[ad_1]
Bullies’ top tactic is social exclusion, also known as “relational aggression.” It involves shutting out peers from group activities and spreading false rumors about them.
[ad_2]
Source link
[ad_1]
Like everyone, we spent so much time at home over the past few years that I was getting a little sick of staring at the same walls. So, on a whim, we moved two pieces of art in our house — one was in the dining room and one was the living room, and we just swapped them. Afterward, the whole apartment felt surprisingly different! When my friend Andy stopped by, he dubbed it a “fakeover,” aka when you make over a space simply by moving stuff around.
Do you ever do that? I’m into it and want to become one of those people who is constantly rearranging the furniture.
(Also, everyone always asks where the rug is from, and this is the brand!)
P.S. Our dining room makeover, and what slang do you use?
(Photos by Christine Han for Cup of Jo.)
[ad_2]
Source link
[ad_1]
While green tea has a long-standing reputation for health benefits, research has been much more mixed on black tea. One problem, says Maki Inoue-Choi, an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute, is that large observational studies on tea and mortality have focused on countries like Japan or China—places where green tea is more popular.
To fill this gap, Inoue-Choi and her colleagues analyzed data in the United Kingdom, where black tea drinking is common. After surveying about 500,000 people and following them for a median of 11 years, the results, published Aug. 29 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, gave black tea a boost. Among the population of tea drinkers—89% of whom drank black tea, compared to 7% who drank green—drinking tea was associated with a modestly lower mortality risk for those who had two or more cups a day compared to non-drinkers. People who added milk or sugar also experienced the benefit, and the results remained consistent regardless of the tea’s temperature. The findings also indicate that tea drinkers had a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and stroke than those who didn’t drink tea.
While it’s difficult to say why people who drink tea may live longer, it’s not entirely a surprise. According to Inoue-Choi, tea is “very rich in bioactive compounds” that reduce stress and inflammation, including polyphenols and flavonoids.
A 2020 study that used the same British database as the new research found that there’s an association between higher consumption of both black and green tea and biomarkers that predict cardiometabolic health, including lower cholesterol levels. Research has also suggested that tea can help lower blood pressure.
Going forward, researchers should take a closer look at the connection between tea and cardiovascular disease, says Rob M. van Dam, professor of exercise and nutrition sciences at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, who did not participate in the study. One striking thing about the new research, he notes, is that there isn’t an association between increasing the dose of tea—the amount a person consumes—and decreased mortality after the person had consumed two or three cups. The exception, he said, is if you eliminate coffee drinkers, who may have made it harder to spot an association between increasing the amount of tea you drink and mortality because they had lower mortality during the study. Without the coffee drinkers, it became clearer that drinking tea was associated with a lower risk of dying of heart disease. “The association between tea consumption and cardiovascular mortality may be driving the association between tea consumption and all-cause mortality,” van Dam says.
None of this is to say, however, that you should run to your kettle. The new research is based on an observational study—meaning that the evidence wasn’t gathered from an experiment, and the results were inferred by the researchers. The findings shouldn’t be used to make health decisions, and must be replicated in randomized clinical trials, experts say. Plus, the magnitude of the association between tea drinking and mortality was modest, which means it’s likely that another characteristic of people who drink tea could have led to this effect, says van Dam. For instance, people who drink tea might hypothetically have been less likely to consume soft drinks.
As Inoue-Choi put it, the new findings should be reassuring to people who drink tea regularly. But “people shouldn’t change how many cups of tea to drink every day because of these results,” she says.
More Must-Read Stories From TIME
[ad_2]
Source link
[ad_1]
Theranica, an Israeli prescription digital therapeutics developer focused on migraine care, announced today that it has scored $45 million in Series C funding.
The round was led by New Rhein Healthcare Investors with participation from aMoon, Lightspeed Venture Partners, LionBird, Takoa Invest and Corundum Open Innovation.
The startup announced a $35 million Series B round of funding in 2019 and a $6 million Series A in 2017. Theranica said it will extend its Series C round of financing, with a final close planned for October.
WHAT THEY DO
The company offers Nerivio, a device worn on the arm that delivers low energy electrical pulses and pairs with a smartphone app. The wearable is worn for 45 minutes at the onset of a migraine and aims to trigger a conditioned pain modulation response to alleviate symptoms. The app can control the device’s intensity, monitor treatment duration, and pause or stop the device. It also serves as a “migraine diary” that can be shared with healthcare providers.
