Doctors at two Cairo hospitals will pin blue ribbon badges to the clothing of newborn baby girls on Wednesday as they launch a campaign to persuade parents in Egypt to “say no to female genital mutilation.”

The country has the highest number of women affected by FGM in the world, with nearly nine in 10 having been cut, according to U.N. data.

Parents will receive the badges — which resemble the Arabic word “no” and look like an upside down version of awareness ribbons for HIV/AIDS and breast cancer – after signing a pledge that they will not have their daughters cut.

Activists hope more hospitals will join the campaign, which launches on International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.

FGM was banned in Egypt in 2008 and criminalized in 2016, but the practice persists, with most procedures now carried out by health professionals.

Many families see FGM as a religious obligation and a way to preserve their daughter’s virginity.

“It is a wrong and ugly belief. We have to make clear that FGM (does not stop) sexual desire,” said pediatric doctor Amira Edris who works at one of the Cairo hospitals.

“I have a veil on my head and I respect religious rules … but this is not a religious rule – it is a false belief,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

FGM, which commonly involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, is practised in a swathe of African countries and parts of Asia and the Middle East.

It is often done by traditional cutters with unsterilized blades, but there is an increasing trend for FGM to be carried out by health professionals – particularly in Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria and Sudan.

Global anti-FGM group 28 Too Many, which is working with the Egyptian hospitals, said the “medicalization of FGM” was hindering efforts to end the practice.

“By having the backing of hospitals in the campaign, we are showing that FGM is wrong, wherever it is carried out,” said 28 Too Many founder Ann-Marie Wilson.

FGM can cause a host of serious health problems including infections and infertility.

There has been mounting concern over the practice in Egypt following the deaths of several girls during botched procedures.

Edris said she had been particularly affected by the death of a 7-year-old girl from FGM.

“We couldn’t save her … she bled to death. I remember she started to hallucinate … and she knew she was going to die – this really traumatized me,” she said. 

Amel Fahmy, director of women’s advocacy group Tadwein which is backing the campaign, said doctors were ideally placed to spread awareness of FGM.

“We can’t be shy about this. It’s time to talk about this as a harmful practice, and for doctors to tell parents you shouldn’t do this to your daughter,” she said.
…

A special airlift for thousands of baby flamingos is under way in South Africa, as drought puts their breeding ground in peril. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports. A warning, some of the images in her report may be disturbing.
…

Rich and zesty or low fat and vegan? Clever marketing with mouth-watering words can boost sales of plant-based dishes by more than 70 percent, experts said Tuesday, amid a drive to cut meat intake to improve human and planetary health.

Describing sausages as “Cumberland-spiced” rather than “meat-free” and promoting a soup as “Cuban” instead of “low fat vegetarian” increased sales in British and U.S. cafes, found research by the World Resources Institute (WRI) think tank.

“Right now, the predominant language is ‘meat-free’, ‘vegan’ and ‘vegetarian’ and that doesn’t have associations with deliciousness,” said Daniel Vennard, head of WRI’s Better Buying Lab, which aims to get people to eat more sustainable foods.

“Language isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s going to have a key role in reframing the food and luring in a whole new set of the population,” he told Reuters.

Many people in the United States and Europe eat more than double the recommended levels of meat for their health and experts say reducing consumption of animal products would be a relatively easy way to tackle climate change.

Scientists unveiled in January what they said was an ideal diet — doubling consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes, and halving meat and sugar intake — which could prevent 11 million premature deaths and cut planet-heating emissions.

But vegans are often seen as weak hippies and consumers dismiss vegetarian meals as bland, the WRI’s two-year study found, urging restaurants and retailers to emphasize instead the provenance, flavor, look and feel of food.

Language such as “low fat,” “reduced-sodium” or “lighter choice” also tends to lessen enjoyment of food in the United States and Britain because people believe healthy food is not tasty, the researchers said.

“The findings can help the world move toward a more sustainable diet by making plant-based foods to be more normal and more appetizing,” Vennard said. “Our challenge on moving the world to a sustainable diet is about getting the masses … the omnivores out there … engaged in this.”
…

Radiologists, who typically interact little with patients, can play a key role in identifying victims of abuse by spotting patterns of injuries that point to domestic violence, researchers said Tuesday.

Abuse victims, most often women, have more face, skull and arm fractures than other patients, combined with high rates of asthma, chronic pain and suicide attempts, a team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston reported.

The signs of abuse can be detected by radiologists, who specialize in interpreting images such as X-rays, given that such victims undergo four times more emergency-related imaging exams than other patients, the researchers said.

The abuse can be physical, sexual and psychological, they said.

“There’s a wealth of information that’s available to us as radiologists,” said Dr. Elizabeth George, chief resident in the department of radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a lead researcher of the report.

“There might be indications on the prior imaging, and if you see a pattern, that could alert you to something else going on in this case, such as violence.”

The World Health Organization reports that one in three women experiences physical or sexual violence in her lifetime.

The Violence Policy Center, a research and advocacy group focused on gun violence, reported that more than half the women murdered in the United States last year were killed by current or former romantic partners.

Signs of abuse can be easily missed in a busy hospital emergency department, George said.

The researchers also said hospital records may not identify or report certain injuries as abuse.

“Survivors need someone there who knows what’s happening,” said Ruth Glenn, head of the Colorado-based National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

“That alone can plant the seed to find safety. The medical field is perfectly set up to do this.”

Turning the findings into action to help victims will require a coordinated effort among radiologists, social workers, emergency room doctors and others, George told Reuters.

