Adults view black girls as 'less innocent,' new report says
http://ift.tt/2tqhi0s Based on those findings, the research suggests that adults may perceive that black girls need less nurturing and protection than white girls, which could influence how black girls are treated in the education or juvenile justice systems. "If our public systems, such as schools and the juvenile justice system, view black girls as older and less innocent, they may be targeted for unfair treatment in ways that effectively erase their childhood," said Rebecca Epstein, lead author of the report and executive director of the Center on Poverty and Inequality. She added that disparities in how black girls are viewed emerge as early as age 5, when some children are still in preschool. "Our finding that adultification begins as young as the age of 5 was particularly sobering. That means that adults may even see little girls in kindergarten differently, needing less nurturing and support than their white peers," Epstein said. "Yet at the same time, the more general confirmation that black girls are adultified was not surprising. Scholars and researchers have observed this phenomenon for years," she said. "Many experts have observed that stereotypes of black women, especially the stereotype of the 'angry black woman,' are projected onto black girls, and that black girls' behavior is often interpreted as threatening to adults' authority, which effectively adultifies black girls in harmful ways." For the report, 325 adults of various racial and ethnic backgrounds from across the United States were asked to complete a nine-item questionnaire online about their perceptions on young girls' development today. The participants were recruited through an online service in order to obtain a diverse, community sample of adults, the researchers wrote in their report. The adults were randomly assigned questionnaires specifically about either black or white girls, not in relation to each other or racial groups. The survey collection started in December and continued over a few months into this year. The questionnaire included questions like "How much do black (or white) females seem older than their age?" and "How much do black (or white) females need to be comforted?" and "How knowledgeable are black (or white) females about sex?" For each question, the adults responded using a five-point scale to indicate one - "not at all;" two - "a little;" three - "undecided;" four - "somewhat;" and five - "a great deal." The adults responded to each question for each age bracket of 0 to 4, 5 to 9, 10 to 14, and 15 to 19 years old. Even though the online questionnaire responses were self-reports, the respondents were unaware that their responses about black or white girls would be compared with the other race. Therefore, that lowered the risk of respondents hiding their own biases and skewing the data, said Jamilia Blake, associate professor of educational psychology at Texas A&M University and a co-author of the new report. The researchers found that, overall, the adults were more likely to view black girls as more adult than white girls at almost all stages of childhood beginning around age 5, which Blake said shocked her. "To me, this is work that's very close to my heart," she said. "I think that the negative stereotypes about black women are so pervasive that we are not aware of them and I think we are seeing this trickling down to girls." Black girls were more likely to be perceived as knowing more about adult topics, such as sex, and were more likely to be perceived as needing less protection and nurturing, according to the survey results. "This is the first study to focus on black girls and measure this form of bias against them. It provides important proof that adults view black girls differently than white girls in ways that can significantly affect their lives and long-term outcomes," Epstein said. "Our research did not explore why black girls are viewed as less innocent," she said. "However, it seems clear that a part of the legacy of slavery and race and gender discrimination in this country is that we have not extended the same leniency to black children as white children." The researchers modeled their survey and five-point scale after the methodology used in a separate study that published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychologyin 2014. In that previous study, a separate research team focused on the plight of black boys and found that overall black boys were perceived by the adults who were surveyed as less innocent and more adult-like than their white peers, starting around age 10. "In everyday life, how folks across races adultify or identify black girls as older, from the mall to the school classroom, can be biased in recognizing the support that they need and the reality that they experience," said R. L'Heureux Lewis-McCoy, an associate professor of sociology in Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership and the Black Studies Program at the City College of New York, who was not involved in the new report. "What I would like to see is if the scholars who produced this survey brought these questions to police officers or teachers, who have a lot of contact with black girls, and see if responses would be different," he said about the new report. Within the education system, adults' tendency to view black girls and boys as more "adult" is a plausible explanation for disparities in discipline, with black children potentially receiving harsher punishments than white children for minor offenses, said Brea Perry, associate professor of sociology at Indiana University in Bloomington. It turns out that, even though black boys face higher rates of school discipline than other students on average, the racial disparities seen in school discipline are even greater for black girls, according to a study that was published in the journal Sociology of Educationin February. Perry was a co-author of that study. "We speculate that racial disparities in discipline are greater for girls than for boys because black girls are especially susceptible to punishment for gendered