Taking back control of opioid prescription drugs
North America is in the middle of an opioid overdose epidemic, and its moving into the over 50s as well. The opioids include heroin, synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and prescription painkillers like hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine and morphine. 50% of opioid-related deaths are due to prescription painkillers, partly through co-prescribing with benzodiazepine, partly because they cause euphoria as well as pain relief and are used for non-medical reasons. Rural white middle aged men are typical addicts but women are catching up and Native Americans are severely affected. WE look into how we can take back control at state and personal levels.
Accurate and timely communication is key to stopping transmission of Ebola
Global coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa began with courageous foreign health care workers being flown home by their governments to save their lives, and rapidly moved onto the sheer panic amongst the local populations experiencing the outbreak: riots, health care workers and government officials abandoning their posts. Somewhere imbetween mention was made, usually by the foreign health care workers, of their local colleagues left behind who struggled on without resources and personal protection. We examine the need for timely accurate communication of health information to frightened communities to stop transmission and the death toll.
Epigenetics: epi what?
Pity the poor editor on BBC’s news programme “Breakfast” (11 jan 2011) subtitling, as Professor Robert Winston and others discussed the possibility of gender selection to "complete your family in the way you desire" i.e. to finally achieve that longed for girl or boy. Throughout the discussion the text editor had kept up admirably, coping…
Death by CAP
How EU economists are ‘killing Europeans through CHD’ Surprisingly, it’s not the acronyms that are at the root of the World Health Organization’s damning accusation, it’s our old friends, saturated fats. The common agricultural policy (CAP) was put in place by the powers that be in Europe, not just to confuse any non-economist who has…