The Health News USA March 2 2018
- The federal government’s gun background check system used to be pretty lousy at stopping people with mental health problems from buying guns. In its first nine years of operation, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System flagged just 3,200 gun purchases, or just a couple dozen a month. But then came the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, and a push to get states to add more mental health records to the system. The number soared from a few hundred thousand to nearly 4.7 million by the end of 2016.
- Some “natural” health websites have misrepresented remarks of a Wisconsin county public health nurse, Anna Treague, who was trying to explain to a local newspaper why this year’s influenza vaccine was not as effective as other years. The websites — which falsely claim “influenza epidemic caused by vaccines itself, according to health officials” — said Treague “clearly states that the vaccination is at least part of the problem if not the whole problem.” Federal health officials are working to understand better why this year’s vaccine isn’t as effective, but have never said the virus caused the disease.
- Menopause can bring on a host of complaints, including sleep disruptions. Now, researchers say that hot flashes and depression are strongly tied to sleep woes. The new study findings suggest that treating those 2 problems may help improve sleep for menopausal women. For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 776 women, aged 45 to 54, in the Baltimore area. Following them for up to seven years, the investigators found that hot flashes and depression were strongly associated with poor sleep across all stages of menopause.
News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 2nd of March 2018. Read by Tabetha Moreto.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/26/nics-adds-mental-health-records-flags-millions-gun/
The federal government’s gun background check system used to be pretty lousy at stopping people with mental health problems from buying guns. In its first nine years of operation, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System flagged just three thousand two hundred gun purchases, or just a couple dozen a month. But then came the two thousand seven Virginia Tech shooting, and a push to get states to add more mental health records to the system. The number soared from a few hundred thousand to nearly four point seven million by the end of two thousand sixteen.
In the nine years after the law was signed, more than twenty six thousand gun purchases were stopped on mental health grounds. By two thousand seventeen, the rate was more than five hundred denials a month, accounting for about six percent of all refused sales. As Congress begins another round of debate on gun controls, the post-Virginia Tech law is a rare model of something that has actually moved the needle on firearms access.
NICS, a creation of the Brady Bill signed into law in nineteen ninety three, has become the backbone of federal gun control efforts, intended to police sales. More than one hundred twenty thousand sales were stopped in two thousand sixteen, the last year for which there is complete data available. Of those, about forty three percent were based on a buyer’s past felony or serious misdemeanor record and eighteen percent were fugitives. Nearly ten percent of denials were because of drug addiction, another ten percent were because of domestic violence convictions or restraining orders, four point seven percent were because of mental health issues and two point seven percent were illegal immigrants.
States learned that lesson in Virginia Tech, where the shooter’s mental health history could have denied him the ability to purchase a weapon had the records been part of NICS. After that tragedy, Congress created a fund to help pay states to upload more records, doling out one hundred nine point eight million dollars in grants between two thousand nine and two thousand sixteen to thirty states. The number of mental health-related records in NICS soared from about three hundred thousand as of January one, two thousand seven, to four point seven million by the end of two thousand sixteen.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Flu-shot-doesn-t-cause-influenza-epidemic-12710985.php
Some “natural” health websites have misrepresented remarks of a Wisconsin county public health nurse, Anna Treague, who was trying to explain to a local newspaper why this year’s influenza vaccine was not as effective as other years. The websites — which falsely claim “influenza epidemic caused by vaccines itself, according to health officials” — said Treague “clearly states that the vaccination is at least part of the problem if not the whole problem.”
She told The Associated Press that she did not say the shot causes the outbreak. In fact, in the original article where Treague spoke to a local newspaper, she urged people to get flu shots.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention simply states “a flu shot cannot cause flu illness.” That’s because flu shots are made from killed viruses.
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Federal health officials are working to understand better why this year’s vaccine isn’t as effective, but have never said the virus caused the disease.
Menopause can bring on a host of complaints, including sleep disruptions. Now, researchers say that hot flashes and depression are strongly tied to sleep woes. The new study findings suggest that treating those two problems may help improve sleep for menopausal women.
Study co-author Megan Mahoney, professor of comparative biosciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said: “Poor sleep is one of the major issues that menopausal women seek treatment for from their doctors.”
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For the study, the researchers analyzed data from seven hundred seventy one women, aged forty five to fifty four, in the Baltimore area. Following them for up to seven years, the investigators found that hot flashes and depression were strongly associated with poor sleep across all stages of menopause.
According to study co-author Rebecca Smith: “It indicates that when dealing with sleep problems, physicians should be asking about other symptoms related to menopause, especially looking for signs of depression and asking about hot flashes.” Smith is a professor of pathobiology at the university.
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Some hopeful news also emerged from the study: Many women with restless sleep and insomnia during menopause did not have sleep problems before or after menopause.
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The study was published in the journal Sleep Medicine.
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