of the window than common on the country’s luminous peaks. Report-breaking temperatures in the Alps are just just one signal of the influence local weather alter is obtaining on earth Earth. (Kerry, 1/18)
Canadian wellness officers have overhauled their pointers for liquor intake, warning that no amount of money is healthful and recommending that folks cut down drinking as substantially as probable. The new guidelines, issued Tuesday, signify a major change from the previous ones released in 2011, which advised that women of all ages take in no additional than 10 drinks per 7 days and that guys restrict them selves to 15. (Levenson, 1/18)
KHN:
Viewers And Tweeters Diagnose Greed And Chronic Agony In US Overall health Treatment System
KHN provides visitors a possibility to comment on a new batch of stories. (1/19)
A lesion eliminated by surgeons very last week from first woman Jill Biden’s remaining eyelid was a non-cancerous growth, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, medical doctor to President Joe Biden, mentioned Wednesday. O’Connor reported in a memo unveiled by the White Dwelling that a biopsy confirmed that the legion was seborrheic keratosis, a “very prevalent, absolutely harmless, non-cancerous expansion.” (1/19)
Trans and nonbinary adolescents who receive gender-affirming hormones encounter fewer melancholy and stress and anxiety and additional fulfillment with life than in advance of the remedy, in accordance to a new examine revealed Wednesday in the New England Journal of Drugs. (Gaffney, 1/18)
Today’s teens and tweens have never ever known a environment without social media. There are nonetheless a whole lot of open issues about how internet sites like TikTok and Instagram may condition their improvement — and stories concentrating on the prospective damaging impacts of social media are inclined to dominate the information. But a latest review published in JAMA Pediatrics is the latest in a developing physique of research that implies the romantic relationship that youthful people today have with social media is way too difficult to be categorized as basically very good or negative. (Fitzgerald, 1/19)
What is more critical: being physically in shape or getting financially healthy? For just one-third of Individuals (33{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c}), their physical and psychological properly-being is additional essential than their monetary overall health, according to a modern survey.
Of study course, bodily conditioning and economical well being are not mutually unique. Typically a person affects the other, and entry to wellbeing added benefits might support each. In truth, study displays, having healthcare insurance is associated with extra proper use of medical products and services and greater overall health.
Study Extra: 7 ideas for selecting your well being rewards for 2023
Go through More: Enterprise leaders to observe in 2022: Heather Kane, UnitedHealthcare
The new calendar year may perhaps be a superior time to time for individuals to take stock of their current wellness position and review what sources may perhaps be readily available to them as a result of their insurance policy prepare. Here are five strategies that might support optimize the value of a wellbeing prepare, irrespective of whether it is as a result of an employer, point out-centered trade, or government-sponsored systems such as Medicare or Medicaid:
Have an understanding of your prepare. To support make exceptional health treatment choices, it is significant for people to totally understand how their plan functions, together with how to recognize network care experts and any out-of-pocket fees that are expected in advance of protection begins. However past research has shown that some people today battle to absolutely comprehend popular health and fitness treatment phrases and ideas, together with plan quality, deductible and co-insurance policy. For folks with accessibility to a overall health price savings account (HSA), it is crucial to be aware that contribution restrictions for 2023 will enhance to $3,850 for persons and $7,750 for loved ones protection. Much more broadly, folks may possibly be capable to increase health and fitness literacy by traveling to internet sites like JustPlainClear.com, which supplies definitions for 1000’s of prevalent wellbeing care phrases in English and Spanish. Bettering “health treatment literacy” could stop almost 1 million healthcare facility visits and help you save about $25 billion a year, according to a single research.
Tap into technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered how and where persons want to get health and fitness care, with 71{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of Us residents indicating they are fascinated in continuing to use digital treatment to obtain clinical companies, up from 53{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} in 2021. In response to the pandemic, most employers expanded their virtual care offerings to aid remotely address almost everything from urgent care troubles to primary care and behavioral health demands. Some overall health options are including other virtual plans, together with kinds similar to actual physical remedy, dermatology, and women’s wellness.
Check out for wellness plans: Most U.S. companies offer nicely-staying plans, as do numerous Medicare Edge options. Amongst individuals with access to an employer-sponsored wellness application, 75{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} mentioned it has positively impacted their health and fitness. To make these initiatives even additional interesting, some overall health plans are supplying benefits for simply finishing sure nutritious activities. These may contain things like filling out a health and fitness survey, deciding on a major care doctor, having a biometric screening, conference particular movement plans, and tracking slumber. Additionally, rather of virtual coins or benefits that can only be employed to aid pay for professional medical treatment, some programs are permitting members to generate reward cards worth hundreds of bucks on a yearly basis — and to expend them on the other hand they desire. Other than these incentives, individuals need to also appear for packages that function wearable gadgets and digital exercise applications, which can give daily opinions on activity degrees and supply obtain to are living or on-demand from customers health lessons.
