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Surgery patients on blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy could be at risk of choking to death, a study warns. Researchers in California looked at nearly 1 million Americans who had an endoscopy, which examines the upper digestive tract. They found that patients who underwent the procedure - which involves inserting a tube with a camera on the end down the throat while the patient is sedated- were 33 percent more likely to suffer aspiration pneumonia. This causes food, liquids, or saliva to get sucked into the airway, which could lead to choking and kills nearly 60,000 Americans a...

The text from her son Randy that Heather Bacchus received at at 1:26 AM on July 17, 2021, seemed like good news. “I’m quitting weed for good and want to surround myself with healthy and happy people,” he wrote. “This has been too much for me and for you guys.” Less than an hour later, at 2:09 AM, a second text arrived. “I love you and am sorry for everything. I love dad and the same to him. I wish I would have been a better person.” It was his suicide note. That night, Randy killed himself. ...Now research suggests...

A new peer-reviewed study entitled: "Correlation Between Mask Compliance and COVID-19 Outcomes in Europe" has demonstrated that use of face masks, even widespread, did not correlate with better outcomes during the COVID epidemic, based on data from 35 European countries with populations of over one million people each, encompassing a total of 602 million people. The study noted that the average proportion of mask usage in the period investigated (October 2020 until March 2021) was 60.9% ± 19.9%. Governments and advisory bodies have recommended and often mandated the wearing of face masks in public spaces and in many areas mandates...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n-d1ApBTFw Click the link. Nine minute video.

P-values are used in statistics and scientific publications, much less so in machine learning applications where re-sampling techniques are favored and easy to implement today thanks to modern computing power. In some sense, p-values are a relic from old times, when computing power was limited and mathematical / theoretical formulas were favored and easier to deal with than lengthy computations. Recently, p-values have been criticized and even banned by some journals, because they are used by researchers, who cherry-pick observations and repeat experiments until they obtain a p-value worth publishing to obtain grant money, get tenure, or for political reasons....

Since Colorado voters legalized pot in 2012, prohibition supporters have warned that recreational marijuana will lead to a scourge of “drugged divers” on the state’s roads. They often point out that when the state legalized medical marijuana in 2001, there was a surge in drivers found to have smoked pot. ...]

  Smoking cannabis can lead to manic behaviour: Hyperactivity, aggression and delusion are all strongly linked with the drug, researchers warn  

The number of people driving under the influence of alcohol on U.S. roads continues to decline, but the number of drivers using marijuana and prescription drugs that can affect road safety is climbing, according to two studies released by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. One study found that the number of inebriated drivers has declined by nearly one-third since 2007, but that same survey found a large increase in the number of drivers using marijuana or other illegal drugs. In the 2014 survey, nearly one in four drivers tested positive for at least one drug that...

Author Insights: Legalizing Medical Marijuana May Reduce Opioid Deaths BY BRIDGET M. KUEHN on AUGUST 26, 2014 Marcus A. Bachhuber, MD, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and colleagues found that states that legalize marijuana experience lower rates of opioid deaths, on average, compared with states that don’t allow medical marijuana. Image: University of Pennsylvania Opioid-overdose deaths increased in states across the country between 1999 and 2010, but states that legalized medical marijuana saw less-steep increases than those without, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine this week. Growing use...

*The largest ever study of the effects of the main psychoactive component of cannabis suggests that it can cause paranoia in vulnerable individuals* To discover whether cannabis really does cause paranoia in vulnerable individuals, we carried out the largest ever study of the effects of THC (∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the drug’s principal psychoactive ingredient). We recruited 121 volunteers, all of whom had taken cannabis at least once before, and all of whom reported having experienced paranoid thoughts in the previous month (which is typical of half the population). None had been diagnosed with a mental illness. The volunteers were randomly chosen to...