More than 96 percent of U.S. victims of violence at the hands of an intimate partner are women, and the highest rates occur among black and Hispanic women, according to the report, published in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America.
…

Failure to meet global climate goals could lead to warming of five degrees celsius in the Himalayan mountains and a loss of two-thirds of the region’s glaciers by the year 2100, with disastrous consequences for water supplies and food production for about two billion people in eight Asian countries, warns a new study.

Meeting the Paris agreement goals of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius will slow down the process, but one third of the region’s glaciers are still set to disappear according to the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, which conducted the five-year study. The problem is being exacerbated by severe air pollution in parts of the region.

“Big hit on agriculture, changing rainfall patterns, so what this translates into is sometimes too much water, sometimes too little water, and so we see the hazard of floods increasing or landslides, ” according to David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD. Pointing out that there has been far too little attention on this mountain hotspot, he says “It’s basically a highly vulnerable region to disasters because of these changes.”

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region covered by the study spans 3,500 kilometers across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

According to the report, the ice masses on the Himalayas have been thinning and retreating since global warming set in and the present pace of warming will spike temperatures in mountain areas by 5 degrees celsius, whereas limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by the end of the century would lead to a 2.1 degree spike in temperatures as mountains heat up faster.

“This is the climate crisis you haven’t heard of,” said Philippus Wester of the ICIMOD, who led the report, the “Hindu Kush Assessment.” Saying that global warming is on track to transform mountain peaks to bare rocks in a little less than a century, he says “projected reductions in pre-monsoon river flows and changes in the monsoon that will hit hardest, throwing urban water systems and food and energy production off kilt.”

The people affected would include some of the world’s most vulnerable communities in mountains and those living in the plains who rely on river systems that originate in the mountains — known as the water towers of Asia, the Himalayas feed 10 major rivers such as the Yangtze, the Ganges and the Indus.

“If glaciers are melting then first people get a little bit more water, but then there comes a time when actually there will be a reduction in contribution of glacier melt into our river systems,” according to Molden. “Some of the poorest people and most vulnerable people are living there, who do not really add to greenhouse gases but who are impacted by this kind of change.” 

The study says that one-third of the 250 million people living in the mountains live on less that $2 a day.

Besides global warming, air pollution from the Indo-Gangetic Plains—one of the world’s most polluted regions is also impacting the mountains as these pollutants deposit black carbon and dust on the glaciers, hastening their melting according to the study.

The steps needed to prepare for the changes are altering existing agriculture systems, preparing for droughts, putting up early flood warning systems and protecting high mountain eco systems.

It also calls for greater attention to mountain areas in efforts to tackle global climate change and urges governments in the eight Asian countries to work together to turn the tide against melting glaciers.

“Its an urgent action needed at the global scale,” said Molden. “Mountains are these faraway places, great for holidays, beautiful locations, but I think we have not seen the level of science on mountains as say in the plains, or say in the Arctics.”
…

February 4 is designated as World Cancer Day, and the disease remains one of the world’s leading causes of death. Last year, there were close to two million new cases of cancer worldwide and more than 600-thousand people died of the disease. But progress is being made. Cancer mortality rates have been going down for decades, and new technology is making early detection easier. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
…

Chronic pain is the most common reason people give when they enroll in state-approved medical marijuana programs.

 

That’s followed by stiffness from multiple sclerosis and chemotherapy-related nausea, according to an analysis of 15 states published Monday in the journal Health Affairs.

 

The study didn’t measure whether marijuana actually helped anyone with their problems, but the patients’ reasons match up with what’s known about the science of marijuana and its chemical components.

 

“The majority of patients for whom we have data are using cannabis for reasons where the science is the strongest,” said lead author Kevin Boehnke of University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

California became the first state to allow medical use of marijuana in 1996. More than 30 states now allow marijuana for dozens of health problems. Lists of allowable conditions vary by state, but in general, a doctor must certify a patient has an approved diagnosis.

 

While the U.S. government has approved medicines based on compounds found in the plant, it considers marijuana illegal and imposes limits on research. That’s led to states allowing some diseases and symptoms where rigorous science is lacking. Most of the evidence comes from studying pharmaceuticals based on marijuana ingredients, not from studies of smoked marijuana or edible forms.

 

Dementia and glaucoma, for example, are conditions where marijuana hasn’t proved valuable, but some states include them. Many states allow Parkinson’s disease or post-traumatic stress disorder where evidence is limited.

 

The analysis is based on 2016 data from the 15 states that reported the reasons given for using marijuana. Researchers compared the symptoms and conditions with a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence: a 2017 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

About 85 percent of patients’ reasons were supported by substantial or conclusive evidence in the National Academies report.

 

The study shows people are learning about the evidence for cannabis and its chemical components, said Ziva Cooper of University of California Los Angeles’ Cannabis Research Initiative. Cooper served on the National Academies report committee, but wasn’t involved in the new study.

 

About two-thirds of the about 730,000 reasons were related to chronic pain, the study found. Patients could report more than one pain condition, so the figure may overestimate patient numbers.

 

Patients include 37-year-old Brandian Smith of Pana, Illinois, who qualifies because she has fibromyalgia. On bad days, her muscles feel like they’re being squeezed in a vise. She said she has stopped taking opioid painkillers because marijuana works better for her. She spends about $300 a month at her marijuana dispensary.

 

“Cannabis is the first thing I’ve found that actually makes the pain go away and not leave me so high that I can’t enjoy my day,” Smith said.

