Low-dose aspirin might help fend off breast cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center noted an overall 16 percent reduction in breast-cancer risk among the 57,000 women who took an 81-milligram dose of aspirin three or more times a week.

The most striking finding, according to researchers, was the effect the aspirin had on the most common form of breast cancer, known as estrogen or progesterone receptor positive HER2-negative breast cancer. The risk of developing that subtype was reduced by 20 percent.

The participants, part of the California Teachers Study that began in 1995, filled out questionnaires that included their exercise, smoking and drinking habits, family history of cancer and medications they took, including hormone replacement therapy.

By 2013, almost 1,500 women reported having developed invasive breast cancer. 

The reduction in breast cancer risk in the City of Hope study was seen in comparison to the results of other large studies investigating the possible benefits of higher-dose aspirin and other painkillers. The study’s findings were published online in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

Investigators did not see a breast-cancer risk reduction among women who took regular-strength aspirin or other types of painkillers. They said that may be because some women only took the aspirin occasionally, for pain relief.

Low-dose aspirin taken regularly has been linked to other health benefits, including reductions in the risk of heart disease and colon cancer.

Investigators in the latest study only found an association, not a causal link, between the use of baby aspirin and a reduced risk of breast cancer.

Researchers noted aspirin reduces inflammation, which plays a role in the initiation of disease. They also said the painkiller is a mild aromatase inhibitor. Aromatase inhibitors reduce the amount of the female hormone estrogen circulating in the bloodstream, which fuels breast tumors, so they are used to treat some forms of breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

At this point, researchers are not recommending that women start taking low-dose aspirin to protect themselves against breast cancer. They said more research is needed showing a definite link between baby aspirin and cancer prevention.
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A new study has found engaging in a simple meditation exercise for 10 minutes a day can reduce symptoms in people with anxiety disorders.  

Anxiety disorders are marked by repetitive, anxious, often baseless thoughts and fears about the future.  Canadian researchers say one in four people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.

The worrying can become obsessive and prevent anxious individuals from focusing on work and other important activities.

But engaging in a simple daily meditation exercise for 10 minutes, according to researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada, may help people keep their minds from wandering, improving their performance on tasks.

The participants in a study conducted by Mengran Xu and colleagues engaged in something called mindful meditation.  

Mindfulness is commonly defined as paying attention on purpose and staying in the present moment without judgment.

Xu is a clinical psychologist at Waterloo who led a study of people with symptoms of anxiety, published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

“We know that anxious people in general, if you ask them to stay on task, it is hard for them.  Their minds tend to wander.  They tend to worry.  But those people who practice mindfulness didn’t.  They were able to stay on task.”

In the study, 82 people with anxiety were asked to perform a computer task that required concentration.  They were periodically interrupted to gauge the volunteers’ ability to stay focused.

Half the group was then assigned to listen to an audio book and the other half to engage in a mindful, meditative activity, paying attention to their breathing, for approximately 10 minutes.

Then they were reassessed using the computer task.

Xu said there was a noticeable difference in performance between anxious people who did the simple meditation and those who did not.

“The anxious people who listened to the audio book, they performed much worse over time while the anxious people who practiced mindfulness meditation, they were able to in a way improve and maintain their performance on the task,” said Xu.

By increasing awareness of the present moment, researchers found a reduction in the frequency of repetitive, off-task thinking in people with anxiety disorders.

Xu said that wandering thoughts account for nearly half of a person’s stream of consciousness.  

In people with anxiety disorder, the thoughts tend to occur over and over again, causing worry.

By learning to reign in repetitive thoughts with a simple, 10-minute mind exercise, the findings suggest those with an anxiety disorder may be able to improve their productivity and even safety, so their minds don’t wander while driving a car, for example.  

 
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An HIV activist in Uganda has come up with a novel approach to encourage young people to protect themselves against the disease. She calls it “pill power.” Halima Athumani has the story for VOA from Kampala.
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People who drink sugary sodas are more likely to die of a heart attack, develop diabetes, and contract gout. And health researchers say avoiding soda is a simple way to reduce the rates of obesity. That’s why some new technology that could mimic the taste of sugary drinks without the sugar could be a big deal. As Kevin Enochs reports, the technology is being developed in Singapore.
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Generating solar energy is pretty easy. Storing it is the challenge. Now a research team from Sweden is working on an innovative way to fix this frustrating problem. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
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The Trump administration is turning back a U.S. public school program promoted by former first lady Michelle Obama that required healthier lunches for children.

