
Bronny James reveals lingering health struggles after cardiac arrest at 18
LeBron James ' eldest son, 20, revealed he gets sick easier now after the serious incident, than before he stepped foot inside the USC program.
Bronny collapsed during a July 2023 Trojans practice, delaying his college debut to that December due to a congenital heart defect that required surgery.
The 6-inch scar still runs down James' chest and is a reminder of how much every day in the sport means to him.
'I get kind of sick easier now,' Bronny said, per ESPN. 'Which is kind of weird, but I think it messed with my immune system a little bit. So, I would have times where I have to sit out, and that conditioning that I'm working on just goes away in that week of me being out.'
Early into his professional basketball career, Bronny has shown to be different from his legendary father in terms of demeanor. That's more evident after his appearances in the NBA Summer League.
LeBron James' eldest son said he gets sick more easily since his 2023 medical incident
'I just think that if you know me, I don't really like the spotlight in big moments,' Bronny continued. 'I mean, it was a great experience to be part of because it was the first son-father duo. But I'm a chill guy. I don't like [all that]. It comes with it.'
'But yeah, I don't really like to go back. I mean, I'll watch my good performances where I have some minutes under my belt, but I'm not going to go and watch that.'
The most noteworthy second-round pick from last year did enter the NBA in a tough spot, with nepotism claims hounding the 20-year-old.
'It was definitely like, "OK, this is where I stand right now, I need to just be better,"' he said. 'I need to get in the gym, get extra shots up, work on my body, work on my IQ, watch film, stuff like that with the coaches. So, it was definitely an eye-opener for me.'
More attention is now on Bronny than ever before, as he attempts to begin his second professional season, still with his father by his side after LeBron opted into his maximum contract deal worth $52.6million.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Depression, suicides, overdoses: broad impacts of US wildfires revealed in study
New research looking at the aftermath of some of the deadliest wildfires to have struck the US in recent years has shed light on the devastating effects the disasters have on human health, with impacts that extend far beyond the official death toll and injury counts. Three studies published this week examine the long-term fallout from the Maui and Los Angeles wildfires, including depression, suicide and overdose deaths, lung damage, and deaths caused by healthcare disruptions. The August 2023 Hawaii blazes killed more than 100 people, in what was the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, and destroyed the town of Lahaina. The fires that tore through the LA communities of Altadena and the Pacific Palisades earlier this year killed 31 people and destroyed more than 18,000 structures. Some of the new research found that the Maui fire left one in five people with lung damage, and as many as half with symptoms of depression. That study, co-led by Ruben Juarez of the University of Hawaii, looked at more than 1,100 adults six to 14 months after the Maui fire. It found lower lung function in people in areas close to the fire compared with those in lower-exposure areas, with about 22% experiencing below-normal lung function. Additionally, about 40% of people reported their health had declined since the fires, according to the study, and close to half mentioned increased fatigue and weakness, eye irritation and lung-related symptoms. 'It's a stark reminder that wildfires can leave an invisible but lasting scar on respiratory health, long after the flames are gone,' Juarez told the Associated Press in an email. During the month of the fire, 13 suicides were reported in the area, nearly double the normal suicide and overdose death rates, another study found. The study of the Los Angeles fires, led by researchers in Finland, concluded that in addition to at least 30 deaths attributed to the fire, more than 400 deaths between January and February could be blamed on the event because of interruptions in healthcare and other factors. Dr Jonathan Patz, a University of Wisconsin environmental public health researcher who was not involved with the research, said the studies add 'a really important piece to the understanding of the true health risks from these extreme climatic events'. As the climate crisis fuels worsening disasters across the US, from flooding to deadly wildfires, scientists are trying to gain a better understanding of the impacts of extreme weather events. Research into the effects of wildfire smoke has surged in recent years as massive blazes have caused orange skies and unhealthy air for millions of people from the west coast to New York. A 2021 study found that breathing wildfire smoke during pregnancy raises the risk of premature birth. Research published earlier this year found the climate crisis contributed to about 15,000 deaths from exposure to small particulate matter from wildfires and cost about $160bn between 2006 and 2020. Another study, published in 2024, determined that wildfire smoke prematurely killed more than 50,000 people in California over a decade. Kristie Ebi of the University of Washington noted that there is a growing understanding that wildfire smoke can be more toxic than standard air pollution. 