Latest news with #AmericanHealth
Forbes
7 days ago
- Health
- Forbes
Experts Warn Climate Change Is A ‘Health Emergency' In Open Letter
More than 25 leading medical, public health, and environmental health organizations released an open letter highlighting the health impacts of climate change and the pollution driving it. The open letter warns climate change is a 'health emergency' and is already harming people's health, regardless of where they live. It adds 'extreme heat is killing people' and has also been linked with a wide range of short-term and long-term illnesses. The letter also urges leaders at all levels to take action against the pollution driving climate change, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, vehicles and home appliances. 'The nation has strong measures currently on the books that are helping to drive down dangerous emissions,' the letter states. 'Leaders at every level should call for them to be kept in place, not rolled back or weakened.' The letter says these measures include tighter limits on mercury and air toxics from power plants, an updated national standard for particle pollution and investments in clean transportation. 'We are making progress and there are common sense opportunities for action at every level,' the letter states. Amongst the signatures are leaders from the American Lung Association, the American Public Health Association, and the Children's Environmental Health Network. The American Lung Association's director of nationwide clean air advocacy, Diana Van Vleet said the letter highlights how 'climate change is harming our health in a very real and immediate way' in an interview. She added beyond what policy at needed at federal level, it also calls on states and local government to step up and 'make sure that they're taking action to reduce climate pollutants and protect people' from the climate impacts already here. She said it also reflects how certain populations are more at risk from the health impacts of climate change, including children, older adults and communities who live near pollution sources. 'Climate change really is an unprecedented challenge, and we need all hands on deck,' she told me. 'Many federal rules are on the chopping block, but these are popular standards which save lives," she added. "We cannot afford to go backwards, and it is just so important that we defend these life-saving rules and the EPA, whose mission is to protect health by cleaning up pollutants.' Ear, nose and throat surgeon Dr. Neelima Tummala said global warming and climate change are impacting patients in a number of ways in an interview. Dr. Tummala added these impacts include worsening allergies as the pollen season is starting earlier in the spring and lasting longer into the fall. She said the last 10 years were the hottest 10 years on record and added extreme heat records pose a threat to people who work outdoors, who may struggle to keep hydrated. 'We are living in a new normal, and our bodies are not accustomed to this degree of heat,' she told me. 'If you are working outdoors for an extreme amount of time, you are at risk for not staying well hydrated, which increases kidney disease. There are also mental health impacts with worsening anxiety, stress, and depression in the hotter summer months. Dr. Tummala said the spread of certain infectious diseases, like Lyme disease in the United States, is also affected as temperatures rise. 'We are also highly concerned about older individuals with underlying health conditions, and how breathing in polluted air impacts them,' she said. 'Ground-level ozone, or smog, is another really significant respiratory concern. It has been shown to cause increased inflammation of the upper and lower respiratory systems and increases breathing complications.'
Medscape
27-05-2025
- Business
- Medscape
Make America Healthy Again Through Prevention, Says Ethicist
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Hi. I'm Art Caplan. I'm at the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. There was an announcement I received February 13, establishing an order from the White House for a new commission. It's called the Make America Healthy Again Commission. I've got the order printed out in my hand. It's something that everyone watching this video needs to be aware of and attentive to. The commission is meant to advise the federal government, chaired by the new Department of Health and Human Services leader, Robert Jr, on all matters regarding health and disease. The executive order creating it begins with what I have to say is one of the toughest, meanest indictments of American healthcare, as it now exists, that I've read anywhere. This is not something that was cooked up by some sort of civil rights group or some kind of foundation fighting against corporate American healthcare. This is right out of the world of the president and his top health advisors. What they're saying is that American healthcare is a grim failure because of the mess that Americans are in with respect to their health. The highest cancer rates, double the next highest rates of comparable countries. Asthma is twice as common than in most of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and the same for autoimmune diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis. It basically says the American people are on a trajectory, if we don't do something about the whole healthcare system, that is leading them to premature death and disability due to chronic illness. It also suggests that children, in particular, are at grave risk because of the way healthcare is organized and delivered now. This is one huge indictment, and what it says is that we want fresh thinking. The charge is what can we do about better nutrition, more physical activity, change to healthy lifestyles,get off medications, try to assess new technology habits — they're talking about cell phones, I presume — and food and drug quality and safety. It's hard to be against any of those bits of advice. I think, in many ways, what the commission is charged to do is come up with new ways to think about prevention