“If kids aren’t eating the food and it’s ending up in the trash, they aren’t getting any nutrition … undermining the intent of the program,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Monday.

He made his announcement at an elementary school cafeteria in Leesburg, Virginia, near Washington, before a tray of chicken nuggets, fruit and salad.

Perdue said he appreciates what Michelle Obama wanted to do — giving children lunches with more whole grains and less fat and salt. But he said his department wants to adjust the program to make the healthier food more appetizing.

Chocolate milk back on menu

For starters, schools can now serve chocolate or strawberry flavored milk with 1 percent fat instead of nonfat milk.

Under the 2012 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, schools that wanted federal meal subsidies would have to put limits on salt and fat in lunches and add more fruit, vegetables and whole grains to the menus.

Health experts say U.S. children do not exercise enough and that one in six are overweight.
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The microbes in your gut may have a say in what you want for dinner, according to new research.

The findings only apply to fruit flies at the moment. But they add to the evidence that microbes influence the behavior of the creatures they inhabit, from flies to people.

Fruit flies are a good place to begin to study how microbes affect complex behaviors like food choices, according to neuroscientist Carlos Ribeiro at the Champalimaud Foundation, because while the human gut contains hundreds of different kinds of microbes, flies have just five.

Craving killer

In the new study in the journal PLOS Biology, Ribeiro and his colleagues raised flies in a sterile environment and fed them a carefully controlled diet. When the flies were deprived of protein, they sought out yeast.

“Yeast is the steak of the flies,” Ribeiro said.

But when these sterile, protein-starved flies were inoculated with two of the five species of normal gut bacteria, they no longer sought out yeast.

“We’re not talking about a slight reduction,” Ribeiro added. “It’s really that the flies do not show an increase in protein appetite when they have these two bacteria.”

In effect, the microbes were telling the flies what to eat.

Also, while protein-hungry flies normally produce a lot fewer eggs, flies carrying these two bacteria did not see as big a drop in fertility.

Ribeiro doesn’t know why the bacteria would have these effects. But he noted that flies don’t live as long when they eat more protein-rich food.

“It might be advantageous not to overeat,” he said. “Maybe what the bacteria do to the fly is, it allows it to maximize reproduction while minimizing the shortening of its lifespan.”

Microbes were there first

“This is a pretty cool paper, I have to say,” said University College Cork neuroscientist John Cryan, who was not involved with the research. Cryan has studied how gut microbes affect anxiety and behavior in mice.

“What I’ve come to realize over the years is that there are very few elements of neurodevelopment and the brain that are not in some ways regulated by microbes,” he said. “We have to remember that the microbes were there first, before all species. We’ve all developed, including flies, in a microbial milieu, sending signals from the gut to the brain.”

While the fly study makes it tempting to blame our meat cravings on our microbiomes, “We have no idea whether any of this could be upscaled to a mammal,” Cryan said.

Ribeiro also has no idea how the bacteria are exerting their influence. His group plans to study metabolites the bacteria produce, and how the flies’ brain activity changes in the presence of the bacteria.
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Chalk up another win for Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which successfully launched a secret spy satellite for a U.S. government agency early Monday.

The launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida, was delayed by a day due to a sensor problem. The payload, dubbed NROL-76, is a classified satellite from the National Reconnaissance Office. It was inserted into an unknown orbit.

The NRO, which bills itself as the country’s “eyes and ears in space,” maintains and develops spy satellites.

The type of satellite is unknown, but the NRO is responsible for tracking potential threats to the U.S. such as terrorist attacks, nuclear weapons development or missile launches.

SpaceX has been making progress on its mission to make space travel less expensive by recycling rockets. Last month, the company successfully launched a previously used rocket.

SpaceX has recovered 10 first stages of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets, starting in 2015. Some landed on pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and others on drone ships at sea.

The NRO launch used a new rocket, but the first stage made a safe landing at Cape Canaveral Air Force station and will likely be used again for a future launch.