transgressions," Perry said. "In other words, behavior perceived as violating norms of femininity -- fighting, disruptive behavior, disobedience, wearing particular kinds of clothing -- is more likely to be noticed and punished in girls," she said. "This is consistent with the 'boys will be boys' attitude toward masculinity and boys' behavior. This gender pattern intersects with race, which is where our research and the Georgetown report converge." Perry, who was not involved in the Georgetown report, said that the report "rings true" and described the methodology as "sound." She hopes that all Americans can use the findings to reflect on their own potential biases, she said. "Most people are unaware of their own racial and gender biases, which makes it more difficult to address them. Racism and sexism operate through subtle everyday interactions, behaviors, decisions, and evaluations that ultimately have large cumulative effects on the wellbeing and life chances of girls and women of color," Perry said. "Racism and sexism are also built into our laws and institutions in ways that are largely imperceptible to the average person," she said. "As a society and as individuals, we need to confront the issue of race, not pretend we are colorblind. This means bringing hidden biases to the forefront of both a national discussion and interpersonal interactions with the people in our lives." Health via CNN.com - RSS Channel - Health http://ift.tt/1rsiniF June 28, 2017 at 04:31PM
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Poor Sleep May Worsen Suicidal Thoughts
http://ift.tt/2ujIOsK By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, June 28, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Sleep problems may provide early clues about worsening suicidal thoughts in at-risk young adults as well as a potential way to intervene, a new study suggests. "Suicide is the tragic outcome of psychiatric illness interacting with multiple biological, psychological and social risk factors," said lead author Rebecca Bernert. She is a suicidologist and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences from Stanford University Medical School. "Sleep disturbances stand apart from other risk factors because they are visible as a warning sign, yet non-stigmatizing and highly treatable. This is why we believe they may represent an important treatment target in suicide prevention," she said in a university news release. How could sleep potentially prevent a suicide? "Sleep is a barometer of our well-being, and directly impacts how we feel the next day. We believe poor sleep may fail to provide an emotional respite during times of distress, impacting how we regulate our mood, and thereby lowering the threshold for suicidal behaviors," Bernert explained. The study included 50 university students, aged 18 to 23. All had a history of suicide attempts or recent thoughts of suicide ("suicidal ideation"). Sleep was monitored for one week. Sleep problems were found to be a warning sign of worsening suicidal thoughts in the following days and weeks, the study showed. Variations in when students went to sleep and when they woke up was an especially strong warning sign. The link between sleep problems and increased risk of suicidal thoughts remained even after the researchers took other factors into account. These factors included the level of depression, alcohol and drug use, and the severity of their suicidal symptoms at the start of the study. "Sleep disturbances and suicidal ideation are both symptoms of depression, making it critical to disentangle these relationships and evaluate factors that stand alone to predict risk," Bernert said. The study also found that students with significant variation in when they fell asleep had more insomnia and nightmares. Both of these sleep problems independently predicted more suicidal behaviors. Continued"Compared to other risk factors for suicide, disturbed sleep is modifiable and highly treatable using brief, fast-acting interventions. Because sleep is something we universally experience, and we may be more willing to openly talk about it relative to our mental health, we believe its study may represent an important opportunity for suicide prevention," Bernert explained. The researchers are currently conducting suicide prevention studies using insomnia treatments. The study was published online June 28 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WebMD News from HealthDay SourcesSOURCE: Stanford University School of Medicine, news release, June 28, 2017 Copyright © 2013-2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 28, 2017 at 03:43PM
111 people died under California's new right-to-die law
http://ift.tt/2tlFxwr The End of Life Option Act went into effect on June 9, 2016. It allows for California residents, age 18 and older, to request life-ending medication from their doctor if they are suffering from a terminal illness and want to set their own timetable for their death. Between June 9 and December 31, 2016, 258 people initiated the process, according to the report. One hundred ninety-one people were prescribed the lethal medication, of which 111 patients "were reported by their physician to have died following ingestion of aid-in-dying drugs prescribed under EOLA." Twenty-one people died as a result of their underlying terminal illness, and the outcome of the other 59 people who were prescribed drugs "is currently undetermined, as there has been no outcome reported for these individuals within the time period covered by this report." The majority of the 111 people who utilized the law were cancer patients, according to the report. The median age at time of death was 73. Most patients were white (89.5%), enrolled in hospice/palliative care (83.8%), and were covered by some type of health insurance (96.4%). Sixty women and 51 men died as a result of ingesting aid-in-dying drugs. "The state's data show that even during the early months of the law's implementation, the law was working well and terminally ill Californians were able to take comfort in knowing that they had this option to peacefully end intolerable