Nerivio received FDA De Novo clearance in 2019, and later received green lights from the agency to expand its use to people with chronic migraines and adolescents.
Theranica plans to use the capital from the Series C to expand its presence in the U.S.
“Over the last couple of years, we have verified the three fundamental conditions of a successful new prescribed therapy in the U.S.: healthcare providers have confidence in prescribing our Nerivio for treating migraine, patients get significant clinical benefit from using it and payers realize the importance of providing their insured members with access to this therapy. With this triad demonstrated, we needed the appropriate funding to unleash the huge potential of Nerivio in the U.S.,” Alon Ironi, CEO of Theranica, said in a statement.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Migraines are relatively common, affecting about 12% of the U.S. population. They’re more prevalent in women and can be disabling, with some sufferers reporting severe impairment in activities such as work or school.
Another digital health company in the migraine space is German startup Perfood, which focuses on personalized nutrition recommendations to prevent migraines. The company raised €5 million in Series A funding in 2020.
Singapore-based Healint also makes an app, called Migraine Buddy, to track triggers as well as which treatments are helpful. Specialty telehealth company Thirty Madison offers a migraine-focused product called Cove, where users can consult with providers and receive prescriptions.
Meanwhile, there are several startups focused on developing digital therapeutics. Akili, which makes an FDA-cleared video game-like therapeutic for children with ADHD, went public last week. Swing Therapeutics raised $10.5 million earlier this year to test its smartphone-administered therapeutic for fibromyalgia, which causes widespread musculoskeletal pain as well as fatigue, sleep, memory and mood problems.
[ad_2]
Source link
[ad_1]
The accuracy of digital symptom checkers for both triage and diagnosis is generally low, which could pose a risk to patient safety, according to a review of studies published in npj Digital Medicine.
Researchers compiled 10 studies that evaluated a total of 48 online symptom checkers. Half of the studies used real patients, while the other half studied simulated cases. The review found primacy diagnostic accuracy, or listing the correct diagnosis first, ranged from 19% to 38%. Top three diagnostic accuracy, which was evaluated in seven studies, ranged from 33% to 58%.
Triage accuracy, or sending users to the right level of care, was higher, ranging from 49% to 90%. Three studies examined cases by emergency status as well and two found symptom checkers were more accurate at triaging emergent cases. However, one study found triage accuracy for ophthalmic emergencies was lower than non-urgent cases, at 39% compared with 88%.
“Our review highlighted that both diagnostic and triage accuracies were generally low. Moreover, there is considerable variation across symptom checkers despite being presented with uniform symptom parameters. We also note that the diagnostic and triage accuracies of symptom checkers, as well as the variation in performance, were greatly dependent on the acuity of the condition assessed,” the review’s authors wrote.
“As a whole, these issues raise multiple concerns about the use of symptom checkers as patient-facing tools, especially given their increasingly endorsed role within health systems as triage services that direct patients towards appropriate treatment pathways.”
WHY IT MATTERS
Researchers noted some limitations to the review, including the use of simulated patient cases and the studies’ focus on high-income countries like the U.S. and the UK. They also said bias could be introduced in retrospective studies where information is collected after the event, variation in performance could be attributed to the difference between studies, and AI-enabled symptom checkers may improve over time.
However, the results raise concerns about using symptom checkers, particularly when they’re promoted by health systems to send patients to the correct care site. The study’s authors said there are also issues with transparency surrounding how symptom checkers are built and what context, patient demographics and clinical information are used.
“Given the increasing push towards adopting this class of technologies across numerous health systems, this study demonstrates that reliance upon symptom checkers could pose significant patient safety hazards,” they wrote. “Large-scale primary studies, based upon real-world data, are warranted to demonstrate the adequate performance of these technologies in a manner that is non-inferior to current best practices. Moreover, an urgent assessment of how these systems are regulated and implemented is required.”
THE LARGER TREND
There are a number of companies that offer digital symptom checkers. Digital health firm Babylon, which until recently was embedded with multiple NHS Trusts, offers an AI-backed triage chatbot. The company has been dialing back those NHS contracts as it grows its value-based care segment in the U.S.
Japanese startup Ubie launched its AI-backed symptom checker in the U.S. earlier this year. It recently raised $26.2 million in Series C funding. Other companies in the space include Ada Health, K Health and Infermedica.
[ad_2]
Source link
[ad_1]
MONDAY, Aug. 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Although there’s now enough monkeypox vaccine to go around, the Americans who need it most still may not be getting it, a new report shows.
