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Black Women’s Health Is at Risk in This Election: Here’s What You Need to Know

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Tuesday, November 4, 2024, is fast approaching.

While most individuals are looking forward to the second presidential debate pitting Vice President Harris against former President Trump on September 10, 2024, a few of us are concerned about what this election means for our health. As we’ve previously reported, Black women are increasingly calling this 12 months’s election more vital than last 12 months’s because not only is our autonomy and democracy at stake, but in addition our health.

According to a recent study conducted by Black Women in America National Poll The survey, conducted by the Highland Project and Brilliant Corners Research and Strategies, found that 71 percent of black women voters said this was crucial election of their lifetime. While racism and discrimination are also top issues for 94 percent of black women, in addition to reforming the criminal justice system, protecting Social Security and Medicare, fighting inflation and lowering the associated fee of products, we’re also deeply concerned about our health care system, which has failed us before.

Our maternal community often suffers or is at the middle of the Black maternal health crisis, as Black women are thrice more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to the CDC. Several aspects contribute to these disparities: lack of quality health care, chronic health conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias.

While we hope each administrations will prioritize the well-being of Black women, the Harris Administration stands ready to construct on its agenda to ensure equity in maternal health care and address racial and ethnic disparities, reminiscent of the disproportionately high rate of maternal mortality amongst blacks women, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The Biden-Harris administration Previously made progress Closing the gap in access to maternal healthcare by increasing the variety of maternal healthcare employees and launching a maternal mental health helpline.

In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, eliminating federal abortion rights, leading to women across the United States fearing their lack of bodily autonomy and futures. Now, because of this, abortion and the flexibility to obtain contraception, given the blocking of the Right to Contraception Act of 2024, are hot topics. So how might the election affect access to abortion and other reproductive health care services?

Reinforcing and continuing . The Biden-Harris Administration has reaffirmed that abortion is acceptable for patients with emergency medical conditions under EMTALA.

: Although the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the Supreme Court was able to preserve access to mifepristone, which is used with misoprostol for medication abortion. If Trump is elected, his administration could order the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval of the drug combination for abortion or issue policies that restrict access to medication abortion.

: While the Harris administration could proceed to expand access to contraceptives after the law’s repeal , the Trump White House could weaken or completely remove provisions of the Affordable Care Act that cover contraception (including emergency contraception).

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

WATCH: Cynthia Erivo on the importance of being a sister – Essence

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

Phenergan is no longer recommended for children under 6 years of age due to the risk of hallucinations. Here’s what you can use instead

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The Australian Drugs Regulatory Authority has issued an order safety warning over Phenergan and related products containing the antihistamine promethazine.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has stated that over-the-counter products shouldn’t be given to children under six years of age due to concerns about serious unwanted side effects akin to hyperactivity, aggression and hallucinations. Breathing may turn into slow or shallow, which can be fatal.

When high doses are administered to young children, difficulties in learning and understanding, including reversible cognitive deficit and mental disability, may occur. – said the TGA.

The latest warning follows international and Australian concerns about the drug in young children, which is commonly used to treat conditions akin to hay fever and allergies, motion sickness and for short-term sedative effects.

What is promethazine?

Promethazine is a “first generation” antihistamine that has been sold over the counter in Australian pharmacies for a long time for a spread of conditions.

Unlike many other drugs, first-generation antihistamines can cross the blood-brain barrier. This means they affect your brain chemistry, making you feel drowsy and sedated.

In adults, this will likely be useful for sleep. However, in children, these drugs can cause serious unwanted side effects on the nervous system, including those mentioned on this week’s safety alert.

We’ve known about this for a while

We have known about the serious unwanted side effects of promethazine in young children for a while.

Advice regarding 20 years ago In the United States, the drug was not recommended for use in children under two years of age. In 2022, an Australian Medicines Advisory Committee made its own suggestion to increase the age to six. New Zealand released similar warnings and advice in May this 12 months.

Over the last ten years, there have been 235 cases of serious unwanted side effects from promethazine in each children and adults reported to the TGA. Of the 77 deaths reported, one was a toddler under six years of age.

Reported unwanted side effects in each adults and children included:

  • 13 cases of accidental overdose (leading to 11 deaths)
  • eight cases of hallucinations
  • seven cases of slow or shallow respiration (leading to 4 deaths)
  • six cases of decreased consciousness (leading to five deaths).

TGA security alert comes after an internal investigation by the manufacturer of Phenergan, Sanofi-Aventis Healthcare. This investigation was initiated in 2022 advice from the Medicines Advisory Committee. The company has now updated its information for consumers and healthcare professionals.

What can you use instead?

If you have allergies or hay fever in young children, non-sedating antihistamines akin to Claratine (loratadine) or Zyrtec (cetirizine) are preferred. They provide relief without the risk of sedation and other disturbing unwanted side effects of promethazine.

If symptoms of a chilly or cough occur, parents must be reassured that these symptoms will normally subside with time, fluid intake, and rest.

Saline nasal sprays, adequate hydration, a humidifier or elevating the child’s head can relieve the congestion related to hay fever. Oral products containing phenylephrine marketed for nasal congestion must be avoided because evidence shows that this is the case This article was originally published on : theconversation.com

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Health and Wellness

Why Elon Musk’s Grok Could Pose a Threat to Medical Privacy

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elon musk, DEI, remote work, jobs


Owner of X and candidate for the White House cabinet Elon Musk asked users to submit MRI results, CT scans and other medical information to its AI chatbotGrok reviewed it and a few people fell for it, he reports.

Musk presented this concept to X in late October 2024.

“Try uploading X-rays, PET, MRI, or other medical images to Grok for analysis. It’s still early stages, but it’s already quite accurate and will be extremely good,” he wrote. “Let us know where Grok is doing it right or where it needs work.”

Some individuals who voluntarily submitted photos were comfortable that Grok “did do well” together with his blood test results and breast cancer detection, but others waved red flags against the platform.

Josh Sharp, who goes by @showinvestment on social media, identified how a broken collarbone was viewed as a dislocated shoulder.

Radiologist Docteur TJ provided an in-depth evaluation of the MRI image, which he described partially as “too gross.”

Another example is a robot confusing a mammogram of a benign breast cyst with a picture of the testicles.

Grok was launched in May 2024 after raising $6 billion in an investment financing round through Musk’s tech startup, xAI. Grok is just not the primary of its kind: Google’s Gemini or OpenAI’s ChatGPT also enable the transfer of medical images.

While some praise the technology’s potential advances, medical privacy experts don’t not on this camp.

“It’s very personal data, and there’s no telling exactly what Grok will do with it,” said Vanderbilt University biomedical informatics professor Dr. Bradley Malin, according to “Sending personal information to Grok is more like, ‘Whee!’ Let’s throw out this data and hope the corporate does what I need it to do.”

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects medical information shared with physicians or in a patient portal because federal guidelines protect it from being shared without consent. However, the protection doesn’t cover social networking sites – it only applies to doctor’s offices, hospitals, health insurers and a few firms they work with.


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