Comparison shop for treatment primarily based on excellent and price tag. The high-quality and price of overall health treatment can change extensively within a company space, even though there could be tiny to no further improvement in wellness results from care performed by higher-priced providers. With that in brain, a recent study identified that 60{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of People in america said they have made use of the internet or cell apps for the duration of the past year to comparison shop for wellbeing care. When current nationwide rules have served to produce better transparency all-around healthcare facility costs, folks may well come across much more reliable estimates by way of their health and fitness approach. Just before scheduling a professional medical appointment, a man or woman need to verify with their strategy to critique high-quality and price tag facts, ideally making use of estimates based on real contracted fees that are primarily based on that individual’s prepare. Some health plans empower customers to evaluate out-of-pocket expenses before health-related care is sent, supporting acquire the guesswork out of the prices of health-related providers. Other techniques include things like examining publicly obtainable transparency resources, inquiring a medical professional or their aid team how much the service will charge, or contacting all over to other neighborhood health care providers to request about pricing.
Bundle gains: When people may perhaps are inclined to concentration on health care coverage for the duration of open enrollment, it is important that specialty positive aspects this sort of as eyesight, dental, hearing, and accident protection not be disregarded. In a survey, 87{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of workers said obtaining entry to these specialty added benefits is “important.” As well as, people who blend professional medical coverage with specialty benefits through a one wellbeing treatment enterprise could be in a position to benefit from extra scientific methods, which may possibly help flag gaps in care and reduce the overall price of care. They may well also stimulate the use of far more preventive treatment companies these types of as annual eye exams or enamel cleanings.
By thinking of these suggestions, persons may make far more knowledgeable choices associated to health treatment protection and accessibility, when endorsing perfectly-getting and helping stop illness in advance of it begins.
Writer:Dr. Donna O’Shea is chief professional medical officer of populace wellness management for UnitedHealthcare.
Professional runners know that the principal goal, in the closing two times ahead of a marathon, is to primary the overall body to complete at its peak amount and the body’s technique should consequently functionality as proficiently and correctly as achievable. In other text, runners have to stick to the philosophy that there is nothing they can do to achieve exercise in the previous week of schooling, so they have to aim on encouraging their body really feel as superior as possible.
Your muscle groups need to be in a position to activate the optimum share of their fibers and fireplace them forcefully and your coronary heart need to be prepared to pump oxygen-abundant blood where by it is needed so what can one do? In an job interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Vijay D’Silva, Medical Director, TMM and Director of Vital Care at Asian Heart Institute, “This is the most vital time to just take further care of your overall body and prepare mentally for the major working day. While you have 48 several hours on the clock just before the marathon, likely with the movement and becoming flexible are the vital components to achievements. There are so several issues you can not management, so it is really all about dealing with the chaos and the strain of opposition working with the minimum amount of money of energy.”
A several times right before the function, the precedence is to increase blood circulation to your muscles and it is so simply because though running, the blood vessels in your muscle tissue dilate to enable far more oxygen-wealthy blood together with crucial nutrition, as nicely as the hormones significant for recovery. Dr D’Silva proposed a handful of recommendations to bear in brain while you have 48 several hours left for the race:
1. Continue to be hydrated – To gain a race, hydration is the vital. Make sure to consume a good deal of water. You can also pre-load by yourself with drinking water a day right before.
2. Eat light and healthful – Abide by your typical diet program and try to eat light-weight foodstuff that will support you by way of the run. Steer clear of fatty, greasy, oily food items and liquor. If probable, distribute your food every 3-4 hrs somewhat than relying on big main meals.
3. Mild exercises are optional – Check out light-weight jogging if you have race jitters or stretch the body to heat your overall body. Test to give your legs proper rest in advance of the marathon.
4. Decreasing teaching intensity – This will permit the overall body to get better adequately from teaching, rebuild muscle tissues and get enough rest.
5. Meditate and have a superior night’s slumber – No matter how fantastic your planning has been, likely with a chaotic intellect can distract you from the marathon. It is improved to meditate to steer clear of strain and give the physique whole relaxation with a superior night’s rest.
Airplane Wastewater Screening Among Tools Used To Keep Up With Variants
Efforts to scan for potential new covid variants include bio surveillance for international passengers at U.S. airports — including airplane bathroom waste. Meanwhile, CIDRAP covers a relevant statistic: nearly 1 in 4 screened air passengers from China were covid positive.