This was SpaceX’s fifth launch of 2017.
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Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born prematurely. It’s believed 1 million children die around the world each year of complications of pre-term birth. Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia may have developed a technology that could change that outlook. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
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Cervical cancer is preventable, yet it remains the most common type of cancer in Africa, the World Health Organization says.

WHO data show that Senegal currently has one of the world’s highest rates of the disease, with over 1,400 new cases diagnosed each year.

The country’s health officials have stepped up efforts against the disease with a nationwide campaign to vaccinate girls against the virus that causes cancer.

On a recent day at the Philippe Maguilen Senghor health center on the outskirts of Dakar, women lined up for free breast and cervical cancer screenings. The event was run by young Senegalese volunteers from Junior Chamber International (JCI), a nonprofit organization.

Sassy Ndiaye waited patiently for her turn. At age 60, this was only the second time she had been tested for the disease.  

“Before we didn’t know about this,” she said. “I went through eight pregnancies and never did a cervical cancer screening with my gynecologist. I did it after my menopause.”

For comparison, in the United States, it is common for women of all ages to be screened for abnormal cervical cells every three years.

In Dakar, gynecologist Mouhamoudou Moustapha Yade said that by the time patients come to see him, their cervical cancer can be advanced.

“At a later stage, recovery is painful and difficult. And more importantly, the prognosis is not good,” he said. “This is why screening is so important. When you catch the cancer early, treatment is easier and much less expensive.”

But most women in Senegal cannot afford the cost of cervical cancer screening. Doctors and women interviewed at the Philippe Maguilen Senghor clinic said the cost was 40,000 francs ($66).

“Every time we organize free screening days, I am impressed by the number of women that turn up,” said Thiamel Ndiade, a JCI volunteer. “This shows you they are actually informed, but that money is the main issue.”

Ndiade added that most clinics lack the machinery needed to detect the illness, meaning women have to travel long distances just to get checked.

“Not all health centers have a video colposcope, for example,” Ndiade said. “We had to bring our own here today, which shows you just how inaccessible this technology is.”

HPV link

The arrival of a vaccine could help Senegal address these challenges.

Cervical cancer is caused by certain strains of the human papillomavirus; those who are infected with HPV often do not initially display any visible symptoms. A vaccine against HPV has been in use in the United States and other parts of the developed world since 2006, but it has only recently arrived in Africa.

In 2013, Senegal was among 10 African countries chosen by Gavi — a global alliance that strives to create access to vaccines in the world’s neediest countries — for pilot vaccination programs.

The nationwide rollout in Senegal followed a successful pilot program last year in two parts of the country. Ethiopia and Zimbabwe are also set to introduce the vaccine soon.

“Senegal is one of the first three countries in Africa [after Rwanda and Uganda] to introduce the HPV vaccine on a national scale,” said professor Mamadou Diop, head of oncology at the Aristide Le Dantec hospital. “It will be integrated within the country’s national vaccination program and reach the whole targeted population of girls.”

The aim is to roll out the vaccine in two phases, starting with a mass vaccination campaign reaching 889,445 girls aged between 9 and 15 by May 2018. After this, the vaccine will be administered to all girls at age 9 as part of routine immunization programs.

“The vaccine has been jointly subsidized by Gavi and the Senegalese state,” added professor Ousseynou Badiane, head of the Immunization Division for the Ministry of Health in Senegal. “This means it will be free and accessible to all.”

New vaccines can be met with suspicion, so health practitioners are urging the government to also launch a public education campaign. If the rollout is successful, Gavi estimates the HPV vaccine could help prevent up to 90 percent of cervical cancer cases.

Senegal unveiled its action plan as countries across the continent celebrate the 7th African Vaccination Week, an annual event to strengthen immunization programs in Africa by raising awareness about every person’s need and right to be protected against disease.
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Thousands rallied Saturday in Washington for the People’s Climate March. Organizers said they hoped the day’s events would send a clear message to the Trump administration and lawmakers in Washington about their climate policies. VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff has more.
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Thousands of environmental activists marched in the U.S. capital Saturday, and in about 300 other cities across the country, to try to draw support for climate-related causes.

The People’s Climate March was meant to coincide with President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, according to its organizers, who have condemned what they see as the administration’s lack of concern for environmental issues. They said they objected to Trump’s rollback of restrictions on mining, oil drilling and greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants, among other things.