 

The study also found:

Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon saw a decline in medical marijuana patients after legalization of recreational marijuana in those states.
More than 800,000 patients were enrolled in medical marijuana programs in 2017 in 19 states. That doesn't count California and Maine, which don't require patients to register. Other estimates have put the number at more than 2 million.

…

True north isn’t quite where it used to be.

Earth’s north magnetic pole has been drifting so fast in the last few decades that scientists that past estimates are no longer accurate enough for precise navigation. On Monday, they released an update of where true north really was, nearly a year ahead of schedule.

The magnetic north pole is wandering about 34 miles (55 kilometers) a year. It crossed the international date line in 2017, and is leaving the Canadian Arctic on its way to Siberia.

The constant shift is a problem for compasses in smartphones and some consumer electronics. Airplanes and boats also rely on magnetic north, usually as backup navigation, said University of Colorado geophysicist Arnaud Chulliat, lead author of the newly issued World Magnetic Model. GPS isn’t affected because it’s satellite-based.

Magnetic north has military uses

The military depends on where magnetic north is for navigation and parachute drops, while NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Forest Service also use it. Airport runway names are based on their direction toward magnetic north and their names change when the poles moved. For example, the airport in Fairbanks, Alaska, renamed a runway 1L-19R to 2L-20R in 2009.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and United Kingdom tend to update the location of the magnetic north pole every five years in December, but this update came early because of the pole’s faster movement.

The movement of the magnetic north pole “is pretty fast,” Chulliat said. 

Pole’s pace has increased

Since 1831 when it was first measured in the Canadian Arctic it has moved about 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometers) toward Siberia. Its speed jumped from about 9 mph (15 kph) to 34 mph (55 kph) since 2000. 

The reason is turbulence in Earth’s liquid outer core. There is a hot liquid ocean of iron and nickel in the planet’s core where the motion generates an electric field, said University of Maryland geophysicist Daniel Lathrop, who wasn’t part of the team monitoring the magnetic north pole.

“It has changes akin to weather,” Lathrop said. “We might just call it magnetic weather.”

The magnetic south pole is moving far slower than the north. 

In general Earth’s magnetic field is getting weaker, leading scientists to say that it will eventually flip, where north and south pole changes polarity, like a bar magnet flipping over. It has happened numerous times in Earth’s past, but not in the last 780,000 years. 

“It’s not a question of if it’s going to reverse, the question is when it’s going to reverse,” Lathrop said.

Flip will take time

When it reverses, it won’t be like a coin flip, but take 1,000 or more years, experts said. 

Lathrop sees a flip coming sooner rather than later because of the weakened magnetic field and an area over the South Atlantic has already reversed beneath Earth’s surface.

That could bother some birds that use magnetic fields to navigate. And an overall weakening of the magnetic field isn’t good for people and especially satellites and astronauts. The magnetic field shields Earth from some dangerous radiation, Lathrop said.
…

Arctic islands north of Norway are warming faster than almost anywhere on Earth and more avalanches, rain and mud may cause “devastating” changes by 2100, a Norwegian report said on Monday.

The thaw on the remote Svalbard islands, home to 2,300 people and where the main village of Longyearbyen is 1,300 kms (800 miles) from the North Pole, highlights risks in other parts of the Arctic from Alaska to Siberia.

Average temperatures on Svalbard have leapt between three and five degrees Celsius (5.4-9.0 Fahrenheit) since the early 1970s and could rise by a total of 10C (18F) by 2100 if world greenhouse gas emissions keep climbing, the study said.

Almost 200 governments promised in the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit a rise in average global temperatures to “well below” 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial times by 2100. Worldwide, temperatures are up about 1C (1.8F).

On Svalbard, the envisaged rise in temperatures would thaw the frozen ground underpinning many buildings, roads and airports, cause more avalanches, “slushflows” and landslides, melt glaciers and threaten wildlife such as polar bears and seals that rely on sea ice to hunt.

“A 10 degree warming, with the implications for Arctic nature, ice-dependent species, will be devastating,” Climate and Environment Minister Ola Elvestuen told Reuters.

Norway will have to increase investment to relocate buildings from avalanche paths and drill deeper infrastructure foundations as permafrost thaws, the report said.

Two people died in 2015 when an avalanche destroyed 10 houses in Longyearbyen.

Many other parts of the Arctic, especially its islands, are also warming far quicker than the world average as the retreat of snow and sea ice exposes darker water and ground that soaks up ever more of the sun’s heat.

Temperatures on Svalbard would stay around current levels only if governments make unprecedented cuts in global emissions, the report said. Not enough

“No one is doing enough” to limit greenhouse gas emissions, Elvestuen said of government actions. “We have to do more … The use of oil and gas has to go down.” Norway is western Europe’s biggest oil and gas exporter.

Inger Hanssen-Bauer, head of the Norwegian Centre for Climate Services, which produced the report, said the findings were a warning for the rest of the Arctic.

“The main message is that these changes are happening so fast,” she told Reuters.

Ketil Isaksen, a lead author at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, urged researchers to pay more attention to landslides as the permafrost melts. “There is now a lot of focus on snow avalanches, but landslides in summer should be taken more into account,” he said.
…

Researchers and doctors are using incredibly tiny particles — fluorescent nanoparticles — in a quest for new ways to fight cancer. Some nanoparticles, just billionths of a meter across, are engineered to carry special dye that glows when it hits cancer cells. Oregon State University scientists say this makes it easier for surgeons to find and remove tumors. Iryna Matviichuk visited Portland and learned the new procedure is closer to testing in human patients. Anna Rice narrates her report.
…

In advance of World Cancer Day (February 4), the World Health Organization is issuing new cancer pain control guidelines aimed at ending the needless suffering experienced by millions of people afflicted with this illness. 