suffering," Compassion & ChoicesCalifornia State Director Matt Whitakersaid in a statement. "We continue to work to ensure that every terminally ill Californian has equal access to all end-of-life care options, including hospice, pain control, palliative care and medical aid in dying." The nonprofit organization helped to get the law passed in California, and advocates for similar legislation nationwide. End of Life Option ActIn California, a mentally competent adult is eligible to partake in the End of Life Option Act if he or she is determined to have a terminal illness -- meaning they have six months or less to live. The patient must make two verbal requests of their doctor, at least 15 days apart, as well as one written request. The patient must affirm his or her request 48 hours before ingesting the medication, which they must be able to self-administer, without the help of a physician, family member or friend. Physician-assisted aid-in-dying is different from euthanasia (commonly referred to as physician-assisted suicide), which is illegal in all 50 states. Aid-in-dying advocates such as former California state Sen. Lois Wolk and state Sen. Bill Monning-- who co-authored the End of Life Option Act -- dislike the term "suicide," because it implies an impulsive and irrational act. "Is this suicide?" CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Guptapointedly asked the pair in an interview last year. "No, not at all," said Wolk. "The person is dying. The people we've met with -- they want to live," said Monning. "They're not choosing death. That decision has been made unfortunately because of an uncontrolled disease, a terminal cancer. ... What this does is allows them to gain autonomy, self-determination in what will be the path of that certain death." Both Wolk and Monning said it was important that any attempt to influence a person to hasten his or her own death under their bill would be cause for felony prosecution. "The health plans cannot influence a patient in their choices," said Monning. "They're not mandated to cover the costs. Some may, some may not ... but no plan can say, 'You can't pursue (an expensive or long-term) treatment option; we want you to use this end of life option.' That's cause for a felony." Under California's law, the cause of death that is listed on an official death certificate is the underlying terminal illness, such as cancer -- not "suicide" or use of the End of Life Option Act. That has important implications not only for patient confidentiality, but also for sensitive family matters such as a will or life insurance. The legacy of Brittany MaynardIn 2014, 29-year-old Brittany Maynard brought the right-to-die movement back into the country's consciousness. On New Year's Day, she found out that she had brain cancer. After multiple procedures to remove part of the tumor, Maynard learned that it had come back and was more aggressive. Doctors said she had fewer than six months to live. "I do not want to die. But I am dying," she wrote in an emotional essay for CNNin October 2014. "And I want to die on my own terms." Because California had not yet legalized medical aid in dying, Maynard and her husband, Dan Diaz, moved to Oregon to utilize that state's Death With Dignitylaw. Oregon was the first state to enact such a law, in 1997. In the 18 years after, 1,545 prescriptions have been written for a lethal dose of medication, of which 991 patients used that prescription to hasten their death, according to a study released in April.Most of those patients, like Maynard, had cancer. Maynard made a series of videos with Compassion & Choices, the medical aid-in-dying advocacy group. "I can't even tell you the amount of relief it provides me to know that I don't have to die the way that it's been described to me that my brain tumor would take me on its own," Maynard said in the first video. Maynard and Diaz had been married just over a year when she was diagnosed with cancer. Uprooting their lives in California to move to Oregon was challenging for their entire family. "That was one of the worst things, having to leave our home at that time," Diaz told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta in an interview last year. "We move to Oregon; Brittany applies for this (lethal) medication; she puts it in the cupboard, and that's it. "We continue doing everything we can to extend her life," Diaz said. "The fact that we had that medication, it didn't change anything with regards to her battling cancer or her fighting. When you have cancer, you fight. That's what you do." On the morning of November 1, 2014, Maynard had a small seizure. "It passed," Diaz said, "so we slept a little bit later that day. ... We had breakfast. Brittany wanted to go for a walk, so we did. We took the dogs -- because, again -- being outdoors, that's what fed Brittany's soul. "When we got back to the house ... she just told me, she says, 'Dan, it's time. It's my time,' " he recalled. "The suffering that she had endured leading up to that day, the seizure that morning, was a reminder of what she was risking -- that if a seizure or a stroke occurs as her symptoms get worse, if she loses the ability to self-administer, if she suffers a stroke and she loses the ability to stand, walk or swallow, all of a sudden she's now trapped in her own body, and she's trapped dying the very way she was trying to avoid. "It was around 4 o'clock in the afternoon," Diaz remembered. "She wrote a final passage in her Facebook, kind of a letter to all her friends and loved ones, and within five minutes of taking that medication, Brittany fell asleep, just like I've seen her do a thousand times before. In 30 minutes, the medication slows brain function, including the parts that control breathing, so her respirations drop to a point where she passed away. That was the gentle passing that Brittany had, and that's not the gentle passing that she would have had if the brain tumor would have continued to run its course." Health via CNN.com - RSS Channel - Health http://ift.tt/1rsiniF June 28, 2017 at 02:06PM
You can now get a gender neutral driver's license in D.C.
