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☆ Monkeypox emergency orders are set to expire, but eradication isn't likely
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

San Francisco will not renew its monkeypox public health emergency declaration when it expires at the end of the month. Many experts are optimistic that, eventually, the U.S. could sometimes see no new monkeypox cases within a limited time frame. That’s unfortunately the reality of public health in the U.S., and it needs to change," Roess said. Racial inequities also persist in vaccine distribution, so Black and Hispanic people consequently make up a disproportionate share of monkeypox cases. Despite the delays and failings in the U.S., Morse said, the monkeypox outbreak "could have been a lot worse."

Seattle and Portland, Oregon, were first and second, respectively, in the global ranking of places with the poorest air quality, according to IQAir, a Swiss company that measures air pollution. Air quality issues have persisted for about a month because of the prolonged fires burning west of the Cascades. That’s what’s been contributing to the persistent air quality issues we’ve had." Sports and other outdoor activities in the Pacific Northwest have been called off due to the poor air quality. The problem is worst in the West, where rising air pollution levels due to smoke have reversed decades of improvements in overall air quality.

☆ Gas stoves can leak chemicals linked to cancer, mounting evidence shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Natural gas stoves and ovens can leak harmful chemicals inside homes even when they're not in use. The World Health Organization has said there’s no safe level of benzene exposure when it comes to cancer risk. Decades of research has suggested that gas stoves are a source of indoor air pollution. Another co-author of the study, Drew Michanowicz, previously identified 21 hazardous air pollutants from gas stoves and outdoor gas lines at Boston homes. Pregnant women, infants and young children may be particularly susceptible to adverse health outcomes from long-term benzene exposure, De Vizcaya Ruiz said.

☆ Babies born to Black mothers who use fertility treatments die at far higher rates than those born to white mothers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Babies born to Black mothers are twice as likely to die in the first month than infants born to white women. That death rate was 1.6% among babies born to Black mothers, compared with just 0.3% for babies born to white mothers. Death rates were twice as high among newborns of Asian, Pacific Islander and Hispanic mothers who used fertility technologies compared with babies born to white mothers. Black women are also twice as likely to have stillbirths or preterm births than white women, according to Lisonkova's study. Indeed, Black women in the study who conceived using fertility treatments were slighter older on average than white women who did so.

☆ How to survive a nuclear bomb attack: Minute-by-minute steps to protect yourself
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Aria Bendix | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

If a nuclear bomb were headed toward the US, residents would have 30 minutes or less to shelter. Russian Presidential Press Service/APA nuclear attack remains highly unlikely, but it's not out of the question, experts say. Redlener said the best way to learn of an impending nuclear attack would probably be TV or radio. Survivors of a nuclear attack would have about 15 minutes before sandlike radioactive particles, known as nuclear fallout, reached the ground. The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends staying indoors for at least 24 hours after a nuclear explosion.

"Look we all love Emmanuel the Emu but he has avian flu. Avian flu experts, too, said touching an infected emu isn't advisable, given that the virus can jump from animals to humans in rare cases. H5N1, the bird flu strain currently spreading, is highly contagious among birds, and it can be deadly to them. "Once an avian virus can move to mammals, now we’re in the realm of 'Yeah, we better be careful.'" All three experts said scientists are watching this bird flu closely even though the risk to humans is low.

☆ Surge in cases of RSV, a virus that can severely sicken infants, is filling hospital beds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Aria Bendix | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

He tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a common virus that causes lung infections. Aesop was moved to a pediatric ICU on Tuesday after his heart and breathing rates soared. Many RSV patients in Massachusetts are being transferred to nearby states, she added. At Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago, hospital and ICU beds have been full for over a month. He said the volume of RSV patients is "two to three times what we've ever experienced."