Cancer is a leading cause of death globally.  The World Health Organization reports there are more than 18 million new cases every year and 9.6 million deaths, most in low-or middle-income countries.

Great advances have been made in the treatment of cancer, but measures to relieve the horrific pain experienced by patients lag woefully behind.  WHO hopes to remedy this with its new guidance on pain management.

Director of WHO’s Department for the Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Etienne Krug, says controlling pain should be an essential part of cancer treatment.  Yet, he says pain is very often neglected as part of that treatment, a situation he considers unacceptable.

“Nobody, cancer patients or not cancer patients should live or die in pain in the 21st century.  We have the knowledge of how to treat pain,” said Krug. “We have the medicines of how to address it.  It is a question of making sure everybody has that knowledge and everybody has access to the necessary treatment.” 

Krug says the situation is most acute in the poorer countries because pain management systems tend not to be in place.  But he notes even in the rich countries people are still living and dying in pain.

WHO says opioid painkillers like oral morphine are an essential treatment for moderate to severe cancer pain.  But WHO Noncommunicable Coordinator, Cheriana Varghese says some governments have enacted regulatory and legal barriers against their use in reaction to the global scare of opioid and morphine addiction.

“When a government of a country wants to introduce opioids, there is always this looming danger that this is going to get out of hand,” Varghese said. “And, so the governments are more conservative because of this.”

Varghese says there are sufficient safeguards against the abuse of opioids and morphine.   He says these painkillers should be given only by trained health care providers, doctors and nurses.  He adds oral preparation should be given whenever possible to prevent addiction.

 
…

The Trump administration’s top health official asked Congress on Friday to pass its new prescription drug discount plan and provide it to all patients, not just those covered by government programs like Medicare.

The plan would take now-hidden rebates among industry players like drug companies and insurers and channel them directly to consumers when they go to pay for their medications. 

Patients with high drug copays stand to benefit from the proposal, while people who take no prescription drugs, or who rely on generics mainly, would probably pay somewhat more, since premiums are expected to rise.

A day after unveiling the plan as a proposed regulation, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar raised the stakes by calling on Congress to make it law and broaden it to include people covered by employer health insurance, not just Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

“Congress has an opportunity to follow through on their calls for transparency … by passing our proposal into law immediately and extending it into the commercial drug market,” Azar said in a speech at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank.

Trump under pressure

Ahead of next week’s State of the Union speech, President Donald Trump is under political pressure to show results for his promise to slash prescription drug costs. Data show that prices for brand-name drugs have continued to rise, though at a somewhat slower pace. Polls show consumers across the political spectrum want government action.

Democrats say the administration’s plan doesn’t go far enough because it still leaves drug companies free to set high list prices. They say drug pricing is like a black box, and it’s impossible to tell if prices reflect actual costs or if companies are charging what they think the market will bear.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says she’s also worried that the plan would raise premiums. HHS acknowledges Medicare prescription premiums would go up $3 to $5 a month.

Proposal draws interest

Nonetheless, the administration’s proposal appears to be in the mix as Congress gears up to craft legislation addressing prescription drug costs. Friday evening, the Republican chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, expressed his support. Rebates “ought to lower costs to patients, and this is a good first step towards that goal,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said in a statement.

The complex plan would work by doing away with an exemption from federal anti-kickback rules that currently allows drugmakers, insurers and middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers to negotiate rebates among themselves.

Drug companies pay rebates to make sure their medications are covered by insurance plans that are the intermediaries between them and patients. HHS says hidden rebates can amount to up to 30 percent of a drug’s list price. Insurers say they use the money from rebates to hold down premiums for all consumers.

Under the plan, the current anti-kickback exemption for industry rebates would be replaced with a new one for discounts offered directly to consumers. 

Azar said the idea would reshape the drug pricing system, shifting it away from hidden rebates to upfront discounts, creating pressure on drugmakers to keep prices down. The proposal was co-authored with the HHS inspector general’s office.

Potential consequences

Experts say it will take time to sort out all the potential consequences.

Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said the current system of rebates harms patients who take costly drugs with high copays. 

Think people with cancer, patients with intractable illnesses such as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis, and those who take brand-name medicines with no generic competition. Patients’ cost sharing is often based on list prices, not the cost of the drug after rebates.

“Simply put, those on no medications at all will just see their premiums go up and see no savings because they don’t take any medicine,” said Bach. “Those on generics only may be essentially in this category (as well). 

“But those on expensive medications … they will see savings in total,” he added. More than half a million people filled at least $50,000 in prescriptions in 2014, according to an Express Scripts report. 

Insurers and pharmacy benefit managers like Express Scripts and CVS oppose the administration plan, saying it will undercut their ability to bargain with drugmakers for lower prices. 

Companies please with plan

Drugmakers have applauded the administration’s action. 

Consumers are worried about prices for brand-name drugs, particularly new medications that promise breakthrough results. Generics account for nearly 90 percent of prescriptions filled, but brand-name drugs account for more than 70 percent of the spending.

Azar contends that under the current system everybody but the patient benefits from high prices. A high list price makes room for bigger negotiated rebates for insurers and middlemen. And drugmakers then merely build that expectation into their prices.

Before joining the Trump administration, Azar was a top executive for drugmaker Eli Lilly. That led to criticism that he would be an industry pawn. But the drugmakers vehemently disagree with some of his other ideas, including an experiment using lower international drug prices to cut some Medicare costs.
…

Six months after the outbreak of Ebola was declared in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, the World Health Organization is expressing cautious optimism that it is making headway in controlling the spread of the deadly virus.  