http://ift.tt/2tVnESl Sakurai had created a Facebook event and invited others to join the historic day: They would become the first people in the United States to choose X as their gender marker instead of male or female on driver's licenses and identification cards. The X signifies gender neutral, the preferred designation for people like Sakurai who don't identify as male or female. They may use different words to describe how they identify, such as gender nonconforming, gender fluid, gender nonbinary or agender, as Sakurai prefers. Whatever the case, "male" and "female" and "he" and "she" don't fit how they see themselves. "I don't feel that sense of gender as something that is part of my core innate experience," said Sakurai, who uses the pronoun "they." "I'm glad to finally have an ID that actually matches who I am." LGBTQ advocates say letting people self-identify reduces the risk of harassment and discrimination they experience when their physical appearance does not match the gender on their ID. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the change last week, after a similar policy from the state of Oregon. The change had been in the works for months as part of an effort to make the District of Columbia's gender identity policies more inclusive, her office said. "The safety and well-being of all Washingtonians is my top priority, and whenever we are presented with an opportunity to improve the lives of residents and better align our policies with D.C. values, I will take it," she said. Any District of Columbia resident can choose gender neutral. But the D.C. DMV said it expected the change to have the most immediate benefit for transgender and gender nonconforming people. "The new gender neutral identifier offers gender nonbinary District residents a gender designation that affirms who they are," said Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of the Mayor's Office of LGBTQ Affairs. "The implementation of a gender neutral identifier is consistent with our D.C. values of inclusion and respect." The state of Oregon announced earlier this month, before D.C., that it would offer a gender neutral marker on state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards starting July 1. But Washington was the first jurisdiction to make them available. "We are thrilled to see D.C. and Oregon leading the way in advancing policies that allow for transgender people, including those who are nonbinary, to have accurate identification that helps them function in their day-to-day lives," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. "This is a tremendous first step that acknowledges the experiences and humanity of our nonbinary community members. The District has set the new gold standard for access to accurate gender markers on identification documents in the United States." The transgender equality center and Washington-based health center Whitman-Walker Health assisted the DMV in implementing the change. National Center for Transgender Equality media relations manager Jay Wu showed up early at the DMV, too, not only for work but also to apply for a new ID. "Before today I was walking around with an inaccurate gender marker. This is more accurate because I identify as nonbinary," said Wu, who uses the pronouns "they." Similar policies exist in Canada, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand and Nepal. Health via CNN.com - RSS Channel - Health http://ift.tt/1rsiniF June 28, 2017 at 02:06PM
Aspirin a Day to Keep Pregnancy Problems Away?