☆ Surge in RSV, virus that can severely sicken infants, fills hospital beds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

He tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a common virus that causes lung infections. Aesop was moved to a pediatric ICU on Tuesday after his heart and breathing rates soared. Many RSV patients in Massachusetts are being transferred to nearby states, she added. At Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago, hospital and ICU beds have been full for over a month. He said the volume of RSV patients is "two to three times what we’ve ever experienced."

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine raises a harrowing question: How widespread would fallout from a nuclear bomb be?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Aria Bendix | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"Ukraine doesn't have nuclear weapons, so the risk of nuclear war in this scenario is if, somehow, the conflict escalated to pull in NATO countries or the US," she added. "That raises the risk of nuclear confrontation because some of the NATO countries have nuclear weapons." The US, for instance, has about 5,500 nuclear weapons, while Russia has about 6,000, according to the Federation of American Scientists. When a nuclear bomb strikes, it sets off a flash of light, a giant orange fireball, and building-toppling shockwaves. The fallout of a nuclear bomb also depends on how a country chooses to detonate it.

☆ Babies born during the pandemic may have delayed communication skills
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Babies born into Covid-related lockdowns have taken longer to reach certain developmental milestones than babies born pre-pandemic, a study found. The results were based on a questionnaire given to parents of 309 babies in Ireland during the pandemic. In January, researchers at Columbia University found that babies born in New York City from March to December 2020 had less developed motor and social skills by six months than babies born between November 2017 and January 2020. Contrary to the other observed trends, the researchers in Ireland found that 97% of pandemic babies were able to crawl at 1 year compared to 91% of babies born earlier. Her team will continue to observe the same babies to see how their communication skills change by age 2, or perhaps even older.

☆ In a novel experiment, brain-like human tissue implanted in rat brains influenced the rodents' behavior
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Their results, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, showed that the brain-like human tissue integrated with the rat tissue, then continued to mature. The researchers injected the human tissue into the rats’ somatosensory cortexes — regions that receive and process sensory information like touch or pain. The researchers also used a puff of air to prod the rats’ whiskers, then observed how the human neurons responded. "We found that human neurons respond very quickly after we stimulated the whiskers. "Human neurons become part of the rat circuitry," Pașca said, adding that the neurons were "sparkling with electrical activity" under a microscope.

☆ Covid death rates higher among Republicans than Democrats, research shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Covid deaths are unevenly distributed among Republicans and Democrats. Excess death rates in Florida and Ohio were 153% higher among Republicans than Democrats during that time, the paper showed. But the June study suggested that Covid vaccine uptake explained just 10% of the partisan gap in the deaths. Both Wallace and Sehgal said their studies shouldn't be misinterpreted as blaming Republicans for Covid deaths. Gerald predicted that the partisan gap in Covid deaths could narrow over time as more people get Covid and acquire immunity, regardless of their vaccination status.

☆ New research points to health benefits of eating earlier in the day and within a 10-hour window
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

That eating window also improved blood pressure and blood sugar levels among firefighters with underlying health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Late eating could 'tip the scale' toward weight gainThe first of the two new studies involved 16 people who were overweight or obese. The researchers measured participants' hormone levels and found that late eating decreased levels of leptin — a hormone that helps people feel full — by 16% on average. Late eating also doubled the odds that people felt hungry (people self-reported their appetite level at 18 times throughout the day). Among firefighters with pre-existing risk factors for heart disease, time-restricted eating decreased blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

☆ Pandemic may have altered some personalities to be more neurotic, less agreeable
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Adults became less extroverted, open, agreeable and conscientious during the pandemic, a new study found. Past research has already demonstrated that personalities can change as we age or develop new habits like exercising. Past research has not found an association between exposure to natural disasters and personality changes. Damian's past research has also not found an overall change in personality traits among those affected by major storms like Hurricane Harvey. Sutin said one possible reason personalities didn't seem to change at the start of the pandemic is that there was a more hopeful attitude in 2020.