Latest figures reported by the WHO show 752 cases of Ebola, including 465 deaths.

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, says progress in containing the spread of the virus is due to a number of public health measures, including the training of health workers on infection prevention and control, closer engagement with communities, case investigation and contact tracing.  

She says the use of a vaccine and promising new drugs have been a boon to these efforts.

“I feel optimistic,” Moeti said. “I am very clear that we need to continue this work. We need to make sure that in the places where we have made progress, we build on this progress and we do not go back. And, we are being very, very conscious of the fact that we need to invest to improve the preparedness both in the DRC areas that are highest at risk and, most importantly, in the surrounding countries that are at risk.”  

The risk of the virus spreading to countries like Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan is very high because of the heavy cross-border traffic among the countries, Moeti said. However, she added, surveillance and preparedness activities have been enhanced on both sides of the border.

She says there is extensive monitoring at border crossings and improvements have been made in screening people for the virus. In addition, 2,600 health care workers in Uganda have been vaccinated. Moeti said a similar vaccination campaign began two days ago in South Sudan.
…

South Sudan is vaccinating health workers against Ebola in case the virus crosses the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ebola has stricken more than 700 people in the DRC and killed more than 400. The World Health Organization said the death rate is 59 percent. 

Half a world away in Ohio, U.S. researchers are racing to develop a new, long-lasting vaccine against Ebola. At Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Dr. Paul Spearman is leading a clinical trial that tests two experimental Ebola vaccines.

“Researchers are looking for new ways to stop these outbreaks and to treat people who become infected and develop Ebola virus disease. The development of preventive vaccines for Ebola is a top global public health priority,” said Spearman, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s and the lead investigator in the trial.

Volunteers first receive one of the vaccines. A week later, they get the other one. Spearman said this one-two shot is promising and could provide rapid protection against Ebola.

These are weakened live-vector vaccines that cannot grow in human cells, but they produce strong immune responses to Ebola virus proteins.

Karnail Singh, Ph.D., also at Cincinnati Children’s, heads the program that tests volunteers’ blood samples. The researchers test the samples collected before the volunteers are injected with the experimental vaccines and again afterward.

Singh said that way, researchers can compare the samples and see if the vaccines provide immunity. The researchers also plan to take blood samples six months after the first two injections. If the vaccine is still effective, they hope to repeat the process six months later. These intensive lab studies and the rapid prime-boost schedule have not been done before in developing a vaccine against Ebola.

In Congo, health workers are using a vaccine developed during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that raged from 2013 until 2016. It protects the Zaire strain of Ebola circulating in Congo. But there are two other deadly strains of Ebola. Health officials want vaccines that protect against all of them. 

The vaccine being tested at Cincinnati Children’s has not yet been compared to the one being used in Congo, but it may protect against at least one other strain of Ebola. The goal is to produce a vaccine that is safe, effective and long-lasting.

The researchers in Cincinnati hope their work will improve the understanding of how to build immunity to other viruses or bacteria that can cause disease.
…

One of the important aspects of gauging the damage being done to the world’s ecosystems by climate change is knowing the current status of those systems. So a Britain-based charity is about to embark on a seven-week expedition to gauge the health of one of the world’s few remaining pristine reefs. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added eight members on Thursday to its scientific advisory board tasked with providing independent input for agency policy, a list that includes at least one vocal climate-change doubter.

The EPA said John Christy, an atmospheric science professor at the University of Alabama, was among the new appointees to the advisory body, which now numbers 45 people and includes several appointees from past administrations.

Christy has downplayed the threat of climate change in congressional hearings and media appearances, arguing that scientific models overestimate warming, and that major steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions are not warranted.

Those views place him outside the mainstream scientific consensus, including from U.S. federal agencies, that global warming will have devastating consequences if not urgently addressed. But they dovetail with President Donald Trump’s policy of rolling back Obama-era climate-change regulations to free up more drilling and mining.

Christy did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

New appointees

Other new appointees include Hugh Barton, a toxicology and risk assessment consultant who formerly worked for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc, and Richard Williams, an economics and benefit-cost analysis consultant who previously worked for the Food and Drug Administration.

“In a fair, open, and transparent fashion, EPA reviewed hundreds of qualified applicants nominated for this committee,” acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. They “include experts from a wide variety of scientific disciplines who reflect the geographic diversity needed to represent all 10 EPA regions.”

Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, has said he believes climate change is occurring, but told senators at his confirmation hearing earlier this month that he did not see it as an urgent problem.

Trump downplays climate change

Trump has also repeatedly downplayed the threat of climate change, and announced his intention shortly after taking office in January 2017 to pull the United States from a global accord to fight it.

The science advisory board was created by Congress to serve as a check on EPA policies and research.

The EPA in 2017 barred scientists who have won agency-awarded grants from serving on the panel, a move the administration said was aimed at reducing conflicts of interest, but which environmental groups said would keep qualified scientists out of contention.
…

The pet parents do yoga poses, like downward-facing dog, as their pups walk around the room and socialize, sniffing each other and the people on their yoga mats. This is doga, a fun, relaxing way to connect with your pet while getting some exercise.

At EMMAvet in Alexandria, Va., owner and veterinarian Veronica Jarvinin decided to begin doga classes a few months ago. She does a bending pose as she pets Emma, her beloved dog whose name is on the sign at the emergency pet care practice.

