February 10, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• What’s the best way to keep mosquitoes from biting? (NPR)
• State Of Emergency On Hawaii's Big Island Over Dengue Fever Outbreak (NPR)
• Can fish help stop spread of Zika virus? (BBC)
• Colombia: 3,177 pregnant women with Zika; no microcephaly (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Just what the doctor ordered: connectivity (U-T)
• Mosquito Blight (Snopes)
• No Comment From Grinning Martin Shkreli At House Hearing On Drug Prices (NPR)
• Scientists Discover A Second Bacterium That Causes Lyme Disease (NPR)
• Liver tissue bioprinted from stem cells (U-T)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• France is paving more than 600 miles of road with solar (Smithsonian)
• Twitter Says It Has Shut Down 125,000 Terrorism-Related Accounts (NPR)
• Bayer rejects EPA request to pull insecticide from U.S. market (Reuters)
• Humans have a hand in spreading bee virus, scientists say. Is it too late? (CS Monitor)
• One statistic shows just how dramatically our electricity system is changing (Washington Post)
• Ship noise linked to orca whale decline: Are some boats safer than others? (CS Monitor)
• Earthquakes May Have More Reach Than Previously Thought (KPBS)

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

East County News Service

February 4, 2016 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced recalls of several consumer products.  Click the links below for details:

East County News Service

February 3, 2016 (San Diego) -- A 62-year-old man is the first person under the age of 65 to die from influenza in the San Diego region this season, the County Health and Human Services Agency reported today.

East County News Service

February 2, 2016 (La Mesa) -- The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) is seeking applicants for two scholarship programs for nursing students and students pursuing careers as medical health technicians. Deadline to receive applications for both scholarship programs is 3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 12, 2016. Applicants for both scholarships must reside within the boundaries of GHD for a minimum of one year, or have graduated from a high school located within the district’s boundaries. Previous recipients of both of these GHD scholarships are not eligible to reapply. For more information and to obtain the criteria and applications for both scholarships, visitwww.grossmonthealthcare.org/operations/scholarship-programs.

By Miriam Raftery

February 2, 2016 (Washington D.C.) - A battle is looming on Capitol Hill over who will be the next commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA.

Source: County News Service

January 29, 2016 (Lemon Grove) -- They come from a variety of backgrounds and each has different challenges, but for one hour a week in the Lemon Grove Library, a group of special needs adults all have one thing in common: their enthusiasm.

East County News Service

January 27, 2016 (San Diego) –  E-cigarettes have been touted by manufacturers as less dangerous than cigarettes known to cause serious long-term health risks. But now a new study by San Diego researchers reveals that among other hazardous effects of vaping, exposure to e-cigarette vapor dramatically raises the risk of death from “superbugs.”

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.