HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

August 8, 2019 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• FDA investigating 127 reports of seizures after vaping (CNBC)
• Are video games or mental illness causing America’s mass shootings? No, research shows (Washington Post)
• Is Juul bad for you? Doctors weigh in (CNet)
• Cancer patients are being denied drugs, even with doctor prescriptions and good insurance (Fresno Bee)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across U.S (Guardian)
• Will taking down 8chan stop the worst people on the Internet? (Washington Post)
• 8chan vowed to fight on, saying its ‘heartbeat is strong.’ Then a tech firm knocked it offline. (Washington Post)
• 112-year-old fish has broken longevity record (National Geographic)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

FDA investigating 127 reports of seizures after vaping (CNBC)

The FDA is investigating 127 cases of people suffering from seizures after vaping.  The FDA first announced an investigation into people seizing after vaping in April. 

Are video games or mental illness causing America’s mass shootings? No, research shows. (Washington Post)

Studies of mass shooters find a fraction have mental health issues, and there's little to no evidence for a link to video games.

Is Juul bad for you? Doctors weigh in (CNet)

It’s so much more than a simple “yes” or “no.” Once hailed as the healthier end-all to smoking traditional cigarettes, public officials are becoming increasingly more concerned about e-cigarettes, especially in youth populations. Juul in particular has sparked heated debate since its launch of sleek, small vapes and sweet-flavored nicotine cartridges in 2015.  In fact, the World Health Organization actually singled out Juul in its latest report on the global tobacco epidemic (page 31, pdf), calling it one of the new industry players that "continue to subvert tobacco control" -- so it's no surprise that big cities are taking action and banning e-cigarette sales…

Cancer patients are being denied drugs, even with doctor prescriptions and good insurance (Fresno Bee)

Cancer patients are being denied drugs prescribed by doctors, even with good insurance. Pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs, can trump a doctor’s medical judgment. A Fresno CA woman is fighting for her life.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across U.S (Guardian)

The US military is conducting wide-area surveillance tests across six midwest states using experimental high-altitude balloons, documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveal…Arthur Holland Michel, the co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York, said, “What this new technology proposes is to watch everything at once…“We do not think that American cities should be subject to wide-area surveillance in which every vehicle could be tracked wherever they go,” said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union.

Will taking down 8chan stop the worst people on the Internet? (Washington Post)

The online board where three alleged mass shooters appeared to post manifestos thrived on extreme beliefs -- and mainstream attention

8chan vowed to fight on, saying its ‘heartbeat is strong.’ Then a tech firm knocked it offline. (Washington Post)

Abandoned by a key partner for its "lawlessness" in the wake of mass shootings, the anonymous message board vowed to stay online, even as its posters threatened more bloodshed.

112-year-old fish has broken longevity record (National Geographic)

Scientists just added a large, sucker-mouthed fish to the growing list of centenarian animals that will likely outlive you and me.