'It's not just leaves and branches and trees' that are burned, she said. 'It's buildings. It's gasoline stations. It's old houses that have asbestos in them. It's automobiles. There are lots of components of wildfire smoke.' She said the study of the Maui fire suggests 'this toxicity is affecting people's long-term lung function', but noted more research is needed to look at cause and effect. Meanwhile, the research calculating rates of suicide and overdose deaths in Maui and Hawaii's four other counties found a 97% increase in both on Maui during the month of the wildfires. The total number of suicide and overdose deaths was 13 that month, most of them suicides. That's a significant increase, Ebi said. They also found a 46% increase in such deaths in all five counties, which may have been influenced by displaced Maui residents migrating to other islands, the authors said. But rates fell in the following months. In addition to the studies published this week, a new report from the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO), which is based on nearly a year of data from surveys of 950 people, documented the challenges that persist for those affected by the Maui fire. Two years later, some have found permanent housing and greater economic stability, but many people are still displaced and have faced long-term income loss and high rent burdens. While permanent housing is increasing, poverty rates in the region have almost doubled as full-time employment has not yet fully returned to pre-fire levels and nearly 60% of households report lower income. 'Our findings show two realities unfolding side by side,' said Daniela Bond-Smith, a UHERO research economist. 'Some households are finding new footing – moving into stable housing, returning to work and regaining stability. But others are still living with deep uncertainty, especially those with limited support and population groups who had already been marginalized prior to the fires.'


The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Microplastics are everywhere, even in human testicles. So will the patriarchy finally step in?
There is plastic in your balls! Surely this should be headline news every day until the news breaks that 'there is no longer plastic in your balls', accompanied by photographs of celebration parades and ecstatic couples kissing in the streets. It shouldn't require the 'angle' of a global plastic pollution treaty conference this week to edge it back into the media. It shouldn't oblige a report in medical journal the Lancet on Sunday revealing that the health effects of plastic in the environment are 'causing disease and death from infancy to old age' and are responsible for at least US$1.5tn every year in health-related damages. It should only require you looking at your own balls or – with consent – the balls of someone you truly, deeply love and value, then realising, holy shit, there are microplastics in there. Of course, maybe you live your life balls-free – but perhaps you know a dog? If that dog has balls, then I have terrible news: the scientists who found microplastic particles in every single human testicle in their study found them in all the dogs' balls, too. Patriarchy, not for the first time, you have seriously let me down. Raised from birth in western society, I have been passively inculcated with a relentless message that protecting your balls was our most important collective priority. Freud insisted that male identity was so rooted in the symbolism of aggressively functional genitalia that 'castration anxiety' mobilised men into behaviours of dominance, control and whatever other compensatory masculine unpleasantness Donald Trump got up to this morning. When the boss was 'busting your balls', it was bad. If a situation 'had you by the balls' it was bad. When a woman was a 'ball-busting bitch', she was unforgivable. 