Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Heat makes health inequity worse. People with health risks are hit harder

7:20am August 10, 2023

by Yuki Noguchi

Heat is dangerous for the many people with common conditions like diabetes or heart disease. And vulnerable communities face greater exposure to heat and fewer resources to escape it.

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EMTs help a patient in Austin, Texas, this week. The man had passed out near the state capitol and was dehydrated. Cities with few trees and areas of shade are hotter during heat waves.

Health & Safety

How heat makes health inequity worse, hitting people with risks like diabetes harder

6:43am August 10, 2023

by Yuki Noguchi

Heat is dangerous for the many people with common conditions like diabetes or heart disease. And vulnerable communities face greater exposure to heat and fewer resources to escape it.

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Ozempic, Wegovy maker lobbies Congress to get Medicare to cover its weight loss drugs

5:18am August 10, 2023

New drugs used for weight loss may also reduce risks of heart attacks. A pharmaceutical giant wants Medicare to cover the drugs, but a federal ban prevents Medicare from covering weight loss drugs.

Trash collectors from Marsabit Safi Services offload waste at the Dadach Boshe dump. Even though Kenyan banned single-use plastic bags in 2016, they're still piling up at the dump and blowing off to litter the landscape and bodies of water.

The toughest plastic bag ban is failing: A tale of smugglers, dumps and dying goats

12:01pm August 09, 2023

by Scovian Lillian

Kenya was hailed for its decision to outlaw single use plastic bags in 2016, with remarkably hefty penalties. So why are the bags back in stores, piling up in dumps — and being ingested by livestock?

Cars line up outside the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Who is sneaking fentanyl across the southern border? Hint: it's not the migrants

11:02am August 09, 2023

by Joel Rose

We know that illicit fentanyl is flowing into the U.S. from Mexico. Yet we rarely hear from the couriers who smuggle most of it through legal ports of entry. This is one of their stories.

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North Carolina officials to host statewide town hall on mental health support

10:42am August 09, 2023

by Neal Charnoff

North Carolina health officials are hosting a statewide town hall to answer questions related to mental health.

Health & Safety

The weight loss drug Wegovy may do more than help people lose weight

7:26am August 09, 2023

by Allison Aubrey

New trial results show the weight-loss medication Wegovy can also cut heart attack and stroke risks, according to the drug's maker.

Plaintiffs Amanda Zurawski (far left), Austin Dennard, Taylor Edwards, and Elizabeth Waller speak together at the Travis County Courthouse on July 20, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

Health & Safety

How a trial in Texas changed the story of abortion rights in America

5:00am August 09, 2023

by Sarah Varney

Wrenching testimony from women denied abortion care turned the focus toward the suffering and health risks faced by mothers.

A precisely timed pulse to a brain area just behind the ear can help reduce memory deficits in patients suffering moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries.

When a brain injury impairs memory, a pulse of electricity may help

5:00am August 09, 2023

by Jon Hamilton

A severe traumatic brain injury can make it hard to remember recent events or conversations. But a form of brain stimulation appears to ease this memory deficit.

Doctors could warn vulnerable patients of dangerously hot weather with 'heat alerts'

5:01pm August 08, 2023

by Martha Bebinger

An innovative pilot project uses emailed "heat alerts" to inform doctors and nurses of dangerous local temperatures, so they can advise patients who are most vulnerable to heat-related illness.