“Everybody giggles the whole time, and dogs roam from person to person,” she said. “I think it just brings everybody a lot of joy.”

Doga was started by an American fitness coach more than 15 years ago. Some of the poses the dogs do naturally take time for the humans to learn.

“You can do puppy pose where your hips stay up and everything else kind of stays the same,” instructor Ashley Stewart told the group. She is a yoga teacher and dog lover who decided to give teaching doga a try.

“It’s definitely less focused on the human yoga practitioner and more focused on the human and the dog connecting,” she explained. The dogs start to emulate what the humans are doing,” she said, as a black Labrador rested next to its owner who was doing a yoga pose flat on the floor.  But the class also expects unusual distractions, Stewart said with a laugh. “We often have accidents that we are cleaning up or dogs that are barking.”

Doga helps create a stronger bond between the pet parent and pup.

Wendy Kuo, a veterinarian in Maryland, brought her two dogs to her first doga class. “Dogs have so much love to give, and I felt that when I was practicing with them,” she said.

Stewart cuddled a cute little gray poodle that licked her face as she asked the group members to lean over to their ankles. 

Mike Salinas, who has been taking yoga for some time, said the best part of doga is snuggling with the dogs. “All dogs want our affection and attention,” he said. “It’s relaxing. Doga also provides a good workout.”

Stewart pushes the class members to reach up high with their right arms. “We’re just going to hold here for a second,” she said.

Doga newbie Celina Williams found the poses challenging, since she had not taken a yoga class before. She signed up for the class because her dog could come with her, which she thought was great.

College student Beth Barrett arrived without a dog since she can’t fit one in her life right now. “I love dogs and I love yoga,” she said, “so it’s a perfect combination of both.”

As the class ended with the resting pose, both the people and dogs were ready to relax, including Marieka Johnson and her best friend, a sweet terrier mix named Chewy.

“Maybe doga is a little crazy,” she said, “but it brings more of the peace aspect of yoga to you and the animal, and also helps with the bond you create.”

Stewart thanked the class for coming. “The dog lover in me, honors the dog lover in you. Good job, dogs,” she said enthusiastically.
…

The World Health Organization reports that more than 700 people have been sickened with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And now, neighboring countries of South Sudan and Rwanda are bracing for the virus to spread. But, half a world away, U.S. researchers are hoping to develop a new, long-lasting vaccine against Ebola. VOA’s Carol Pearson has more.
…

A new report estimates that nearly half of all U.S. adults have some form of heart or blood vessel disease, a medical milestone that’s mostly due to recent guidelines that expanded how many people have high blood pressure.

 

The American Heart Association said Thursday that more than 121 million adults had cardiovascular disease in 2016. Taking out those with only high blood pressure leaves 24 million, or 9 percent of adults, who have other forms of disease such as heart failure or clogged arteries.

 

Measuring the burden of diseases shows areas that need to improve, the heart association’s chief science and medical officer, Dr. Mariell Jessup, said in a statement.

 

High blood pressure, which had long been defined as a top reading of at least 140 or a bottom one of 90, dropped to 130 over 80 under guidelines adopted in 2017. It raises the risk for heart attacks, strokes and many other problems, and only about half of those with the condition have it under control.

 

Being diagnosed with high blood pressure doesn’t necessarily mean you need medication right away; the first step is aiming for a healthier lifestyle, even for those who are prescribed medicine. Poor diets, lack of exercise and other bad habits cause 90 percent of high blood pressure.

 

The report is an annual statistics update by the heart association, the National Institutes of Health and others.

 

Other highlights:

 

Heart and blood vessel disease is linked to 1 of every 3 deaths in the United States and kills more Americans than all forms of cancer and respiratory diseases like pneumonia combined.
Certain groups have higher rates than others; 57 percent of black women and 60 percent of black males.
Coronary heart disease, or clogged or hardened arteries, caused 43 percent of cardiovascular deaths in the U.S., followed by stroke (17 percent), high blood pressure (10 percent) and heart failure (9 percent).

 
…

Ahead of World Cancer Day (February 4), the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for accelerated action to eliminate cervical cancer, a preventable disease that kills more than 300,000 women every year.

Cervical cancer ranks among leading causes of death for women worldwide.  Nine in 10 deaths occur in poor and middle-income countries.  The disease is caused by the human papillomavirus and is transmitted through sexual contact.

The WHO says cervical cancer can be cured if the infection is diagnosed and treated at an early stage. But, as with some ailments in life, prevention is the best cure.  And, in the case of cervical cancer, an effective vaccine is available that can prevent the disease when given to girls between the ages of nine and 14.  

The WHO’s Immunization Program technical officer, Paul Bloem, says the vaccine is widely administered in rich countries.  While countries with the highest burden of cervical cancer in Africa and Asia are lagging behind, he says progress is being made.

“In countries, such as Rwanda, a trailblazer in Africa, that reaches over 90 percent since five, six years.  Bhutan, that reaches also 90 percent of its girls.  Malaysia, that reaches 97 percent of its girls.  So, there are some extremely good examples that show that this vaccine is accepted and can be delivered in low-income settings,” he said.  

Bloem says four countries in Africa – Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Senegal – introduced the vaccine last year.  He says 11 more countries in Africa and Asia will start using it next year.

Princess Nothemba Simelela, WHO Assistant Director-General for Family, Women, Children and Adolescents, says a big problem in developing countries is the lack of skilled people to test and diagnose cervical cancer in women.

She says that women in remote, rural areas often have difficulty reaching clinics where they can be tested and treated for the disease.  But she told VOA there are strategies governments can employ to overcome that.

