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How we partnered with local communities to halve skin ulcers among Aboriginal children in remote WA

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Aboriginal children living in remote communities have what is known as highest rate skin ulcers, or impetigo, in the world. Almost one by two you’ve got ever had skin ulcers.

Skin sores are a highly contagious bacterial skin infection that will be itchy and painful, but often go unnoticed by children. Parents are more concerned in regards to the developing pus and thick crust.

Scabies, one other skin infection, also disproportionately affects children in Australia’s remote Indigenous communities (as many as every third).

There are Aboriginal children in the Kimberley region of Western Australia 34 times are more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be admitted to hospital with a skin infection in the primary 12 months of life. Untreated skin infections can lead to other health problems, including sepsis, rheumatic fever and kidney disease.

With this in mind, during the last five years we have been working with nine communities in the Kimberley region on a comprehensive skin health program. Each community has a remote health clinic staffed by nurses, Aboriginal medical experts and doctors.

Today, we published two recent studies showcasing the progress we have made in reducing skin infections among children in these communities. Since we began this system, the incidence of skin ulcers has halved, from around 4 in ten children to around two in ten children.

STOP program

We partnered with health organizations and Aboriginal community-controlled schools in the Kimberley region and co-created a project program called STOP. It means “see, treat and prevent.”

Initially, we focused on diagnosing and treating skin ulcers and scabies. However, community members emphasized the necessity for a robust emphasis on prevention and health promotion too.

The SToP model involved training health care employees in remote clinics, community members, and college staff to recognize skin infections. Healthcare professionals have also been trained to provide patients with cutting-edge, evidence-based treatments skin wounds AND scabies.

Preventive actions included recording, among others: hip-hop music video with children, developing eight unique books about healthy skin in local languages ​​and talked to community members. They consistently emphasized the importance of investing in environmental healthincluding housing maintenance to support healthy lifestyles.

Local children recorded a hip-hop video promoting healthy skin.

As a part of the SToP program and to track its outcomes, over 770 children aged zero to 15 had regular skin checks over the 4 years from 2019 to 2022. We visited each of the nine communities up to thrice a 12 months and carried out greater than 3,000 checks skin.

One limitation of our study is that the study was accomplished through the pandemic. Regional travel bans forced it to be suspended for several months in 2020.

The primary goal was to halve the severity of pressure ulcers in school-age children. We also tracked the severity of impetigo and scabies in younger children up to 4 years of age and the final clinical signs of skin infections.

Our results, published in the journal Lancet Child and adolescent health today confirm that skin pressure sores decreased in the primary 12 months of school-age children’s lives, and the development continued throughout the study.

In all communities, the variety of skin ulcers decreased from 4 in ten children in the beginning of the study to two in ten children at the tip. Most of this decline occurred in 2019, when skin checks began.

The variety of scabies also fell, but lower than one in ten children were found to have them through the study.

The program reduced the variety of skin infections among children in these communities.
Child Research Institute of Australia

The most significant and possibly simplest a part of the study was the skin checks. Community members want these activities to proceed for all ages and not only the children in the study.

The variety of presentations to remote health clinics for skin infections in each community increased through the study and remained high. This suggests that community engagement and a deal with healthy skin has reached all age groups.

Despite training and resource development, uptake of really useful treatments in the clinic was low.

At the outset of the study, we anticipated that probably the most effective strategy can be preventive treatment, supported by training in the newest evidence-based treatments available. It turned out that this didn’t occur in any respect. The reason could also be high turnover of clinic staff and long-standing treatment preferences.

Holistic approach

Although our study was published today, its results were first presented to community members in 2023. Over 85 community members were able to share their interpretation of the SToP results with us. They strengthened the story we could tell in our published newspapers.

Second article, v clinical e-medicineprovides a comprehensive, multi-method assessment of the study. Through this process, community members and repair providers helped our research team understand the study results and important aspects for achievement.

