News
Medicare Announces New End-of-Life Policies
Medicare Announces Plans to Give People Greater Say In How They Die The federal healthcare program Medicare, which is responsible for giving coverage to 55 million older or disabled Americans, announced their plans to reimburse doctors if they would have conversations with their older patients about how long they would like to be kept alive …
Donating Plasma – Are You Selling Yourself Short?
Written by Caitlin Schille The plasma donation business has ballooned into an enormous industry, and the demand allows plasma donors to be paid for their donation. People looking to make a quick buck can spend an hour or two donating their plasma for payouts of $40 or more per visit. Some question whether this is …
Fashions Trends That Rose From the Dead
10 fashions you thought were dead but are very alive Jumpsuits Picking out shorts/pants to match a shirt seemed to be too much work for some girls in the ‘80s, so what did designers do? They made full-body articles of clothing, and named them jumpsuits. Fast-forward to 2015, and jumpsuits are back with a stylish …
Who’s Killing the Soda Taxes?
Controversy of the Month How the beverage industry shapes the conversation and the affects legislation surrounding sugary drinks In the past six years, dozens of states and cities across the nation have tried to pass legislation putting a tax on sugary drinks in order to decrease consumption. Two arguments clash again and again: one side …
The FDA Bans Trans Fat By 2018
Saving 7,000 lives each year by making one rule change in the food industry would definitely be a step in the right direction. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially announced that by the year 2018 no trans fats, also known as partially hydrogenated oils, will be permitted in any food. This big news will …
Highways and Health
The Health Effects of Living near Major Roads Written by Angela Silva It’s easy to be distracted by annoying sounds or bothered by loud noises when you’re trying to focus. Perhaps the neighbors play their music way too loud when you’re trying to sleep, or your coworkers have loud conversations near your desk as you …
The Far-Reaching Effects of Water Fluoridation
By Caitlin Schille Water fluoridation is a hotly contested topic in contemporary Western society. Lauded by some as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, other fringe groups blame it for rising ADHD rates and cite it as a cause of cancer. While water fluoridation certainly has clear oral health benefits, …
Safe Use of Over-the-Counter Medications, and FDA Changes
By Dr. Aristotle Economou Many people don’t realize that pills, even OTC, provide a lot of medication to the body – often more than the amount needed to simply dull the pain. This excess medicine must be included, because the liver acts as the filter for the body and knocks out about one third of …
New Phone App Let’s You Know About “Sick Zones” In Your Area
Social media and public health are now tied together in a new way with an app called Sickweather. The app gathers information from social media sites about illness-related posts and then generates map results and notifies you upon entering areas where a lot of sickness exists. We’ve all seen social media updates about illness. “I’m …
White House Joins Other World Leaders in Fight Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
The White House released an executive order recently calling antibiotic resistance a threat to national security, and declaring their commitment to fighting the problem, sometimes called Superbugs. Antiobiotic Misuse There are multiple reasons why certain strains of illness become resistant to common medication, according to the World Health Organization. “The evolution of resistant strains is …