http://ift.tt/2tlxJdL By Serena Gordon HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, June 28, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Something as simple as taking a low-dose aspirin every day may protect pregnant women from the life-threatening condition known as preeclampsia, new research suggests. "Preeclampsia is one of the most serious complications of pregnancy, with a high risk of death for the mother and baby," said senior study author Dr. Kypros Nicolaides. He is a professor of fetal medicine at Kings College Hospital in London. But he added, "This condition is, to a great extent, preventable." The new study looked at an aspirin dose of 150 milligrams (mg) per day because some past studies with smaller daily doses of aspirin have produced conflicting results, according to Nicolaides. A baby aspirin dose is 81 milligrams. In those studies using smaller doses, the reduction in preeclampsia risk hovered around 10 percent, he said, but the higher dose in this latest study was linked to a 62 percent reduction in risk. Preeclampsia is a serious high blood pressure disorder. It can affect all of the organs in a woman's body, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The exact cause of the disorder is unknown, but certain risk factors make it more likely to occur, including:
Dr. Mitchell Kramer, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Huntington Hospital in New York, said he'd add women who are severely obese and women who've had babies who had restricted growth to the list of women at high risk of preeclampsia. ACOG already recommends that women who are at high risk of preeclampsia take a low-dose baby aspirin beginning between 12 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. About 1,600 women completed the double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Just under 800 were randomly put into the daily aspirin group, while just over 800 were placed in the placebo group. The women came from 13 different maternity hospitals across Europe and Israel. ContinuedInstead of relying solely on standard risk factors, the researchers combined those risk factors with measurements of maternal blood flow, blood pressure and two hormones produced by the placenta. They used an algorithm they designed to combine all those factors to select women who they believed were at a high risk of preeclampsia. Between 11 and 14 weeks, the women began taking a daily 150 mg aspirin or a placebo. They continued taking the pills until they were 36 weeks' pregnant, or sooner if they delivered the baby early. Just 13 women in the aspirin group developed preeclampsia, while 35 women in the placebo group developed the complication, the findings showed. The reduction in risk was even lower for early deliveries. Women who delivered at less than 34 weeks were 82 percent less likely to have preeclampsia if they were taking 150 mg of aspirin, Nicolaides said. There were no serious side effects for expectant mothers, or adverse events for the babies related to aspirin use during pregnancy, the researchers noted. However, as with all drugs, women should talk to their doctor about the use of aspirin in pregnancy before taking up this regimen, because aspirin does increase the risk for bleeding. Nicolaides said the aspirin may help improve blood flow from the mother to the placenta. According to Kramer, "This randomized study concludes that [aspirin's] use is not only effective for reducing the incidence of preeclampsia at term, but also preterm. This is important because it will reduce the need for preterm delivery, which is risky for the baby." Low-dose aspirin can also help reduce the chances of eclampsia, which is seizures due to preeclampsia for high-risk women, Kramer noted. The study is scheduled for presentation Wednesday at the Fetal Medicine Foundation meeting in Slovenia. The findings were also published simultaneously in a special online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. WebMD News from HealthDay SourcesSOURCES: Kypros Nicolaides, M.D., professor, fetal medicine, Kings College Hospital, London; Mitchell Kramer, M.D., chairman, department of obstetrics and gynecology, Huntington Hospital, Huntington, N.Y.; June 28, 2017, presentation, Fetal Medicine Foundation meeting, Slovenia; June 28, 2017, New England Journal of Medicine, online Copyright © 2013-2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 28, 2017 at 01:14PM
Heartburn Meds Don't Raise Alzheimer's Risk: Study
http://ift.tt/2ujqe48 By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, June 28, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Drugs used to treat acid reflux and ulcers don't appear to boost the risk of dementia, as has been previously suspected, new research suggests. The study focused on widely used proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) drugs -- medicines such as Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium. Previous studies have suggested the drugs may increase the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in people aged 75 and older. PPIs are used to treat digestive problems like reflux disease by reducing the body's production of acid. Researchers from Emory University in Atlanta analyzed a National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database for the study. The data, compiled from 2005 to 2015, included close to 10,500 Americans, aged 50 or older, with normal brain function or mild thinking difficulties. Eight percent always used PPIs, and 18 percent sometimes did. Users were older than non-users. Researchers found those who used PPIs were at a lower risk of a decline in thinking skills. "The results of this study do not confirm recent reports that the use of PPIs is linked to greater risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease," wrote the researchers led by Felicia Goldstein of the department of neurology at Emory's School of Medicine, in Atlanta. But those who used PPIs were also more likely to use anticholinergic medicines that have been linked to thinking difficulties. Those medications are used to treat incontinence, depression and sleep problems and include diphenhydramine (Benadryl). The study found PPI users were more likely to have suffered from heart disease, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke or the mini-strokes known as transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). The study was published recently in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. WebMD News from HealthDay SourcesSOURCES: American Geriatrics Society, press release, June 22, 2017; Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, May 2017 Copyright © 2013-2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 28, 2017 at 01:14PM