Future research should proceed to engage with local Aboriginal communities and permit community voices to inform all features of research.

The SToP study combined Western medical approaches with community voices to higher inform skin disease control where the chance of skin ulcers and scabies was high. The results were positive.

We hope that in the longer term there might be opportunities to implement such activities in more Indigenous communities across Australia. First, various KEEP your resources can be found. Healthy skin books have been shared with other communities to be translated into local contexts and languages.

The skin is the biggest organ of the body and is all the time visible. Improving your skin health can prevent other, more serious health consequences while contributing to your overall well-being.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Car exhaust fumes can be linked to autism, a developmental disorder increasingly diagnosed in black children

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Autism, ASD, car exhaust, autism risks, autism in Black children, theGrio.com

New research has found that exposure to automotive exhaust fumes in utero or in the early stages of a child’s development may cause autism.

According to a study published Tuesday, November 12 in the journal Brain medicineexposure to nitric oxide (NO) – produced during fuel combustion – while pregnant or in the primary months of the mother’s life may pose a “significant risk” of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the kid.

“NO is a common air pollutant, produced mainly by vehicle emissions and the combustion of fossil and industrial fuels. Exposure to NO and its NO2 derivatives while pregnant and early childhood may disrupt normal brain development,” the study authors wrote.

The authors added that “the timing of exposure is key.”

According to the researchers, exposure to these pollutants while pregnant and early development “constitutes a significant risk of ASD because these periods are essential for brain development.”

The study also found that folks with a family history or genetic history of autism spectrum disorder may be at increased risk of developing the condition, affecting the best way individuals communicate, learn, interact and behave.

It’s not nearly automotive exhaust fumes. The study examined other air pollutants, including ozone, wonderful particles and other emissions, and located that every one of those toxins combined increased the danger of developing autism.

In particular, it listed benzene as a “volatile organic compound commonly found in vehicle exhaust, industrial processes and tobacco smoke” that, when combined with NO2, can also increase the danger of ASD.

Air pollutants may promote the event of ASD because they cause inflammation. Experiencing neuroinflammation brought on by exposure to NO over an prolonged time frame may “impact” brain activity related to social and cognitive functions which might be typically impaired by ASD.

“Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may activate the mother’s immune system, leading to inflammation and abnormalities in fetal brain development,” the authors wrote, adding: “Elevated concentrations of inflammation-related cytokines in maternal serum in utero and early infants have been associated with their lives. with poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes.”

One sec nearly 40% of Americans live without healthy airautism disproportionately affects black and Latino children in the US. This condition can be on the rise in this country.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 in 36 children were diagnosed with ASD – a rise from 1 in 44 just two years earlier. Predominantly, the condition still affects boys more often than girls, although this too has been established girls are frequently diagnosed with ASD later in life.

Holly Robinson Peete was

For generations, white children seemed to have the disease at higher rates than other children, but in recent years this risk has modified as more black and brown families gain access to quality health care and earlier diagnoses .

As increasingly black families select to live with an autistic member of the family, several organizations have emerged to help spread awareness, advocate and supply support. These organizations include The color of autismthat gives families with culturally competent support and care; Autism in blackwhich offers educational and counseling services to Black parents raising autistic children; and Black Autism Support Societywhich goals to fill gaps in support for the black community.


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Health and Wellness

Perfect Imperfection of Wabi-Sabi Makeup – Essence

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Fairchild/Penske Media archive via Getty Images

Perfection is an addictive ideal of beauty that we have now all fallen victim to. This is clear in every thing from our drugs cabinets full of “anti-aging” skincare products to standardization Botox parties. What’s more, we even see it in horror movies (think: ) – revealing our insatiable desire to research and abandon perceived flaws.

This season, nonetheless, perfection is an outdated trend. Wabi-sabi— a Japanese worldview characterised by finding beauty in imperfection — is gaining popularity as a crucial antithesis to the fear of perfection. While aesthetic surgery is entering itsThe undetectable era” in response to the improvements of the watch, the makeup world is questioning whether beauty even exists in perfection.