“We can have mobile outreach clinics.  Sometimes, what you have is days on which women can be called or young girls can be brought in, specifically to get this attention,” she said.

Simelela says another strategy that governments can employ is to use school health programs. For instance, she says, Rwanda and South Africa bring the vaccine into the schools where access is available to the largest number of girls in the age groups that need to be reached.

 
…

Scientists in Kenya are warning that poor agricultural practices and climate change are decimating bees and other vital pollinators. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), says about $575 billion worth of annual global food production relies directly on pollinators. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.
…

Hundreds of millions of Americans spent Wednesday seeking relief from some of the coldest weather ever recorded in the continental United States. 

Officials said temperatures were below the freezing mark in 85 percent of the country, excluding Alaska and Hawaii.

Chicago recorded a low temperature of about minus 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 30 Celsius) — not a record, but close to it. Minneapolis recorded minus 27 F (minus 32 C). In Sioux Falls, S.D., the mercury dropped to minus 25 F (minus 31 C).

Wind chills reportedly made it feel like minus 50 F (minus 45 C) or worse in several parts of the Midwest.

Downtown Chicago streets were largely deserted after most offices told employees to stay home. Trains and buses operated with few passengers; engineers set fires along tracks to keep commuter trains moving. The hardiest commuters ventured out only after covering nearly every square inch of flesh to protect against the extreme chill, which froze ice crystals on eyelashes and eyebrows in minutes.

The city used transit buses, with nurses on board, as emergency warming centers for the homeless.   

  

Doctors in Minneapolis said they were treating cases of what they called fourth-degree frostbite, in which limbs are frostbitten down to the bone.

Mail carriers, known for making deliveries through rain, sleet and snow, draw the line at life-threatening cold. The U.S. Postal Service canceled mail service in parts of 11 states Wednesday.

With nine weather-related deaths reported so far, the cold was spreading east into New England and the mid-Atlantic states. Commuters and schoolchildren could expect to wake up to temperatures in the single or low double digits Fahrenheit in Washington, Baltimore, New York and Boston.

Meteorologists blamed the weather on a breakup of the polar vortex — cold air above the North Pole that has been pushed south across North America because of a blast of desert heat from North Africa.

Experts said it was possible that climate change was playing a part in the extreme cold. But they said it was hard to pinpoint the cause of a single weather event such as this week’s cold blast.

“It is not out of bounds with the historical record,” University of Miami professor Ben Kirtman said. “You get storms that are bigger than other storms. There is a big part of this that is part of the natural variability of the climate.”

 

WATCH: Polar Vortex Sends Frigid Air Through North America

Government scientists said increased moisture in the atmosphere because of global warming might bring on a higher number of severe snowstorms in the winter and more powerful hurricanes in the summer.

This week’s cold weather will be just a memory within a few days. Forecasters predicted temperatures in the mid-40s F on Sunday and low 50s F on Monday in Chicago. In Washington, the temperatures are expected to be in the mid- to upper 50s for those two days.

Some information for this report from the Associated Press.
…

Scientists using sophisticated techniques to determine the age of bone fragments, teeth and artifacts unearthed in a Siberian cave have provided new insight into a mysterious extinct human species that may have been more advanced than previously known. 

 

Research published Wednesday shed light on the species called Denisovans, known only from scrappy remains from Denisova Cave in the foothills of the Altai Mountains in Russia. 

 

While still enigmatic, they left a genetic mark on our species, Homo sapiens, particularly among indigenous populations in Papua New Guinea and Australia that retain a small but significant percentage of Denisovan DNA, evidence of past interbreeding between the species. 

 

Fossils and DNA traces demonstrated Denisovans were present in the cave from at least 200,000 to 50,000 years ago, and Neanderthals, a closely related extinct human species, were present there between 200,000 and 80,000 years ago, the new research found. Stone tools indicated one or both species may have occupied the cave starting 300,000 years ago.  

Scientists last year described a Denisova Cave bone fragment of a girl whose mother was a Neanderthal and father a Denisovan, evidence of interbreeding. The girl, nicknamed “Denny,” lived around 100,000 years ago, the new research showed. 

 

Pendants made of animal teeth and bone points from the cave were determined to be between 43,000 and 49,000 years old. They may have been crafted by Denisovans, suggesting a degree of intellectual sophistication. 

 

“Traditionally these objects are associated in Western Europe with the expansion of our species, and are seen as hallmarks of behavioral modernity, but in this case Denisovans may be their authors,” said archaeological scientist Katerina Douka of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany. 

 

Our species arose in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago, later spreading worldwide. There is no evidence Homo sapiens had reached Denisova Cave when these objects were made. 

 

Denisovans are known only from three teeth and one finger bone. 

 

“New fossils would be especially welcome, as we know almost nothing about the physical appearance of Denisovans, aside from them having rather chunky teeth,” said geochronologist Zenobia Jacobs of the University of Wollongong in Australia.  

 

“Their DNA in modern Australian Aboriginal and New Guinean people tantalizingly suggests they may have been quite widespread in Asia, and possibly even southeast Asia, but we need to find some hard evidence of their presence in these regions to flesh out the full story of the Denisovans,” added University of Wollongong geochronologist Richard “Bert” Roberts.  

 

The research was published in the journal Nature.
…

A major new study provides the strongest evidence yet that vaping can help smokers quit cigarettes, with e-cigarettes proving nearly twice as effective as nicotine gums and patches. 