Will Your Recession Be Tall, Grande, or Venti? The more Starbucks a country has, the bigger its financial problems. By Daniel Gross Posted Monday, Oct. 20, 2008, at 6:04 PM ET Remember Thomas Friedman's McDonald's theory of international relations? The thinking was that if two countries had evolved into prosperous, mass-consumer societies, with middle classes able to afford Big Macs, they would generally find peaceful means of adjudicating disputes. They'd sit down over a Happy Meal to resolve issues rather than use mortars. The recent unpleasantries between Israel and Lebanon, which both have McDonald's operations (here and here, respectively) put...

Sleeping too much, just like sleeping too little, could increase a person's risk of dying, a new U.K study indicates. Researchers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School studied 10,308 British civil servants in two different time periods: between 1985 and 1988, and between 1992 and 1993. Study participants who slept longer than eight hours were more than twice as likely to die as those who kept sleeping for seven. Researchers believe depression, low socioeconomic status and cancer-related fatigue could play a part. (CBC) With seven hours seen as the optimal amount of sleep for the average adult, the...

Japan orders probe into Tamiflu after teenager user jumps to his death 02.27.07, 5:47 AM ET TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - The government has ordered an investigation after a boy who took Tamiflu made by Swiss firm Roche, jumped to his death from the building he lived in, officials said. The 14-year-old boy was pronounced dead Tuesday after leaping from the 11th floor of a condominium in the northern Japanese city of Sendai, police said. 'According to our information, the boy woke up in the middle of night after taking the medicine,' a local police spokesman. A short time later the youth...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American states where more people own guns have higher murder rates, including murders of children, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health reported on Thursday. The study, certain to provoke arguments in a country where gun ownership is an important political issue, found that about one in three U.S. households reported firearm ownership."Our findings suggest that in the United States, household firearms may be an important source of guns used to kill children, women and men, both on the street and in their homes," said Matthew Miller, assistant professor of health policy and injury prevention, who...

Most pet owners are middle-aged and more sedentary, Finnish study finds NEW YORK - While research has suggested that pets can offer people health benefits, a new study from Finland finds that pet owners tend to be heavier, less active and in poorer health than those without a pet. However, that doesn’t mean pets are bad for us, the researchers note. Rather, people most likely to have a pet, such as the middle-aged and homeowners, also tend to be more sedentary and thicker around the middle. Researchers at the University of Turku in Finland report the findings in PLoS ONE,...

The more television 4-year-old children watch the more likely they are to become bullies later on in school, a U.S. study said Monday. At the same time, children whose parents read to them, take them on outings and just generally pay attention to them are less likely to become bullies, said the report from the University of Washington. Bullying can now be added "to the list of potential negative consequences of excessive television viewing along with obesity, inattention and other types of aggression," said Frederick Zimmerman who led the research. "Our findings suggest some steps that can be taken with...

If you were neglected as a child or if your parents paid more attention to your siblings, take heart. It might not be your fault. It might be because you're ugly. That's what Andrew Herrell's research at the University of Alberta suggests. Herrell, the director of the population research lab in the university's sociology department, studied parents' behaviour in grocery stores, where children often suffer minor injuries. He was trying to understand what factors contributed to those injuries. What he found would stun most fair-minded parents - ugly kids were neglected more often than attractive ones. "They'll deny it," said...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Young children who live in homes with gas cooking stoves may be at increased risk for respiratory illnesses, research from Hong Kong suggests. "Gas cooking can be a significant source of indoor air pollution," Dr. T. W. Wong of the Chinese University of Hong Kong told Reuters Health. Wong explained that the burning of cooking gas may generate nitrogen dioxide. Smokey cooking fumes, particularly from deep frying, may also contribute to indoor air pollution, the investigator said. Both types of indoor air pollution may increase the likelihood of respiratory diseases, especially among the very young...

"SAVE THE WORLD" ...Put a SOCK in it, Albert."

Study: Lesbian & Bisexual Girls at Heightened Risk for Tobacco Use; Prevention Efforts Important When Working With Girls 4/5/2004 4:05:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Mary-Ellen Shay of Children's Hospital Boston, 617-355-6420; web: http://www.childrenshospital.org BOSTON, April 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A new study has found that lesbian and bisexual girls may be among the hardest hit by tobacco among the nation's young people. Led by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, the study appears in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Using data from adolescents participating in...