'Genital theft panic' is an actual term used by actual anthropologists to describe the social terror of something nefarious stealing function from your soft bits when you're not looking. So, here I was thinking, 'Ah, yes, I don't expect the patriarchy to care that scientists have found synthetic plastics in blood, placenta and breast milk, contributing to placental dysfunction, ovarian atrophy, endometrial hyperplasia and fibrosis in women – because I'm a feminist with pattern recognition. I don't expect the patriarchy gives much more thought to the plastic pollution of waterways, the poisoning of animals, or the fact that there has been a trash island named the North Atlantic Garbage Patch – now hundreds of kilometres across – growing in the ocean since 1972. But now that there are microplastics in your balls with considerable evidence suggesting they are reducing your sperm count, inflaming your tissues and affecting both your and our species' fertility, surely some good old-fashioned genital theft panic will kick in and patriarchy will aggressively – with much swagger – ride in to save what it holds dear. I repeat – you've let me down. Because, given the opportunity to literally save your own balls, you've instead defaulted to a significantly less useful habit of 'bullying people who utter uncomfortable truths' at conferences whenever the plastic problem is mentioned. Experts trying to communicate to the world that the projected tripling of plastic products by 2060 is a catastrophically dumbarse idea say they have been yelled at, harassed and intimidated by representatives of petrochemical lobbies and petrostates who make money from the ubiquitous fossil fuel-based pollution product. This is the sixth attempt at a plastic pollution treaty since plastic started turning up in brains, livers, kidneys, blood, joints and your balls, and the UN decided 'hey, maybe this is a problem?' back in 2022. The previous five attempts have failed. Well may some men fear that the radical humanity of feminism will deprive them of status, power and even identity – but it's not the sisterhood busting your balls, fellas. It's chiefly the fossil-fuel interests of usual suspects like China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US in the form of 460m tonnes of synthetic garbage spewed on to the planet every year. Now microplastics are found everywhere from the peak of Mt Everest to the depths of the Mariana Trench. Lord Howe Island is a volcanic rock island about 600km off the Australian east coast governed under a conservation authority applying strict visitor controls, and if you squeeze the muttonbirds there (please don't), they are so full of plastic that they crunch. They crunch. Male persons, please consider the comparable fate awaiting your balls if the new treaty fails – because those universally plasticised testes from the aforementioned study that should have sent every red-blooded testicle-cherisher across humanity racing for a global ban and immediate cleanup operation were retrieved from people who had died before 2016. Even more plastic has been pumped into the planet since then – and for what? In the majority of cases, single-use plastics used for packaging, drink and food containers. Less than 10% of plastic is recycled. I want you to remember this, men, the next time you stare at a shelf of juicy shrink-wrapped capsicum at the supermarket. I want you to ask, 'what is the trade-off for this?', and to consider the global plastic pollution treaty, and your balls. If patriarchy isn't coming to save them, then maybe you should? Van Badham is a Guardian Australia columnist.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Study attributes 440 'excess deaths' to January's Los Angeles wildfires
LOS ANGELES, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Wildfires that devastated parts of the Los Angeles area in January indirectly led to hundreds of deaths in the ensuing weeks, far exceeding the official toll of 31 fatalities, according to a study released on Wednesday. The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, estimated 440 "excess deaths" were attributable to the fires from January 5 to February 1, using models that compared predicted mortality under normal circumstances to actual numbers documented during that period. The additional deaths likely reflect a mix of factors, including increased exposure of people with heart and lung disease to poor air quality from smoke and toxins released by the fires, as well as healthcare delays and disruptions, the study said. The findings "underscore the need to complement direct fatalities estimates with alternative methods to quantify the additional mortality burden of wildfires and of climate-related emergencies more broadly," the researchers wrote. Two wind-driven wildfires that erupted during the first week of January on opposite sides of Los Angeles damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures combined - laying waste to much of the seaside district of Pacific Palisades and the foothill community of Altadena. Together, the blazes scorched 59 square miles (152 sq km), an area larger than Paris. The official tally of people who perished as a direct result of the fires stands at 31, after the most recent set of human remains were unearthed in Altadena in July, six months after the fires. Governor Gavin Newsom in February requested nearly $40 billion in wildfire aid from Congress. Some estimates put economic losses from the fires at more than $250 billion, making the conflagration one of the most costly natural disasters in U.S. history. The JAMA study acknowledged some limitations, saying the data may need to be revised upward in the future and the research did not reflect any fire-attributable deaths beyond Feb. 1.