as opposed to disease treatment. That won't come as a shock to many of you physicians watching. Many people would like to see our healthcare system pay for more prevention, which it doesn't, and see more resources devoted to counseling and supporting people with respect to maintaining their health. I have to say, I don't think there are any big mysteries that have to be examined creation of this commission hints that somehow there are secrets out there that we don't know about. I don't believe that. I think we know that lifestyle change is very important. We just don't know how to get it done. I think we know that better diet would be great. We just don't know how to get people to do it. There's a huge food industry in America that stands in the way of transitioning to healthier diets. Our agriculture is built around unhealthy foods, including sugar and everything. It's going to be very tough to move what I'll call a fast-food society over to healthy lifestyles. I don't agree with the rationale given here about the need for new thought completelybecause I think many people know that we are too oriented toward fixing, treating, and rescuing people who have diseases and not doing enough to preserve health. I don't think that's a mystery of poor or limited thinking. There are also some concerning aspects in this order to create the committee of what they want this commission to do. For example, they say pay attention to things like cell phone towers; toxic exposures, with the suggestion being perhaps vaccines; and worrying about what's going on with children with respect to too much exposure to nasty elements of the environment. Again, I think what's going on with children is pretty well understood: obesity. We've got a big obesity challenge, and I hope that this commission can think about ways to battle obesity. One of the things that the commission's chair, RFK Jr, wants to do is shift lifestyle. I think many of you who practice, regarding children and families, know that efforts to change lifestyle have not ended well. It's very difficult to do it in the climate and environment in which we live when we're bombarded with ads for unhealthy food and portion sizes that are far bigger than in the rest of the world and on and on. Getting lifestyle change is so tough that we're turning more and more to the injectable weight loss drugs.I don't think that's something that RFK Jr is going to be willing to support. I don't think we need novel thinking about how to solve it in terms of what the causes are. If we're going to make progress, my comment would be that we have to change reimbursement and what we pay for. We have to intervene earlier with people long before they're sick, with better wellness visits and better well-baby have to shift how the system delivers prevention. I'm not quite on board with new thinking. I'm on board with new modes of thinking about how to deliver prevention to the American people. I'm Art Caplan, at the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Thanks for watching.
The Independent
26-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Loneliness as deadly as obesity and smoking pack a day, top health expert warns
Elvis Presley sang it in Heartbreak Hotel and now a top voice in American health says the classic song's chorus has become an alarming reality: Americans are feeling so lonely, they could die. Vivek Murthy, the former U.S. Surgeon General, is warning that the negative health impacts of chronic loneliness are comparable to some of the nation's biggest killers. 'The overall mortality increase that can be related to social disconnection is comparable to the mortality impact of smoking and obesity,' he told NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday. 'That's how powerful and how important loneliness is.' He cautioned that loneliness and isolation can raise people's risk for dangerous health conditions Murthy astonishingly said he found that chronic loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. 'Well, it turns out that our connection with one another, this is not just a nice thing to have, it's biologically an imperative for us,' he said. 'It's something we need for survival, just like we need food and water.' Raising awareness about the loneliness and isolation epidemic was a large part of his work during the Biden administration, releasing an advisory to call attention to the issue in 2023. The guidance included a six-pronged plan of action, including to enact pro-connection policies, reform digital environments, conduct more related research, and cultivate a culture of connection. Murthy said then that the consequences of poor social connection with others include a 29 percent increased risk of heart disease, a 32 percent increased risk of stroke, a 50 percent increased risk of developing dementia for older adults, and a 60 percent increased risk of premature death. It is also connected to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Those were only some of the physical repercussions. In addition, the risk of depression among people who report feeling lonely is more than twice that of those who rarely or never feel lonely. Loneliness and social isolation in childhood also increase the risk of depression and anxiety. In the U.S., about one in three adults report feeling lonely and around one in four report not having social and emotional support, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Certain people and groups are more at-risk, including low-income adults, young adults, older adults, adults living alone, immigrants, people with a mental or physical challenge, people who are victims of violence or abuse, people facing the loss of a love one or unemployment, and people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Murthy said that kids struggle the most. 'We tend to think, 'Oh. Kids are on social media. That's great because they're connected to one another.' But, no, we have to recognize there's a difference between the connections you have online and the connections you have in person,' Murthy said. As more relationships have shifted online, more kids are struggling with an 'intense' culture of comparison, are trying to be people they're not, and don't have as many in-person friendships as we need. 'One student [who] I talked to at a college, as I was traveling the country, he said to me ... 'How are we supposed to connect with one another when it's no longer the culture for people to talk to each other?'' Murthy recalled. 'And, I saw that on college campuses,' he said. A national survey from Harvard University previously found that 73 percent of those surveyed selected technology as contributing to loneliness in the country. 'Parents do have good reason to be worried right now,' Murthy added.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