“Don’t stress about imperfection. Embrace it. Relaxed, vibrant makeup feels more real and authentic” – MAC Senior National Artist Fatima Thomas says ESSENCE. “Things that are a little bit uneven, like a little blurry or a little bit uneven, can actually be quite visually pleasing.”

Below, Thomas explains the impact of Wabi-sabi beauty and her skilled techniques in achieving this look.

The rise of Wabi-sabi makeup

“A lot of people are taking a less stringent approach to makeup,” says Thomas. “When you worry less about having every line be perfect, every blend being perfect, you can actually enjoy applying and wearing makeup.” With beauty tricks like showering after punching to set the look with steam or sleeping in eyeliner for a soft grunge aesthetic, “Wabi-sabi allows for greater freedom and self-expression.”

Why now’s the proper time to adopt this mindset

“Do you really need to spend an extra 10 minutes to get your eyeliner perfect, or is it already good enough,” she asks. “After the pandemic and global inflation, people don’t want to stress about their makeup,” she continues, as TikTok’s viral “dopamine menu” trend turns beauty right into a form of therapy. “Wabi-sabi is about doing your best, and if it’s a little shaky, it’s okay.”

What does imperfect makeup appear like?

With airbrushes and editing apps distorting our view of achievable beauty: “I believe [imperfection] it is an opposition to digital filters and Photoshop,” he says. “It could be intentional or accidental, but it takes away the urge to rush and refine everything to look photoshopped.”

According to Thomas, the wabi-sabi approach relies more on philosophy than on any particular view. However, the important thing to imperfections is in nuances: “Do your makeup quickly and refrain from fixing minor imperfections.”

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

Companies that help insurance companies deny pre-authorization claims –

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Medicare, Melissa D. Hall


KFF survey found that roughly 6 in 10 insured adults have experienced problems while using their insurance. Issues include denied claims, network adequacy, pre-authorization delays and denials. As the investigation shows, this is just not a surprise. A hidden industry makes money by denying doctors’ payment requests, called prior authorizations.

According to a ProPublica investigation, one in every of the important thing participants on this scheme is Evernorth’s EviCore. A ProPublica investigation found that EviCore is owned by the big insurance company Cigna. The largest U.S. insurance companies employ EviCore and supply protection to 100 million consumers.

EviCore apparently uses a synthetic intelligence-supported algorithm that insurance industry insiders call “the shield.” The algorithm system will be customized, which ultimately results in more pre-authorization claim rejections.

What’s even weirder is that EviCore reportedly has some contracts that allow it to make more cash the more it cuts health care spending by insurance companies.

EviCore is just not alone. Another big player is Carelon Medical Benefits Management, a subsidiary of Elevance Health, formerly Anthem. Although the corporate has been accused in court of unlawfully denying legitimate insurance applications, it denies all allegations.

How companies respond

EviCore claims that the approval process ensures that the procedures are protected, obligatory and price-effective.

“We are improving the quality and safety of healthcare, and – by a happy coincidence – we are significantly reducing unnecessary costs,” said an EviCore doctor in the course of the company’s series of webinars.

But based on the investigation, EviCore’s approach is way more sinister than it suggests. EviCore reportedly guarantees a 3-to-1 return on investment, which implies your insurer can pay $3 less for medical care and other costs.

For some perspective, in 2021 in Arkansas, EviCore denied prior authorization requests almost 20% of the time. Medicare Advantage plans denied prior authorization requests about 7% of the time in 2022, based on a ProPublica evaluation of knowledge.

A Cigna spokesperson said on behalf of EviCore: “Simply put, EviCore uses the latest evidence-based medicine to ensure patients get the care they need and avoid services they don’t need.”

The spokesperson added that the corporate uses algorithms in some clinical programs “only to expedite the approval of appropriate care and reduce administrative burdens on healthcare providers.”


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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