HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

April 25, 2024 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• More young people choosing permanent sterilization after abortion restrictions (NBC News)
• Mexico sounds alarm over 'zombie drug' sedative in opioids (Reuters)
• Study: Hunters Die After Consuming CWD-Infected Venison  (Field and Stream)
• Biden administration sets first national standard to limit ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water (CNN)
• Counterfeit Botox injections linked to illness, hospitalization in two states (CNN)
• Toxicologist, nutritionist on what to know about potential health risks of Lunchables (ABC)
• Patients die every day waiting for organ transplants. The problem isn't a lack of donations (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Instagram trying nudity blurring to stop 'sextortion' (BBC)
• Net neutrality is back as FCC votes to regulate internet providers(CNN)
• President Biden signs bill to ban Tik-Tok in U.S. unless it is sold(NPR)

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

HEALTH

More young people choosing permanent sterilization after abortion restrictions (NBC News)

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, there's been an ongoing increase in adults ages 18 to 30 who undergo tubal ligation or vasectomy, new research shows.

Mexico sounds alarm over 'zombie drug' sedative in opioids (Reuters)

Mexican public health officials are sounding an alarm after a study discovered the presence of animal tranquilizer Xylazine in opioids in cities on the country's northwest border with the United States./ Known popularly in English by names like "tranq dope" and "zombie drug," Xylazine cut into heroin and fentanyl has in recent years worsened the opioid scourge in U.S. cities like Philadelphia.

Study: Hunters Die After Consuming CWD-Infected Venison  (Field and Stream)

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been sweeping through North American deer herds since it was first detected at a captive cervid facility in Wyoming in 1967. In all the decades since, there's never been a documented and confirmed instance of the always-fatal neurological disease jumping the species barrier, from cervids into humans. According to a new study, published last week in the journal Neurology, that long-discussed and frequently dreaded transmission of CWD from hunter-harvested deer into human beings might have actually occurred in 2022.

Biden administration sets first national standard to limit ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water (CNN)

The Biden administration finalized the first national standard to limit dangerous “forever chemicals” found in nearly half of the drinking water in the United States. Some environmentalists called the new rule a “huge breakthrough” and “historic” change that can help protect human health.

Counterfeit Botox injections linked to illness, hospitalization in two states (CNN)

People in at least two states have been hospitalized with botulism-like illness after receiving cosmetic injections – commonly known as “botox” – that were administered in non-medical settings.

Toxicologist, nutritionist on what to know about potential health risks of Lunchables (ABC)

... Consumer Reports is calling on regulators to remove Lunchables and similar kits from school cafeterias... testing found the lunch meals have high levels of sodium and pointed out they are comprised of heavily processed food.... Some of the kits also contained lead and cadmium, though those levels did not exceed any federal limits.

Patients die every day waiting for organ transplants. The problem isn't a lack of donations (NPR)

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Jennifer Erickson, senior fellow with the Federation of American Scientists, about the organ transplant system and how eligible donated organs wind up in the trash.

SCIENCE AND TECH

Instagram trying nudity blurring to stop 'sextortion' (BBC)

The platform will use AI-powered systems to detect nude images and identify sextortion accounts

Net neutrality is back as FCC votes to regulate internet providers(CNN)

The US government on Thursday banned internet service providers (ISPs) from meddling in the speeds their customers receive when browsing the web and downloading files, restoring tough rules rescinded during the Trump administration and setting the stage for a major legal battle with the broadband industry.  The net neutrality regulations adopted Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission prohibit providers such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from selectively speeding up, slowing down or blocking users’ internet traffic.

President Biden signs bill to ban Tik-Tok in U.S. unless it is sold(NPR)

President Biden on Wednesday signed a law that would ban Chinese-owned TikTok unless it is sold within a year. It is the most serious threat yet to the video-streaming app's future in the U.S., intensifying America's tech war with China. Still, the law is not expected to cause any immediate disruption to TikTok, as a forthcoming legal challenge, and various hurdles to selling the app, will most likely cause months of delay... the app has been under the microscope of national security officials in Washington fearing possible influence by the Chinese government.