RFK's health report omits key facts in painting dark vision for US children
A new report led by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr lays out a dark vision of American children's health and calls for agencies to examine vaccines, ultra-processed foods, environmental chemicals, lack of exercise and 'overmedicalization'. Kennedy has made combatting the chronic disease 'epidemic' a cornerstone of his vision for the US, even as he has ignored common causes of chronic conditions, such as smoking and alcohol use. The 69-page report is the result of a February executive order by Donald Trump that established a 'Make America Healthy Again' (Maha) commission and required it to report on children's health. While the report broadly summarizes scientific evidence about nutrition, mental health, chemical exposures and children's mental health, it ignores the leading causes of death for children – firearms and motor vehicle accidents – and one of the most common chronic conditions: dental cavities. 'We will save lives by addressing this chronic disease epidemic head-on. We're going to save a lot more money in the long run – and even in the short run,' Kennedy said in a press call on Thursday about the report. Notably, the report reflects some of Kennedy's bugbears where science is unsettled, but argues research 'demonstrates the need for continued studies', such as on fluoride in water and electromagnetic radiation. The report also criticizes the growth in the childhood vaccine schedule. The vaccine schedule is widely accepted in the medical community as safe and effective. Additions are publicly debated in meetings with both career government scientists and outside expert advisers. It also points to research that the report argues 'raise[s] important questions' about medications – such as antidepressants, stimulants, GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and gender-affirming care – which are widely considered safe and even standard care. The flavor of the report is well-represented in a section on 'medicalization', which describes the potential for 'undetected but potentially major long-term repercussions'. The portion describes 'established harms' as 'the tip of a potentially vast iceberg representing both detectable short term negative effects, and potentially hidden negative effects with long term implications'. The report comes as the administration has taken a raft of actions researchers consider contrary to the health of Americans, such as eliminating world-leading sexually transmitted disease research laboratories and highly effective tobacco-prevention offices and pushing health leaders and researchers to quit or be fired in the face of censorship and politicization. While the report compares US life expectancy and healthcare costs to peer-developed democracies, it does not mention how other nations typically finance healthcare for all citizens: often at minimal or no cost. By contrast, about 26 million Americans lack health insurance coverage, and the Republican-controlled House passed a bill only hours earlier that was expected to kick 13 million low-income people off public health insurance by 2033 and cut federal food support for the poor. Health spending in the US is also characterized by unbridled prices and substantial administrative costs associated with administering a labyrinthine public-private system. In spite of the report's apparent bias toward issues of concern for Kennedy, there are some areas which, much like the Maha movement itself, will make strange political bedfellows. For instance, many of the left and right likely share concerns over industry capture of regulators of food, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. 'Pesticides, microplastics and dioxins are commonly found in the blood and urine of American children and pregnant women – some at alarming levels,' the report states, citing issues of pollution that will likely resonate on a bipartisan basis. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion In the past, it has been Republicans who typically fought against regulations on those industries. This anxiety was reflected even before the report's release, as many Republicans representing rural and agricultural districts criticized the report before its publication, including in a letter from 79 Republican lawmakers in early April and in questioning from the Mississippi Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith this week on Capitol Hill. 'It's no secret you were involved with pesticide litigation prior to becoming secretary,' said Hyde-Smith, who asked whether Kennedy could remain objective when writing the report. 'There is not a single word in them that should worry the American farmer,' Kennedy replied. 'You can prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt?' Hyde-Smith retorted. 'You'll see the report,' Kennedy said. That pressure, in turn, has prompted pushback from influencers in Kennedy's orbit, including many who identify directly with the Maha movement. The work of the Maha commission was reportedly spearheaded by senior the Kennedy advisor Calley Means, a former food lobbyist and healthcare entrepreneur who rose to prominence as a Maha 'truth-teller'. Means co-wrote a bestselling book with his sister, the current US surgeon general nominee Casey Means, which blames many of the US's ills on sedentary lifestyle and poor diet.
