By Miriam Raftery

August 11, 2016 (Washington D.C.) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has turned down requests from governors ease federal restrictions on marijuana.  DEA director Chuck Rosenberg stated, “This decision is based on whether marijuana, as determined by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is a safe and effective medicine, and it’s not,” NPR reports.

East County News Service

August 8, 2016 (La Mesa) – The Grossmont Healthcare District’s Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, 9001 Wakarusa St. in La Mesa, will host “Preventive Care with Acupuncture,” a free presentation about how acupuncture can treat a variety of health issues, from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24. 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. Advance RSVP is not necessary.

By Tom Christensen, County of San Diego Communications

August 3, 2016 (San Diego) -- A 51-year-old El Cajon woman has been confirmed as the first locally acquired human case of West Nile virus this year, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.

East County News Service

Photo: The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) recently recognized St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center (SMSC). From left to right: GHD board members Randy Lenac and Gloria Chadwick; SMSC nurse Stephanie Perkins, CEO Debra Emerson and board secretary Toni Petruzzo; GHD board members Robert “Bob” Ayres, Betty Stieringer and Michael Emerson.

Aug. 2, 2016 (East County) – The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD), a public agency that supports health-related community programs and services in San Diego’s East County, recently recognized St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center (SMSC), an El Cajon-based, non-profit organization serving adults with developmental disabilities.

July 30, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Zika cases likely transmitted locally in U.S.for first time, officials say (Bloomberg)
• 9 plants that bug bugs—including mosquitoes (USA Today)
• List of possible Zika birth defects grows longer  (NPR)
• Bright, Bluish-White LED Streetlamps Disrupt Sleep Cycles, AMA Says (NPR)
• Unapproved stem cell therapies multiply (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Vaccines Against HPV Really Do Prevent Cancers | (IFLScience)
• Viral hepatitis 'kills as many as Aids or TB '(BBC)
• Give HPV vaccine to boys to protect against cancers, experts say (Guardian)
• New York reports first female-to-male Zika transmission via sex (Reuters)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• One Step Closer to Turning Plastics Into Fuel (Smithsonian)
• A nonprofit group is cloning ancient trees to combat climate change (Business Insider)
• What happens to your online accounts when you die? (Web Trends)
• Microsoft ruling limits government access to data stored overseas (Christian Science Monitor)
• How tidal tugs cause earthquakes on San Andreas fault(CS Monitor)
• 'Friendly' GMO Mosquitoes Knock Back Dengue Fever by 91 Percent (Reason)
• World's Largest Air Purifier Is Trying to Clean Up China's Smoggy Skies (EyeOpener)
• BMW's recycled electric car batteries to power homes (CS Monitor)
• India launches 20 satellites at one go; most to serve U.S. customers (Reuters)

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

East County News Service

July 26, 2016 (Washington D.C.) -- Whatever your complexion, it’s important to use products that will help your skin and not damage it. But as you wade through the beauty aisles, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautions that you should avoid skin creams, beauty and antiseptic soaps, and lotions that contain mercury.

Source: SANDAG

July 24, 2016 (San Diego) -- More than half (56 percent) of at-risk youth in the San Diego region reported marijuana was the first illicit substance they ever used, up from 34 percent in 2007, and they reported marijuana was even easier to obtain than tobacco, according to data compiled by the SANDAG Substance Abuse Monitoring (SAM) Program.

East County News Service

July 19, 2016 (La Mesa) – The lights are staying on for patients and medical staff at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa thanks to a new Central Energy Plant (CEP), the Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) reports. And, the hospital’s normal electric bill to San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) of about $180,000 per month is now zero.

Source:  FDA news release

July 16, 2016 (San Diego's East County) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved the first intraocular lens (IOL) that provides cataract patients with an extended depth-of-focus, which helps improve their sharpness of vision (visual acuity) at near, intermediate and far distances.

By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office

Source:  County News Service

July 12, 2016 (San Diego) - San Diego County’s vector control program has already collected more batches of West Nile virus-infected mosquitoes by the second week of July than it did in all of 2015.

Source: San Diego Blood Bank

July 7, 2016 (San Diego) - A San Carlos woman has not only saved hundreds of lives with her volunteer blood donations, but has found a way to make it fun in the process. 

July 1, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• 9 plants that bug bugs—including mosquitoes (USA Today)
• List of possible Zika birth defects grows longer  (Scientific American)
• Bright, Bluish-White LED Streetlamps Disrupt Sleep Cycles, AMA Says (NPR)
• Groundbreaking Skin Cancer Treatment Given Approval In Record Time [in the UK) (iflScience)
• Bad News For Kids Who Don't Like Flu Shots (NPR)
• Abortion demand 'soars' amid Zika fear (BBC)
• For Centuries, A Small Town Has Embraced Strangers With Mental Illness (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• BMW's recycled electric car batteries to power homes (CS Monitor)
• Battle erupts over security of chip-enabled credit card readers (CS Monitor)
• Fake fingerprints: The latest tactic for protecting privacy (CS Monitor)
• India launches 20 satellites at one go; most to serve U.S. customers (Reuters)
• Did our planet once have more than two magnetic poles?  (CS Monitor)
• Facebook's political influence under a microscope (Reuters)
• ACLU files lawsuit over U.S. anti-hacking law (Reuters)

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

June 23, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH & SCIENCE

• Antibiotic-resistant bacteria give urgent warning (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Would it be wrong to eradicate mosquitoes? (BBC)
• Stent 'may help bowel cancer treatment'
• Jimmy Carter may soon get his 90th birthday wish: no more Guinea worm (NPR)
• News In Numbers: AIDS Remains A Stubborn Foe In San Diego County (KPBS)
• Scientists turn CO2 to stone in just two years: a solution for climate change? (+video) (CS Monitor)
• Bionic leaf converts energy from our sun better than nature does (CS Monitor)
• King Tut: a ruler swathed in mystery also wielded a cosmic dagger (CS Monitor)
• Researchers find 39 unreported sources of major pollution: NASA (Reuters)
•  Tortoise injured in a forest fire gets a 3D-printed shell (CS Monitor)
• VIDEO: Can baking soda save the world? (BBC)
• This Futuristic "Straddling Bus” Can Drive Itself Over Cars (IFL Science)
• Can asteroids be turned into self-driving spaceships? (CS Monitor)
• Feds: Drought Kills 66M Trees In Sierra Nevada (KPBS)
• Warmer winters play important role in EU emissions drop (BBC)
• Diesels more polluting below 18C, research suggests (BBC)
• New crop varieties 'can't keep up with global warming' (BBC)
• Dead Sea drying (BBC
  
   

For excerpts and full stories, click "read more" and scroll down.

Law enforcement urged to exercise extreme caution handling fentanyl. Sold as heroin, it’s 40-50 times stronger than heroin. A small amount can be lethal if absorbed through skin or ingested

East County News Service

June 12, 2016 (San Diego's East County) - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has released a Roll Call video to all law enforcement nationwide about the dangers of improperly handling fentanyl and its deadly consequences.  Acting Deputy Administrator Jack Riley and two local police detectives from New Jersey appear on the video to urge any law enforcement personnel who come in contact with fentanyl or fentanyl compounds to take the drugs directly to a lab. 

By Leon Thompson

Photo: Fatty acids in the blood of a person with high cholesterol and high triglycerides.

June 11, 2016 (East County) – High cholesterol plagues millions of Americans.  Too much of the wrong cholesterol can predispose a narrowing and hardening of arteries leading to stroke or coronary artery disease (CAD).  CAD is the number one killer of men in America and the second most deadly disease among women, second only to breast cancer.