Health

Health, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, San Diego February 27, 2023

Guess COVID is sorta over per SD County proclamation

With the County’s 3-year-long COVID-19 local emergency proclamation and local health emergency declarations, and weekly County News Center updates coming to an end, the County’s Public Health Officer reiterated a continuing message this week. The County response to the ongoing pandemic—testing, treating and vaccinating—will continue. The virus is still circulating. And people should continue to protect themselves by getting up to date with vaccinations, including…

Books, Community, Education, Health, Health & Fitness February 21, 2023

Six local libraries join to fight health misinformation

Six local libraries work collaboratively to create a toolkit that addresses the public health crises caused during the pandemic – and in general – by health misinformation A new effort to counteract the spread of health misinformation has taken flight. The San Diego Circuit libraries (Circuit), a consortium of six prominent academic and public libraries, has announced the availability of a campaign website designed to…

Education, Health, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, Lifestyle, Lifestyle/Society January 11, 2023

Paw Paw, Maw Maw, getting stoned, going to emergency rooms at record levels, UCSD research doctors say

As a growing number of older adults are experimenting with cannabis to help alleviate chronic symptoms, a new University of California San Diego School of Medicine study has identified a sharp increase in cannabis-related emergency department visits among the elderly. The study, published Jan. 9, 2023 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, identified a 1,808% relative increase in the rate of cannabis-related trips…

Consumer News, Food, Health December 30, 2022

You’re eating microplastics and don’t know it

We’re increasingly aware of how plastic is polluting our environment. Much recent attention has focused on how microplastics – tiny pieces ranging from 5 millimetres down to 100 nanometres in diameter – are filling the seas and working their way into the creatures that live in them. That means these ocean microplastics are entering the food chain and, ultimately, our bodies. But fish and shellfish…

Health, Lifestyle, Lifestyle/Society December 28, 2022

SD County officials want you to be healthy in 2023

San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency officials are encouraging San Diegans to resolve to be healthy in 2023 and get vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu.  Both viruses are circulating at high levels this winter. Vaccinations offer the best protection against getting ill and both the COVID-19 vaccines and bivalent boosters, as well as the flu shot are widely available at medical providers…

Health, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, Lifestyle/Society December 11, 2022

Reflecting on grief during the holidays

The year-end holidays are a time of social gatherings, traditions and celebrations. They can also be a time of revisiting and reflection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.8 million people die each year in the U.S. If we conservatively estimate four or five grievers per death, there are 11 to 14 million people who are experiencing their first holiday season without…

Agriculture, Consumer News, Health, Lifestyle November 27, 2022

Don’t pack a pest for the holidays

The holiday season means it’s time to ship gifts to faraway friends and family, or maybe even travel to deliver them in person and bring gifts back home in return. Whatever you do, be sure you don’t ship or bring back a present nobody wants—a harmful pest! It can happen if you’re not careful. The gifts you send or receive could be carrying hitchhiking pests…

Community, Coronavirus, Health, Health & Fitness, San Diego November 7, 2021

San Diego County health officials address recent local COVID misinformation, COVID shots for kids 5-to-11

An independent panel of local doctors today addressed COVID-19 misinformation brought up at the Nov. 2 County Board of Supervisors meeting. The Nov. 3, 2021 virtual event, which was interpreted live into Spanish, was moderated by Dr. Eric McDonald, County chief medical officer, and included Dr. Siu Ming Geary from Scripps Clinic La Jolla, Dr. Jeannette Aldous from San Ysidro Health, Dr. Zulma Curet with…

Escondido, Health June 27, 2021

Palomar Health under fire for secret meeting

A citizens group is accusing Escondido, Calif.-based Palomar Health of violating an open meetings law when approving a controversial physician contract change, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.  An attorney hired by the group, which calls itself “Citizens to Save Palomar Health,” sent a letter to the public healthcare district’s seven elected directors. The group alleges that Palomar and its leaders lacked transparency when changing…

Health, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle/Society, The World May 11, 2021

Climate change uncertainty hurts everyone

Tarik Benmarhnia didn’t plan on ending up here, in an office overlooking the pier at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. As a young student in France, he started out studying environmental engineering, with an interest in soil decontamination. During his schooling, he developed an interest in environmental justice. That eventually drove him to pursue a Ph.D. in epidemiology. Most stories about climate change…