☆ Less than 2% of U.S. adults have gotten updated Covid booster shots
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

At least 4.4 million people have received an updated Covid booster since the start of the month, according to data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC signed off on updated versions of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s booster shots on Sept. 1, and pharmacies and other vaccination sites began administering the new shots around Labor Day weekend. As of Tuesday, the U.S. had shipped more than 25 million bivalent booster doses to tens of thousands of sites. Some pharmacies reported shortages of Moderna's updated booster earlier this week. Biden administration officials have pointed to the updated boosters, however, as a critical step to pushing the U.S. out of the pandemic.

☆ Babies smile over carrots and scowl over kale inside the womb
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Fetuses in the womb scowled after their mothers ate kale but smiled after they ate carrots, according to a new study of around 100 pregnant women and their fetuses in England. Thirty-five women consumed the equivalent of one medium carrot, and 34 women consumed the equivalent of 100 grams of chopped kale. An image from the FETAP (Fetal Taste Preferences) study showing a grimacing reaction to kale flavor. The grimaces in the ultrasounds "might be just the muscle movements which are reacting to a bitter flavor," Reissland said. In designing the new study, Reissland and her team chose powdered kale and carrots over juices or raw vegetables for a few reasons.

☆ New bill aims to curtail surprise medical bills for sexual assault survivors
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A bill introduced Monday in the House of Representatives would require private health insurance to cover forensic exams for sexual assault survivors in full. For an exam to be free under the law, it must be conducted by an accredited nurse known as a sexual assault nurse examiner, or SANE, but many victims of sexual violence don't know to seek that out. The new bill was introduced by Reps. Linda T. Sánchez, D-Calif.; Gwen Moore, D-Wis.; and Carol Miller, R-W.Va. The lawmakers' hope is that survivors with private insurance would not get billed for an exam, regardless of where it's performed. "This legislation is needed because too many survivors, grappling with trauma, also become burdened with the cost of a forensic medical exam — even though they shouldn’t be," Moore said in a statement.

☆ Covid will be a leading cause of death in the U.S. indefinitely, whether or not the pandemic is 'over'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Aria Bendix | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

But disease experts said debating whether the pandemic is over overshadows a more important concern: the reality that Covid will remain a leading cause of death in the U.S. indefinitely. Since April, Covid deaths have stayed relatively flat, at a weekly average of around 300 to 500 per day. Predicting Covid's future death tollThe Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, a research organization at the University of Washington that regularly models Covid deaths, predicts a decline in Covid deaths over the next two months. Covid death numbers could also fall if hospitals stop routinely testing people for the virus. Murray estimated that half of annual Covid deaths may fall into that category.

☆ Drinking tea may lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease and death, mounting research shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Mounting evidence suggests that drinking several cups of tea per day has numerous health benefits, including lowering one's risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and overall mortality. The risk of developing diabetes went down by 1% for each additional daily cup. The study also revealed an association between drinking multiple cups of tea and a lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Antioxidants in tea could reduce inflammationThe health benefits of drinking tea may have to do with polyphenols, compounds found naturally in plants that provide antioxidants. Inoue-Choi's study did not, however, find any association between drinking tea and a reduced risk of death from cancer.

☆ Sexual assault victims billed for hospital exams that should be free
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Some victims of sexual assault are paying out of pocket for their emergency room care, even though federal law requires that their forensic exams be free. The Violence Against Women Act, a federal law enacted in 1994, stipulates that people cannot be charged for a forensic exam after a sexual assault. The new research did not differentiate between costs that should be covered under federal law and other supplementary medical services. Salganicoff said several organizations that assist victims of sexual assault provide lists of hospitals with forensic exam providers. According to the KFF report, some states offer more free medical services associated with the forensic exam than others.