 

The British research, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, could influence what doctors tell their patients and shape the debate in the U.S., where the Food and Drug Administration has come under pressure to more tightly regulate the burgeoning industry amid a surge in teenage vaping. 

 

We know that patients are asking about e-cigarettes and many doctors haven't been sure what to say,'' said Dr. Nancy Rigotti, a tobacco treatment specialist at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the study.I think they now have more evidence to endorse e-cigarettes.” 

 

At the same time, Rigotti and other experts cautioned that no vaping products have been approved in the U.S. to help smokers quit. 

Top cause of preventable death

 

Smoking is the No. 1 cause of preventable death worldwide, blamed for nearly 6 million deaths a year. Quitting is notoriously difficult, even with decades-old nicotine aids and newer prescription drugs. More than 55 percent of U.S. smokers try to quit each year, and only about 7 percent succeed, according to government figures. 

 

Electronic cigarettes, which have been available in the U.S. since about 2007 and have grown into a $6.6 billion-a-year industry, are battery-powered devices that typically heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable vapor.  

  

Most experts agree the vapor is less harmful than cigarette smoke since it doesn’t contain most of the cancer-causing byproducts of burning tobacco. But there is virtually no research on the long-term effects of the chemicals in the vapor, some of which are toxic. 

 

At the same time, there have been conflicting studies on whether e-cigarettes actually help smokers kick the habit. Last year, an influential panel of U.S. experts concluded there was only “limited evidence” of their effectiveness.  

In the new study, researchers tracked nearly 900 middle-age smokers who were randomly assigned to receive either e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement products, including patches, gums and lozenges. After one year, 18 percent of e-cigarette users were smoke-free, versus 9.9 percent of those using the other products.  

  

“Anything which helps smokers to avoid heart disease and cancer and lung disease is a good thing, and e-cigarettes can do that,” said Peter Hajek, study co-author and an addiction specialist at Queen Mary University of London. 

More rigorous

 

The study was more rigorous than previous ones, which largely surveyed smokers about e-cigarette use. Participants in this experiment underwent chemical breath testing. 

 

Smokers in the e-cigarette group received a $26 starter kit, while those in the nicotine-replacement group received a three-month supply of the product of their choice, costing about $159. Participants were responsible for buying follow-up supplies. 

 

“If you have a method of helping people with smoking cessation that is both more effective and less costly, that should be of great interest to anyone providing health services,” said Kenneth Warner, a retired University of Michigan public health professor who was not involved in the study. 

 

Several factors may have boosted the results: All the participants were recruited from a government smoking-cessation program and were presumably motivated to quit. They also received four weeks of anti-smoking counseling.  

  

The researchers didn’t test e-cigarettes against new drugs such as Pfizer’s Chantix, which has shown higher rates of success than older nicotine-based treatments. 

 

Funding for the study came from the British government, which has embraced e-cigarettes as a potential tool to combat smoking through state-run health services. Some of the authors have been paid consultants to makers of anti-smoking products. 

Long-term questions

 

U.S. health authorities have been more reluctant about backing the products, in part because of the long-term effects are unknown. 

 

“We need more studies about their safety profile, and I don’t think anyone should be changing practice based on one study,” said Belinda Borrelli, a psychologist specializing in smoking cessation at Boston University. 

 

The American Heart Association backed e-cigarettes in 2014 as a last resort to help smokers quit after trying counseling and approved products. The American Cancer Society took a similar position last year. 

 

An editorial accompanying the study and co-written by Borrelli recommended e-cigarettes only after smokers have tried and failed to quit with FDA-approved products. Also, doctors should have a clear timeline for stopping e-cigarette use. 

 

Borrelli noted that after one year, 80 percent of the e-cigarette users in the study were still using the devices. Nine percent of the participants in the other group were still using gums and other nicotine-replacement products.    

No vaping company has announced plans to seek FDA approval of its products as a quit-smoking aid. Winning such an endorsement would require large studies that can take years and cost millions of dollars. 

 

The FDA has largely taken a hands-off approach toward vaping. It has not scientifically reviewed any of the e-cigarettes on the market and has put off some key regulations until 2022. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has said he doesn’t want to over-regulate an emerging industry that could provide a safer option for adult smokers. 

 

The delay has come under intense criticism amid an explosion in teenage vaping, driven chiefly by devices like Juul, which resembles a flash drive. Federal law prohibits sales to those under 18, but 1 in 5 high school students reported vaping last year, according to a government survey. It showed teenage use surged 78 percent from 2017 to 2018. 

Tank vs. cartridge

 

Matthew Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids noted that the British study used so-called tank-based e-cigarettes, which allow users to customize their flavors and nicotine levels. Those devices have largely been overtaken in the U.S. by Juul and similar devices that have prefilled nicotine cartridges, or pods. Any benefit of e-cigarettes depends on the individual product and how it is used, he said. 

 

It is a fundamental mistake to think that all e-cigarettes are alike,'' Myers said.And in the absence of FDA regulation, a consumer has no way of knowing if the product they are using has the potential to help them or not.” 

 

Myers’ group is one of several anti-smoking organizations suing the FDA to immediately begin reviewing e-cigarettes. 

 

Ian Armitage was skeptical about e-cigarettes as a way to stop smoking, saying he tried vaping several years ago but gave it up after experiencing twitching and shakes from nicotine withdrawal. 

 

I tried it for a whole month, but it just wasn't doing it for me,'' said Armitage, an audio-visual technician in Washington.I still wanted a cigarette afterward.” 

 

Armitage, who has smoked for 15 years, said he also tried nicotine patches but found they irritated his skin.
…