As Covid-19 cases explode in China and new viral threats loom, the Biden administration is ramping up surveillance of biological samples from international passengers arriving at U.S. airports to scan for new virus variants and other hazards to Americans’ health. (Mahr, 1/16)
It’s early morning at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.,and Ana Valdez is already hard at work at one of the international gates. “Hello everybody. Welcome,” she shouts with a big smile as arriving travelers flood through two large swinging doors. “Do you like to help the CDC to find new variants for COVID?” Valdez works for a year-old program that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently expanded to try to spot new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, coming into the country. The most recent expansion was prompted by China’s abrupt decision to abandon its zero-COVID policy. (Stein, 1/14)
Italian officials who screened 556 airline passengers from two Chinese provinces in late December found that almost a quarter of them tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with one flight having 42{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of passengers infected, according to a report yesterday in Eurosurveillance. (Wappes, 1/13)
China has yet to detect any dangerous Covid mutations in the six weeks since the virus was unleashed on the country’s 1.4 billion people after the abandonment of the rigid curbs that held the pathogen largely at bay. (Fay Cortez, 1/13)
During a busy shift at the height of Beijing’s COVID wave, a physician at a private hospital saw a printed notice in the emergency department: doctors should “try not to” write COVID-induced respiratory failure on death certificates. Instead, if the deceased had an underlying disease, that should be named as the main cause of death, according to the notice, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. (Pollard and Tham, 1/17)
Chinese authorities have acknowledged that supplies of Paxlovid are still insufficient to meet demand, even as Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said last week that thousands of courses of the treatment were shipped to the country last year and in the past couple of weeks millions more were shipped. (Yu and Pollard, 1/15)
China’s population shrank last year for the first time since the immediate aftermath of a devastating famine in the Mao era, in a clear sign that the country is facing a looming demographic crisis worsened by decades of coercive policy that limited most families to a single child. (Shepherd, 1/17)
Maternal Death Risks Increase With Covid Infection During Pregnancy: Study
New research identifies other dangers that covid can cause for patients who are pregnant, including a greater risk of being admitted to an intensive care unit and developing pneumonia. The chances of preterm birth and other severe outcomes are also higher for newborns.
Pregnant people infected with the coronavirus have a seven times higher risk of dying compared with pregnant individuals who are not infected, a finding that arrives amid renewed calls for vaccination of those who are expecting a baby. Researchers, whose findings were published Monday in the journal BMJ Global Health, pooled patient data from more than 13,000 pregnant individuals included in 12 studies from 12 countries, including the United States. Along with a higher death rate, infected pregnant people had a greater risk of being admitted to an intensive care unit, needing a ventilator or developing pneumonia if they have a coronavirus infection. (Malhi, 1/16)
A new scientific review published Monday found that a COVID-19 infection at any time during a pregnancy increases the risk of maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidities and adverse newborn outcomes. (Sforza, 1/16)
People who exercise regularly had lower rates of hospitalization and death from Covid-19 in a study published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. … This latest study goes a step further and suggests that even people whose age or health conditions make them higher-risk have better outcomes if they are regular exercisers. (Janin, 1/16)
“Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 now accounts for 73{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of all sequenced COVID-19 cases in NYC,” the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene tweeted on Friday. “XBB.1.5 is the most transmissible form of COVID-19 that we know of to date and may be more likely to infect people who have been vaccinated or already had COVID-19.” (Musto, 1/14)
The Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is still gaining ground within the United States, accounting for at least 43{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of sequenced cases from the last week, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Scribner, 1/14)
A new subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly taking over in the U.S.—the most transmissible that has ever been detected. It’s called XBB.1.5, in reference to its status as a hybrid of two prior strains of Omicron, BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75. It’s also called “Kraken.” Not by everyone, though. The nickname Kraken was ginned up by an informal group of scientists on Twitter and has caught on at some—but only some—major news outlets. (Engber, 1/13)
In the wake of the Golden Globes last week, several celebrities said they have tested positive for COVID-19. At least four stars, including Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Pfeiffer, revealed they contracted the virus following the awards show. (Kekatos, 1/16)
The coronavirus has been detected in nearly 400 domestic pets, including cats and dogs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It has also been detected in captive zoo animals such as tigers, lions, gorillas, snow leopards, and otters. But experts say transmission among wild species is also common, even though federal officials have so far only detected the virus that causes COVID-19 in three so far —mink, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. (Vaziri, 1/13)
A significant proportion of individuals with long COVID may face lifelong disabilities, according to a comprehensive review of studies of the little-understood post-infection condition published Friday by researchers at Scripps and the Patient-Led Research Collaborative. (Vaziri, 1/13)
What is it like to live with the chronic fatigue of long covid? It feels like dragging your body through wet cement, says Judy Schaefer, 58, a once avid hiker who lives in Seattle. It’s knowing that simple tasks, like showering or cooking dinner, will be exhausting, says Alyssa Minor, 36, a physiotherapist in Calgary. It’s trying to exercise and instead, landing in the ER, says Harry Leeming, 31, of London. (Morris, 1/16)
At the first sign of a sniffle or stormy weather ahead Lourdes Lopez keeps her 10-year-old daughter, Alison, home from school. Alison has Down syndrome and is more vulnerable to illness. A cold can be a major hardship, Lopez said, not only for her daughter but her entire family living in an overcrowded apartment in South Los Angeles. (Reyes-Velarde and Blume, 1/16)
Flu activity continues in the United States, but markers continue to decline across most of the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update, which covers the week ending Jan 7. The percentage of outpatient visits for flulike illness dropped from 5.4{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} to 4{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} last week. Twenty-three jurisdictions reported high (21) or very high (2) flu activity, another indicator of clinic visits for flu, down from 39 in the previous reporting week. Sites still reporting very high flu activity include New York City and New Mexico. (Schnirring, 1/13)
Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said on Monday it has removed online-only purchase limits for its over-the-counter pediatric fever-reducing products, as supply conditions improve. (1/16)