☆ Nearly half of bald and golden eagles in the US have chronic lead poisoning, most likely from bullet fragments
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-17 | by ( Aria Bendix | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Nearly half of bald and golden eagles in the US have chronic lead poisoning, a study found. Of that sample, 47% of bald eagles and 46% of golden eagles had signs of chronic lead poisoning. The researchers estimated that lead poisoning slowed the annual population growth of bald eagles by 4% and golden eagles by 1%. Neither golden eagles nor bald eagles are endangered species. Up to 33% of bald eagles and up to 35% of golden eagles in the study showed signs of acute lead poisoning.

Persons: —, Todd Katzner, Mike McTee What's, Katzner, hadn't, Vince Slabe, Slabe Organizations: Eagles, Service, Geological Survey, Raptor Center, University of Minnesota, Conservation Science, California Department of Fish, New York Department of Environmental, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Locations: Alaska, Florida, Maine, California, New York Department of Environmental Conservation

☆ A nuclear attack would most likely target one of these 6 US cities — but an expert says none of them are prepared
▼ + stars: | 2019-12-17 | by ( Aria Bendix | Taylor Ardrey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A nuclear attack on US soil would most likely target one of six cities: New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Washington, DC. A nuclear attack in a large metropolitan area is one of the 15 disaster scenarios for which the US Federal Emergency Management Agency has an emergency strategy. That includes the six urban areas that Redlener thinks are the most likely targets of a nuclear attack: New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. "Can you imagine a public official keeping buildings intact for fallout shelters when the real-estate market is so tight?" Both experts agreed that for a city to be prepared for a nuclear attack, it must acknowledge that such an attack is possible — even if the threat is remote.

☆ 9 cities and towns where you can get a home for free — or buy one at a massive discount
▼ + stars: | 2019-03-28 | by ( Aria Bendix | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Many cities and towns have taken to giving away abandoned homes for free, or selling them at minimal prices. Some local governments even offer stipends or discounts to encourage buyers to renovate old properties. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. AdvertisementAdvertisementWe've rounded up the locations where you can find a home for free or at a major discount. The list includes small towns like Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as major urban areas like Baltimore, Maryland, and Tokyo, Japan.

Organizations: Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, America, Tulsa , Oklahoma, Baltimore , Maryland, Tokyo, Japan

☆ An Indiana city is selling $1 homes to save itself from decay. Here's what you can get for the money.
▼ + stars: | 2019-01-09 | by ( Aria Bendix | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The city of Gary, Indiana, is selling a handful of homes for just $1, but buyers are expected to renovate them within one year. About a third of homes in Gary are unoccupied or abandoned, but the government remains optimistic that it can breathe new life into its neighborhoods. More than half of its population has disappeared since 1960, and a third of its homes remain unoccupied or abandoned. A housing coordinator for the city's Department of Community Development told The Times of Northwest Indiana that renovations to dollar homes could cost about $20,000 to $30,000. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Department of Community Development lists a dozen $1 homes on its website, all of which have been purchased.

Persons: Read, That's Organizations: Service, city's Department of Community Development, Times, of Community Development Locations: Gary , Indiana, Gary, Wall, Silicon, Northwest Indiana

☆ San Francisco has a 'Poop Patrol' to deal with its feces problem, and workers make more than $184,000 a year in salary and benefits
▼ + stars: | 2018-08-23 | by ( Aria Bendix | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Employees of San Francisco's "Poop Patrol" are set to earn $71,760 a year, plus an additional $112,918 in benefits, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. AdvertisementAdvertisementIn San Francisco, you can earn more than $184,000 a year in salary and benefits for cleaning up feces. As members of the city's "Poop Patrol," workers are entitled to $71,760 a year, plus an additional $112,918 in benefits, such as healthcare and retirement savings, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. As San Francisco faces a shortage of affordable housing, it has struggled to accommodate its more than 7,400 homeless residents. The city's feces problem is a visible reminder of the gap between its rich and poor.

Persons: London Breed Organizations: San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Department of Public, San Francisco, London, NBC Locations: San, Francisco, —, San Francisco

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