Only 10% of the Jynneos vaccine doses have been given to Black people, even though they make up a third of U.S. cases, new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
The latest statistics were only able to be gathered from 17 states and two cities, but similar disparities have already been reported by a few states and cities. So far, the monkeypox outbreak has largely affected gay and bisexual men.
The United States has the most infections of any country — over 17,000. About 98% of U.S. cases are men and about 93% were men who reported recent sexual contact with other men. No one in the United States has died from the illness, but deaths have been reported in other countries.
There could be several explanations for the troubling trend, experts say. It could be how and where shots are offered and publicized. Also, some Black men don’t trust doctors and government public health efforts, or they may be less likely to identify themselves as at greater risk for getting the virus.
Vaccine reluctance was also seen in Black communities when COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out, Dr. Yvens Laborde, director of global health education at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, told the Associated Press. “If we’re not careful, the same thing will happen here” with monkeypox, he said.
Black men are making up more monkeypox cases, Caitlin Rivers, a Johns Hopkins University expert on government response to epidemics, told the AP. “This is a problem that is not resolving,” she said.
The Biden administration said Friday it has shipped enough monkeypox vaccine to give the first of two doses to those at the highest risk. That’s nearly 2 million gay or bisexual men. The CDC, however, can’t break that down by race, the AP noted.
Enough second doses are expected by the end of September. As a stopgap, health officials have already recommended cutting doses to stretch the supply of the vaccine. According to the Biden administration, only 14 jurisdictions of 67 have used enough vaccine to ask for more from the federal stockpile.
Black men need to have more access to the vaccine, some experts say.
CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, speaking at a White House briefing on Friday, said her agency has taken steps to increase vaccine access in Black communities. Vaccines and educational materials will be available at Atlanta’s upcoming Black Pride events and New Orlean’s Southern Decadence, the AP reported.
“We’ve seen as we’re starting to roll these pilot projects out that they are working,” she said.
To date:
In related news, a CDC survey released Friday showed that about half of gay and bisexual men are cutting back on sexual activity to avoid infection with monkeypox.
More information
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on monkeypox.
SOURCE: Associated Press
[ad_2]
Source link
[ad_1]
MONDAY, Aug. 29, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Labor shortages at Teva Pharmaceuticals have made Adderall, a widely used attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug, hard to find in some drugstores.
But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration noted that there’s no overall shortage of ADHD medications.
Only Teva is reporting supply problems, FDA spokeswomen Cherie Duvall-Jones told NBC News.
“Teva Pharmaceuticals, the maker for Adderall tablets, is reporting expected delays for the next 2-3 months,” she said.
Teva attributes the delay to a labor shortage on its packaging line, which it said has been resolved. The company added that while some pharmacies may have back-orders, it should be temporary.
“We expect full recovery for all inventory and orders in the coming weeks, at which point we expect no disruption at the pharmacy level,” spokeswoman Kelley Dougherty said in a statement, NBC News reported.
Large pharmacy chains have not seen a widespread problem: CVS said its locations were “not experiencing supply issues for Adderall and are able to fill prescriptions as received in most cases,” while Walgreens said its “current supply is meeting our patient needs at this time,” NBC News reported.
But small pharmacies are experiencing shortages: A National Community Pharmacists Association survey conducted from July 25 through Aug. 5 found that of about 360 independent drugstores, 64% had difficulty getting Adderall.
Byron Olson owner of Roger’s Family Pharmacy in Yankton, S.D., told NBC News that some forms of the drug have been harder to get than others.
“It’s often that they’re not out entirely,” he said, explaining that patients who take 20 milligrams (mg) twice a day, for example, might have to use alternative dosages. In some cases, patients might have to switch to another medication, he noted.
“It can be frustrating for patients because they don’t know about the shortages,” Olson said.
At Killingworth Family Pharmacy in Killingworth, Conn., owner Keith Lyke told NBC News that he has been getting patients from other drugstores who have been unable to fill their Adderall prescriptions. But generic forms from other makers have been easy enough to get, he said.
“We tell them it’s a different company, so it may look different,” he explained.
Dr. David Goodman, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, advised patients who take Adderall to anticipate difficulty with their prescription refills and to work with their doctors and pharmacies to get alternatives.
“It’s unpredictable. We can be sailing along fine and then we run into a shortage,” he told NBC News.
In the worst-case scenario — a patient who can’t get any medication — usually the shortage doesn’t last long.
“Usually it’s a matter of a few days or within a week,” he said.
More information
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on ADHD.
[ad_2]
Source link