TNT Red, White & Blue Smoke Fireworks Recalled
http://ift.tt/2tln42T June 28, 2017 -- If you're planning to celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks, check to make sure they aren't TNT Red, White & Blue Smoke fireworks. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and American Promotional Events are recalling 36,100 units of TNT Red, White & Blue Smoke fireworks because they could explode unexpectedly after being lit, causing burns and other injuries. Three people have suffered burns from the product, American Promotional Events says, although no property damage has been reported. The product emits colored smoke when lit. The fireworks cost about $5 and were sold in Vermont, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio at Target, Walmart, Kroger, Meijer, Albertsons, and other retailers in May and June. The fireworks come in cardboard tubes that measure about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches long. The product features the TNT logo and says “Red, White & Blue Smoke,” with the UPC number 027736036561 on the packaging. People who have bought this product are urged not to use it and contact America Promotional Events for a refund. Call the company at 800-243-1189, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT, or email info@tntfireworks.com. SourcesSOURCES: CPSC.gov: “Fireworks Recalled By American Promotional Events Due to Burn and Injury Hazards.” Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 28, 2017 at 11:56AM
Two More Plague Cases in New Mexico
http://ift.tt/2tls87E June 28, 2017 -- Two newly-confirmed cases of plague in New Mexico bring the total number of cases so far this year in the state to three, health officials say. Plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which people can get if they are bitten by flea-ridden rodents. Althogh plague decimated medieval Europe, it is now rare in the United States and is easily treated with antibiotics. The two recent cases involved two women, ages 52 and 62. The previous case occurred in a 63-year-old man, The New York Times reported. All three patients were treated at Santa Fe-area hospitals and released after a few days, according to Paul Rhien, a state health department spokesman. Plague is not unusual in New Mexico. Every year for the last few years, a few people in the state have contracted plague. There has been one death, The Times reported. WebMD News from HealthDay Copyright © 2013-2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 28, 2017 at 11:56AM
Musician with ALS faces next challenge: healthcare reform
http://ift.tt/2shZe8A Once a guitarist for former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, Becker has continued to compose musicsince he was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which took away his ability to move and breathe on his own. But on Monday, he took to Facebookto speak out against another challenge he's facing: the Senate health care bill. "I have survived ALS to continue my work as a musician and composer for 28 years due to the care I receive through insurance and Medicaid," wrote Becker, the subject of the 2012 documentary "Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet.""Without these supports ... my life and career will be in serious jeopardy," he said. Medicaid covers roughly two-fifths of Americans with disabilities and one-fifth of Americans overall. The latest iteration of the American Health Care Act would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $772 billionover the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office (PDF).In that same time frame, Medicaid would cover about 15 million fewer people. "I would certainly be one of those affected," Becker wrote on Facebook. The Senate bill would roll back Medicaid expansion starting in 2021, giving states fixed amounts of federal funds. Some experts worrythat this could incentivize states to avoid enrolling or providing comprehensive coverage to people who require more costly care. Under the Senate bill, essential health benefitswould no longer be protected. Becker said that he would rely on some of these basic services, such as hospitalization costs, to cover his care the next time he gets pneumonia, for example. CNN has reached out to Becker for comment. Becker lives in California, one of the 31 states that expanded Medicaid. These states may have the farthest to fall by limiting the federal Medicaid budget, experts say. "Millions will lose health care coverage, while millionaires profit," California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. said in a statementwhen the bill was released last week. "The American people deserve better." Ultimately, Becker's concerns that "people with costly needs like mine will be too expensive to cover" are held by a number in the disability community. "To say people will die under this law is not an exaggeration," Mike Oxford, an organizer for disability rights group ADAPT, said in a statementlast week .Oxford was one of several dozen members of ADAPT who were arrested last weekduring a protest against the Medicaid spending cuts outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office. Republicans who support the bill have argued that these limits on federal Medicaid spending are not a tax cut for the wealthy, as some experts have argued. Rather, they say it could strengthen the program. "The proposal strengthens Medicaid, giving states the flexibility to implement healthcare programs that best meet their needs and levels the playing field between expansion and non-expansion states," Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, said in a statementlast week. "It further preserves coverage for children with disabilities and individuals with substance use disorders and mental illness. And, it does not touch Americans' Medicare benefits," he added. Becker, who said on Facebook that he was "freaked out" by the Senate bill, urged readers to take action. "Please call and email your senators right away, telling them you want them to stand up for those who can't," he wrote. Health via CNN.com - RSS Channel - Health http://ift.tt/1rsiniF June 28, 2017 at 11:45AM
Acupuncture For Incontinence, Not Infertility
http://ift.tt/2tkLx8I By Kathleen Doheny HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, June 27, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Acupuncture, a 3,000-year-old healing technique, received mixed reviews in two new studies from China -- one focusing on incontinence and the other on a cause of female infertility. A research team found acupuncture did improve symptoms of stress incontinence -- an involuntarily loss of urine, such as when a woman sneezes or coughs. But in a separate study, another team of researchers determined that acupuncture did not help women who were infertile because of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Women with PCOS have a hormonal imbalance that keeps them from releasing an egg (ovulating) during the menstrual cycle. Acupuncture is a key element of traditional Chinese medicine. It involves inserting thin needles into the skin to stimulate specific body points. Previous research has found it might benefit constipation, depression and morning sickness, among other problems. And some research has found it helpful to boost fertility when the problem is not due to polycystic ovary syndrome, the researchers said. The bottom line from the two new studies? "The research on acupuncture for stress incontinence suggests that acupuncture could be a reasonable and low-risk approach to try before attempting riskier, more invasive treatment such as surgery," said David Shurtleff. He's deputy director at the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine and co-author of an editorial commenting on the two studies. For infertility due to polycystic ovary syndrome, however, Shurtleff said acupuncture has not been found effective. He suggested patients consider other options. More rigorous research on acupuncture is needed in general, he added. For the incontinence study, researchers randomly assigned about 500 women to 18 real or sham electroacupuncture sessions -- acupuncture involving electrical stimulation. The average age of the women was 55, and the half-hour appointments occurred over six weeks. The needles were placed near the small of the back and the back part of the pelvis between the hips. At six weeks, women who received the real acupuncture had less urine leakage, the study found. These results persisted for another 24 weeks without treatment. ContinuedMeasuring incontinence over 72 hours, the researchers also found that nearly two-thirds who received real acupuncture had had a decrease of 50 percent or more in the amount of urine leakage. The treatment may work in a number of ways, said study leader Dr. Baoyan Liu, a researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in Beijing. Acupuncture may strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, among other things, he said. This "may also account for the [persistent] effect" after treatment ended, he added. Liu can't say if acupuncture would be better than drugs to treat incontinence, as the researchers did not compare acupuncture to drugs. However, acupuncture may have fewer side effects than drug treatment, he noted. The other trial involved 1,000 women with polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition that affects 5 percent to 10 percent of women of reproductive age, according to background notes with the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: real acupuncture plus clomiphene, a drug used to induce ovulation; fake acupuncture plus clomiphene; real acupuncture plus a placebo drug, and fake acupuncture plus the placebo. The drug or placebo were taken for five days each menstrual cycle, for up to four cycles. Acupuncture made no difference, with about 22 percent of each group delivering a live baby, according to the study. The corresponding author is Dr. Xiao-Ke Wu, who's with the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in Harbin. However, the live birth rate was much higher in women treated with clomiphene, which was expected. While 29 percent of those who took the drug delivered a baby, only 15 percent of those on a placebo did, the study found. The researchers concluded that acupuncture won't help infertility in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Both studies and the editorial were published online June 27 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. WebMD News from HealthDay SourcesSOURCES: Baoyan Liu, M.D., researcher, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing; David Shurtleff, Ph.D., deputy director, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, U.S. National Institutes of Health; Journal of the American Medical Association, June 27, 2017, online Copyright © 2013-2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.Health via WebMD Health http://www.webmd.com/ June 28, 2017 at 10:45AM |
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