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Health Policy InsightCases among younger people are rising – such as with actor James Van Der Beek, who died on 11 February at age 48
Actor James Van Der Beek died on 11 February, aged 48; he had been diagnosed in 2023 with colorectal cancer.
According to the World Health Organization, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. While rates are declining overall, cases among younger people are rising.
Continue reading...Bouquets imported to Europe found to be heavily contaminated, often with chemicals banned in EU and UK
Stay away from roses this Valentine’s Day, environmental campaigners have warned after testing revealed them to be heavily contaminated with pesticides.
Laboratory testing on bouquets in the Netherlands, Europe’s flower import hub, found roses had the highest residues of neurological and reproductive toxins compared with other flowers.
Continue reading...Rising evidence that secondhand vapour from e-cigarettes poses health risks, government says
Vaping in cars carrying anyone under 18 will be banned in England under government plans to reduce the harm caused by smoking and e-cigarettes.
The move is included in the tobacco and vapes bill, which will also outlaw smoking, vaping and using heated tobacco in playgrounds and outside schools and hospitals.
Continue reading...Images confirm xAI is continuing to defy EPA regulations in Mississippi to power its flagship datacenters
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its datacenters with unpermitted gas turbines, an investigation by the Floodlight newsroom shows. Thermal footage captured by Floodlight via drone shows xAI is still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Mississippi, despite a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling reiterating that doing so requires a state permit in advance.
State regulators in Mississippi maintain that since the turbines are parked on tractor trailers, they don’t require permits. However, the EPA has long maintained that such pollution sources require permits under the Clean Air Act.
Continue reading...Readers respond to a long read article by Gavin Francis in which he voices concern that current approaches to labelling and diagnosis may be doing more harm than good
Thank you, Gavin Francis, for your long read (‘What I see in clinic is never a set of labels’: are we in danger of overdiagnosing mental illness?, 10 February). It powerfully captures some of the traps modern psychiatry finds itself in and beautifully describes the all-important – and indeed, threatened – relationship at the heart of any good doctor’s practice. I have been a psychiatrist and psychotherapist for over 40 years and would like to make two points about the “epidemic” of mental illness now upon us.
First, there is a mass of evidence that shows mental ill-being, suffering and disturbance, at all degrees of severity, are affected by the level of inequality in society and by social hardship such as poverty, violence and discrimination. Between them, this explains some of the increase we are seeing.
Continue reading...From ‘honour’ killings to nuclear war, some screen works have led directly legislative action – despite what jury head Wenders suggested at the Berlin film festival
Should film festivals be more than just screenings and red carpets? Should they prompt us to think about the role cinema plays in the world? Novelist Arundhati Roy certainly thinks so. She pulled out of appearing at the Berlin festival in protest at jury president Wim Wenders’ claim that films should “stay out of politics”; she said Wenders’ stance was “unconscionable”, and that to “hear [him] say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping.”
Wenders had suggested that cinema is a way to build empathy, but not directly change politicians’ minds. However this is simply not true. Some films – both documentary and narrative – have not only changed public opinion about social issues but led directly to legislation. Despite evidence to the contrary, politicians are people too. They can be moved. And sometimes they are even moved to action.
Continue reading...Experts say ‘they’re just coming up with reasons’ as agency says application lacked ‘adequate and well controlled’ trial
A senior US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official says Moderna’s clinical trial on a new, potentially more effective flu vaccine was a “brazen failure” and that the FDA is now calling it into question.
The FDA unexpectedly refused to consider Moderna’s application for a flu shot based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in a decision that experts say is already having a chilling effect on vaccine development.
Continue reading...Everyone should get their eyes tested every two years, but there are other ways to optimise your vision, say ophthalmologists – and yes, eating carrots may help
Eye health is often something that we take for granted until we encounter problems. But lifestyle choices such as screen time and smoking can affect your vision. Here, ophthalmologists share their tips on maintaining healthy eyes, from sight tests to sunglasses.
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