November 7, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Scientists Solve 50-Year-Old Mystery About Breakbone Fever (NPR)
• Gut bacteria 'boost' cancer therapy (BBC)
• Surrogate mother of 'twins' finds one is hers (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Broadcom Offers Qualcomm $130 Billion in Takeover Bid (KPBS)
• Russian Interference Campaign Was Broader Than First Known, Big Tech Tells Hill (NPR)
• Russian hacker groups targeted email accounts around the world (CS Monitor)
• Russian ads, now publicly released, show sophistication of influence campaign (Washington Post)

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

November 1, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Obamacare judge refuses to restore payments halted by Trump (Bloomberg News)
• Shop Around: Subsidies May Offset Your 2018 Health Insurance Price Hike (NPR)
• Glyphosate levels skyrocket in older Americans (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Breast cancer genetics revealed: 72 new mutations discovered in global study (CNN)
• Three SDSU Students Sick With Viral Meningitis (KPBS)
• Knitting 'knockers' for Kenyan breast cancer survivors (BBC)
• Stanford to examine Las Vegas shooters’ brain (KNSD 7)

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Record surge in atmospheric CO2 seen in 2016 (BBC)
• Navy Seal killed while behind wheel of self-driving Tesla (Inside Edition)
• For bargain hunters, Amazon beats Walmart and Target (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Facebook, Google, Twitter asked to testify on Russian meddling (Reuters)
• Technologists: Public won't accept driverless cars unless they're more skilled than humans (SD Union-Tribune)
• Facebook's Advertising Tools Complicate Efforts to Stop Russian Interference (NPR)
• China bans foreign waste – but what will happen to the world’s recycling? (Hong Kong Free Press)

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

October 25, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Pollution linked to one in six deaths (BBC)
• Listeria risk prompts Meijer to recall produce in six U.S. states (Reuters)
• To Reduce Risk of Recurring Bladder Infection, Try Drinking More Water (NPR)
• Young Children Are Spending Much More Time in Front of Small Screens (NPR)
• How a graphene tattoo could monitor your health (BBC)
• Brickbat: No Surgery for You (Reason)

SCIENCE AND TEHCNOLOGY

• Commit a crime? Your Fitbit, key fob or pacemaker could snitch on you (Wash. Post)
• More acidic oceans ‘will affect all sea life’ (BBC)
• Troubled by Flint Water Crisis, 11-Year-Old Girl Invents Lead-Detecting Device (NPR)
• The next frontier for defense drones may be the world's oceans (SD Union-Tribune)
• United Airlines becomes latest carrier to put economy passengers in rows of 10 seats (SD Union-Tribune)
• Alarm over decline in flying insects (BBC)
• Stephen Hawking's Ph.D. Thesis Crashes Cambridge Site After It's Posted Online (NPR)
• The Judge’s Code (The Verge)

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

Source:  San Diego County Sheriff's Department

October 24, 2017 (San Diego's East County) - Looking to get rid of unwanted and expired prescription drugs?  The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department will collect and dispose of these medicines during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.  

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

October 21, 2017 (La Mesa) -- Friends and family of breast cancer patients going through chemotherapy might start with pink scarves, pink hats, and pink t-shirts as gifts of support.  La Mesa resident A. Michelle Herrmann launched Cornucopia LLC, available online at www.CornucopiaBox.com, to offer “nourishment for an abundant life,” including recipes nutritionally tailored for cancer patients as well as personal care items for women battling breast cancer and more.

Federal judge rules action violates Constitutional rights of detained immigrants

By Miriam Raftery

October 19, 2017 (San Diego) – A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration has violated the rights of a 17-year-old undocumented immigrant detained in Texas by refusing to allow her to have an abortion.  The Trump administration has appealed.  “Failure to comply with this order may result in a finding of contempt,” wrote D.C. Circuit Judge Tanya Chutkan.

East County News Service

October 19, 2017 (La Mesa) -- The Grossmont Healthcare District’s Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, 9001 Wakarusa St. in La Mesa, will host “Eating a Fiber Rich Diet,” a free program on the benefits of a fiber rich diet, from 10 to 11 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 25. The program is part of the library’s “Wellness Wednesday” series, normally held on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Admission is free. Light refreshments will be served, including tasting samples of a fiber rich recipe. Advance RSVP is not necessary.

By Jonathan Goetz

October 17, 2017 (Washington, D.C.) – Days after President Donald Trump announced cancellation of Affordable Care Act subsidies to insurance companies, an action critics contended would destabilize the health insurance marketplace, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington have announced a plan to fund healthcare cost-sharing reduction payments until 2019 and offer states more flexibility in healthcare regulation.

Supporters of medical marijuana delivery invited to Oct. 16 meeting

By Miriam Raftery

October 15, 2017 (Santee) – On October 12^th, the San Diego County Sheriff’s department targeted medical marijuana delivery services in a sting operation.  Six arrests were made, including one driver who was a registered sex offender, the Sheriff’s department reports. The Santee station’s COPPS unit ordered purchases through online sources using delivery drivers within Santee’s city limits, a violation of the city’s municipal code.

By Suzanne Potter, California News Service

October 13, 2017 (Sacramento) --  Some California groups are predicting that President Donald Trump's new executive order on health care could undermine health-insurance markets and lead to higher premiums for many people. The order, issued Thursday, directs federal agencies to loosen regulations, to allow small businesses to band together and offer low-cost plans across state lines that don't meet the minimum coverage standards of the Affordable Care Act.



Rachel Linn Gish, communications director for the California nonprofit group, Health Access, warns these plans will be similar to those outlawed by the ACA as "junk insurance," that cover very little in the event of a serious injury or illness.

October 10, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Even deadlier form of fentanyl reaches San Diego County (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• School vaccinations 'cut cervical cancer alerts by 41%' (BBC)
• Brain's Link to Immune System Might Help Explain Alzheimer's (NPR)
• Why 'Plague Season' is a Big Worry in Madagascar This Year (NPR)
• Stomach acid blockers promote liver disease, study finds (San Diego Union-Tribune)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Google closer to using balloons for telecom in Puerto Rico (Wired)
• Can Elon Musk fix Puerto Rico’s broken power grid? (CNN Money)
• Consumer alert: Beware of Netflix phishing scam (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Once Its AIM Was True, But Soon AOL's Instant Messenger Will Be No More (NPR)
• Butterfly swarm shows up on Denver radar system (BBC)
• Light Pollution Can Impact Nocturnal Bird Migration (NPR)
• 'Sooty birds' reveal hidden US air pollution (BBC)

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

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

October 6, 2017 (San Diego) - A 49-year-old woman from Spring Valley has been confirmed as the first person in San Diego County in 2017 to test positive for West Nile virus, County Health and Human Services Agency announced Friday.

Meanwhile, Congress weighs bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks, but robs babies of healthcare at birth

By Miriam Raftery

October 3, 2017 (Washington D.C. ) – Nine million children in low-income families and poor  pregnant mothers are losing healthcare nationwide due to the Republican-led Congress failing to allow a vote on renewing the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), letting  it expire on September 30^th, the Washington Post reports.

By Miriam Raftery

October 2, 2017 (San Diego) – The countywide hepatitis outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people includes several cases contracted in San Diego County jails.

That prompted criticism from Dave Meyers, a candidate running against Sheriff Bill Gore in 2018. Meyers, in an email sent to those on his distribution list, states, “Sheriff Bill Gore has ignored basic CDC standards for sanitation and disease prevention in the county jails and has managed them as if they are a solution to homelessness.  As a result, the county jails have served as an incubator for this epidemic.”