January 25, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

·         ‘Miraculous’ results from new MS therapy (Telegraph)

·         More Hospitals Are Ditching Antibiotics In The Meat They Serve (NPR)

·         CDC issues guidelines for pregnant women during Zika outbreak (Reuters)

·         Has The World Learned The Wrong Lessons From The Ebola Outbreak? (NPR)

·         U.S. government suspends enrollment in Cigna Medicare Advantage, drug plans

·         Young People Surprised By Risky Synthetic Drugs They Considered Safe (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

·         A 'Scorcher': 2015 Shatters Record As Warmest Year, NASA And NOAA Say (NPR)

·         Batteries With A Less Fiery Future (NPR)

·         Scientists Find Hints Of A Giant, Hidden Planet In Our Solar System (NPR)

·         Hawking: Threats to human survival likely from new science (AP)

·         Fighting Global Censorship, ProPublica Joins the Dark Web (Reason)

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

East County News Service

January 22, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) — Residents in San Diego’s East County have raised fears of spreading Valley Fever spores in their arguments against projects ranging from a sand mine in Lakeside to solar projects in Boulevard and Jacumba.  Now a jury in Northern California has shown just how expensive a verdict might be for a government entity or company that ignores such risks.

Hear our interview with Steve Lauria, California Health Network, on Santee's Health Awareness Month (originally aired on KNSJ radio):

http://k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/pvv1xj39d8/Newsmakers-SteveLauriaSanteeHealthMonth-CAHealthNetwk.mp3

By Steve Lauria

January 20, 2016 (Santee) -- At the end of December, we ran a story on January being Health Awareness Month in Santee. With the month halfway over, here is an update: more than 30 organizations have offered a free or discounted service to the citizens of Santee, for the month of January. The specials can be found here:

www.californiahealthnetwork.org/healthawarenessmonth.

Some organizations, such as Volunteers in Medicine, offer free service, year around to people who can’t afford medical service.Many organizations are offering free services, such as personal training sessions, chiropractic exams,  exercise classes, dance classes and more.

By Mike Allen

January 18, 2016 (Santee)--Santee’s City Council has voted to amend an earlier ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, adding the explicit prohibition of cultivating and delivering weed within the city.

The city already prohibited the sale of weed dating to 2009, and has never allowed the activity, but a recent slate of regulations adopted by the state and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in October has prompted many cities to pass additional laws ensuring that the cities maintain local control.

The vote on Jan. 13 was 5-0, although one council member said the city should take another look at the issue especially in light of the money the city is spending to enforce the ban.

“There’s a pandemic in progress.”-- Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health

East County News Service

January 15, 2016 (San Diego) – Zika virus has spread to at least 14 countries in the Western hemisphere as well as Puerto Rico. Tests have linked Zika virus to babies born with microcephaly, a birth defect that causes babies to be born with small skulls, brain damage and sometimes death. 

Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning urging pregnant women and women who may become pregnant to postpone travel to  Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname, and Venezuela.

January 14, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Lack Of Deep Sleep May Set The Stage For Alzheimer's (NPR)
•  We're Thinking About ADHD All Wrong, Says A Top Pediatrician (NPR)
•  E-cigs damage DNA in lab study (U-T)
•  Study links e-cigarettes to incurable disease called 'Popcorn Lung’ (AOL)
•  Electronic Toys May Hinder Baby Language Development  (NPR)
•  Preventing dementia without drugs? (San Diego Union-Tribune)
•  New Dietary Guidelines Call For Limits On Sugar, Red Meat NPR
•  Stinging Report On Pandemics Makes Louis Pasteur Look Like A Prophet  (NPR)
•  Optimistic results for Phase ALS treatment at Jerusalem hospital (JPost)
•  Comparing private vs. public expansion of healthcare coverage (APM Marketplace)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

•  Plans for underwater  ‘oceanscraper’ revealed (CNN)
•  Time Warner Cable says up to 320,000 customers' data may have been stolen (Reuters)
•  What GM's $500 million Lyft investment means for the future of cars (USA)
•  Meet the world’s smallest camera-equipped drone (Engadget)
• Agriculture is big threat to water quality. These farmers are doing something (CS Monitor)
•  Spotify Faces Class Action For Copyright Infringement (NPR)

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

By Leon Thompson

January 12, 2016 (Lemon Grove) - There will be zero medical cannabis dispensaries in Lemon Grove if Ordinance #437 passes on the “second reading” of the bill at the next City council meeting on January 19^th.

Source: Grossmont Healthcare District

January 6, 2016 (La Mesa) -- Patients are now being treated in state-of-the-art, upgraded rooms on all five floors of the East Tower of Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, the Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) reports.

By Devoreo Bell

December 26, 2015 (San Diego) -- It is well documented that America has had multiple conflicts involving race relations, specifically with law enforcement over the past couple of years. Now there is reason to believe that there are similar problems with healthcare.

East County News Service

December 28, 2015 (Alpine) – Heart attack survivor Randy Truax of Alpine has been selected to appear in the 2016 Rose Parade in Pasadena on January 1^st. He will be riding on the “Union of Hearts” float for the American Heart Association and Union Bank. 

East County News Service

December 28, 2015 (Alpine) — Response time is critical during medical emergencies — and for residents in rural areas of East County, that response time has now been improved,  thanks to an air ambulance  stationed at the Viejas Indian reservation in Alpine.

By Miriam Raftery

December 24, 2015 (La Mesa) -- The volunteer citizens group overseeing the spending of millions of dollars in taxpayer-approved bonds for new and improved patient care facilities at Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa has a new member. Sandy Pugliese, the hospital’s community relations manager, has joined the citizens group, called the Independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (ICBOC).

December 17, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Lacking in Christmas spirit? Your brain might be to blame (Medical News Today)
• Antibiotics use on farms is up despite promise to kick the drugs (NPR)
• Ovarian cancer: screenings may cut deaths by a fifth (BBC)
• Cancer is not just ‘bad luck’ but down to environment, study says (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Twitter warns some users of possible state-sponsored cyber attack (Reuters)
  
  Polar bears travel farther as arctic sea drifts (BBC)
• Facebook enters transport business with UBR (BBC)
• Lawmakers call for trials of genetically modified insects (Reuters)

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

By Leon Thompson

December 13, 2015 (El Cajon) – Music heals the mind, body and spirit.  The healing power of music has been harnessed in Europe through a method called “Tune & Heal” by Dr. Barbara Romanowska who established the Sound Academy (Akademia Dzwieku) in Poland in 2004.  Writing as Barbara Angel, she is the author and teacher of the In-Depth Cellular Music Therapy Method on which the method is founded. 

A beautiful grand piano and an equally beautiful Barbara Angel greeted us to her home for a concert and healing co-sponsored by the Heartland Foundation last week.  There were about 40 of us.  On the chairs were tambourines, mariachis and drums. 

24 private postpartum birthing suites feature spa-like look and feel

December 8, 2015 (La Mesa)-- Sharp Grossmont Hospital has unveiled a new, fresh lower level of the Women’s Health Center, where moms and newborns are now enjoying 24 completely remodeled, private postpartum delivery suites. The upgrades are the first phase of an overall renovation of the center, which is expected to be completed in 2017 to accommodate the families of the approximately 4,000 babies born at the hospital each year.