Werd I/O

"Your individual risk depends on a large number of factors, but there's a consensus: one out of every ten people who catch Covid go on to develop Long Covid. It's not a one-time risk, either. You face these odds every single time you catch the disease." And that's just the start of it.

Telomere attrition is a side effect that caught my eye, given the telomere dysfunction that runs in my family. The virus ages you - including by compromising your immune system - but it's even worse if you're already immunocompromised or prone to premature ageing.

This piece goes further into the side effects and issues with covid. It's something we need to continue to fight; it's a pandemic that's far from over. Glossing it over in the name of proximal economic stability is short-sighted. People are dying, and even when they're not, the effects can last a lifetime. #Health

Big news for people who can get pregnant and the people who care about them (which should be everyone):

"New research published by the journal Nature points to the discovery that a single hormone causes nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: GDF15. Researchers found that the amount of this hormone in a pregnant person’s bloodstream before and during pregnancy determines the severity of the nausea and vomiting. GDF15 is released by the body in response to stress, with the receptors of this hormone rooted in the part of the brain responsible for triggering vomiting."

Trials are already underway - with really good hope for effective treatment and prevention. #Health

"The United States has long lagged when it comes to pregnancy-related health. There is a unique danger to pregnancy for Black Americans, who face higher mortality and morbidity rates because of entrenched, systemic racism."

An important series of articles examining what pregnancy looks like in modern-day America - particularly in places where reproductive health rights have been removed, and where outcomes and care are not what they should be.

The American healthcare system is fucked, and it's worse for women, people of color, and LGBT Americans. It's important to throw a spotlight onto the lived experiences of the people who experience the brunt of this. #Health

I sometimes wonder what is being concealed from us today that we'll find out has been killing us decades later? Are these sorts of efforts underway for cellphones or food supplements or some other ubiquitous good? 

I mean, probably. We'll have to wait and see what. In the meantime, I'm looking at induction stovetops. #Health

Depressing. I agree that vaccine denial is not going away, and that we need to find other ways to mitigate outbreaks. But what a sad situation to be in. #Health

Taking lean startup research techniques that were developed for basic social networks or, say, 3D avatars and transposing them to real-world domains with real consequences seems to be an ongoing trend. It's a misunderstanding of the startup playbook that causes real harm. This is obviously unethical; it is nowhere near as "nuanced" as this CEO says it is. #Health

Utterly heartbreaking. #Health

It's not really mentioned in this article, but lead sheathing isn't just used in old phone cabling. It's in some modern cabling too, including underground and undersea cables used to provide internet. And the health risks are real. #Health

“The 19th spoke with health care professionals who provide gender-affirming care to adults and adolescents — as well as trans young adults who were comfortable sharing their experiences — to answer those questions.” #Health

“100% of trans people who seek access to gender affirming care as children and are denied go through the horror. 100% of trans children who never know that gender affirming care exists go through the horror. And for what?” #Health

A characteristically nuanced, in-depth piece about the debate around assisted suicide. #Health

An actual nightmare. #Health

“A groundbreaking epidemiological study has produced the most compelling evidence yet that exposure to the chemical solvent trichloroethylene (TCE)—common in soil and groundwater—increases the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.” By as much as 70%! #Health

“Maternity leave should still be our top policy priority in the U.S. However, paternity leave is an important next step. In the shorter term, for individuals and companies, these results are worth considering. Flexibility for overlapping leave in the short term, and concentrated father time in the first year, both appear to have positive impacts.” #Health

“The problem with loneliness seems to be that it biases our thinking. In behavioral studies, lonely people picked up on negative social signals, such as images of rejection, within 120 milliseconds — twice as quickly as people with satisfying relationships and in less than half the time it takes to blink. Lonely people also preferred to stand farther away from strangers, trusted others less and disliked physical touch.” #Health

“The full analysis provides additional compelling evidence that the pandemic coronavirus made its leap to humans through a natural spillover, with a wild animal at the market acting as an intermediate host between the virus's natural reservoir in horseshoe bats and humans.” #Health

"According to data from the United Network for Organ Transplants (UNOS), in the U.S., about one in 10 lung transplants now go to COVID-19 patients. [...] COVID seems to cause very severe pneumonia in some patients, leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and even leading to pulmonary fibrosis in some patients.” #Health

“People living in the same household share more than just a roof. Be they family or flatmate, housemates tend to have the same microbes colonizing their bodies, and the longer the cohabitation, the more similar these microbiomes become. The conclusion raises the possibility that diseases linked to microbiome dysfunction, including cancer, diabetes and obesity, could be partly transmissible.” #Health

“Alarmingly, in a focus group conducted by the Public Health Law Center in Chicago, nearly 100 percent of public housing participants said they have also turned on their gas stoves to stay warm on cold days, which is an added danger for residents.” #Health

“The proportion of childhood asthma that could be theoretically prevented if gas stove use was not present (e.g., state-specific PAFs) varied by state (Illinois = 21.1%; California = 20.1%; New York = 18.8%; Massachusetts = 15.4%; Pennsylvania = 13.5%). Our results quantify the US public health burden attributed to gas stove use and childhood asthma.” #Health

“The chocolate industry has been grappling with ways to lower those levels. To see how much of a risk these favorite treats pose, Consumer Reports scientists recently measured the amount of heavy metals in 28 dark chocolate bars. They detected cadmium and lead in all of them.” #Health

“In fact, reducing the temperature inside the nose by as little as 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) kills nearly 50% of the billions of virus and bacteria-fighting cells in the nostrils.” Aside from blocking droplets, masks make you healthier because they’re like “a sweater for your nose”. #Health

“With fresher air [from EVs], in 27 years greater Los Angeles will have 1,163 fewer premature deaths annually, corresponding to $12.61 billion in improved economic health benefits. Greater New York City could see 576 fewer such deaths annually and have $6.24 billion in associated economic gains and health benefits, while Chicago could have 276 fewer deaths and gain about $3 billion in financial well-being.” #Health

“After matching 64 participants in each group for factors including age and sex, the team found that physical changes in the brain that occurred during adolescence – such as thinning of the cortex and growth of the hippocampus and the amygdala – were greater in the post-lockdown group than in the pre-pandemic group, suggesting such processes had sped up. In other words, their brains had aged faster.” #Health

“"It probably highlights that we have more work to do to bring down the cost of insulin for more people,” Ricks said of the Twitter fury.” Amazing that this is what they needed. #Health