“The Trump administration’s policies are a catastrophe for our climate and communities, especially low-income and communities of color, who are on the front lines of this crisis,” the People’s Climate Movement, a collection of about 50 liberal activist groups, said in a statement.

Protesters marched from the Capitol to the White House, where they held a rally. About 300 “sister” marches or rallies were held in cities from Seattle to Boston. In Washington, marchers braved temperatures in the 90s, while in Denver, it snowed on several hundred activists who had gathered.

The partner organizations that made up the event’s steering committee consisted mainly of environmental groups but included several trade unions and anti-war and minority advocacy groups, such as the NAACP.

The presence of so many non-climate-related sponsoring organizations was reflected in the group’s “platform,” which listed issues the activists said they found important but didn’t feel were being adequately addressed by the Trump administration.

WATCH: People’s Climate March Brings Thousands to Washington

The platform blended the problems organizers said were created by climate change with economic and social justice issues, and it called for such changes as increasing the national minimum wage to $15 an hour and fighting “the corporate trade-induced global race to the bottom.”

“This is a moment to bring the range of progressive social change movements together,” the group said on its website.

A similar event last weekend saw thousands of activists show up in the nation’s capital for the March for Science to protest what they said were denials of scientific truths by the Trump administration. About 600 rallies were held around the world as well.

The national demonstrations on Saturday occurred a day after the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was updating its website to reflect the views of the Trump administration. It then removed several pages from former President Barack Obama’s administration that explained the science behind climate change.

Trump has said he does not believe the science behind climate change.

The vast majority of scientists who study the climate say the planet is unequivocally warming, and that it is extremely likely the change is predominantly caused by  humans.
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United Nations officials say at least 11 people have died from a mysterious illness in Liberia, and tests have been negative for the Ebola virus.

The World Health Organization said Friday that authorities are looking into whether the people were sickened by something they ate or were exposed to a chemical or bacteria.

Five others remain hospitalized in Sinoe County, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) outside the capital, after complaining of abdominal pains. Two are critically ill.

The cases over the past week have evoked painful memories in Liberia, where more than 4,800 people died during the Ebola epidemic.

Those who fell sick this week all had attended a relative’s funeral. That was how many Ebola victims contracted the disease when they came in contact with victims’ corpses.
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A robot zaps and vacuums up venomous lionfish in Bermuda. A helicopter pelts Guam’s trees with poison-baited dead mice to fight the voracious brown tree snake. A special boat with giant winglike nets stuns and catches Asian carp in the U.S. Midwest.

In the fight against alien animals that invade and overrun native species, the weird and wired wins.

“Critters are smart – they survive,” said biologist Rob “Goose” Gosnell, head of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s wildlife services in Guam, where brown tree snakes have gobbled up nearly all the native birds. “Trying to outsmart them is hard to do.”

Invasive species are plants and animals that thrive in areas where they don’t naturally live, usually brought there by humans, either accidentally or intentionally. Sometimes, with no natural predators, they multiply and take over, crowding out and at times killing native species.

Now, new technology is being combined with the old methods – weed pulling, trapping and pesticides. Finding new weapons is crucial because invasive species are costly – $314 billion per year in damages in just the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, India and Brazil. It’s also one of the leading causes of extinction on islands, such as Guam, according to Piero Genovesi, an Italian scientist who chairs the invasive species task force for an international organization .

“We have totally new tools that were just unthinkable a few years ago,” Genovesi said.

Case in point: There are companies that now market traps for wild pigs that are triggered by cellphones.

“There’s enough activity that there’s starting to be an industry,” said University of California, Santa Cruz research biologist Bernie Tershy.

Lionfish

A new underwater robot is targeting the stunning but dangerous lionfish, which has spread over the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and up the U.S. East Coast as far north as New York’s Long Island, with its venomous spines that are dangerous to touch. With no natural predator in the Atlantic, the voracious aquarium fish devour large amounts of other fish including key commercial fish species such as snapper and grouper. The robot is the creation of Colin Angle, chief executive officer of IRobot, which makes the Roomba vacuum cleaner. Along with his wife, Erika, and colleagues, he created a new nonprofit to turn automation into environmental tools.

The robot, called Guardian LF1, uses what Angle says is a gentle shock to immobilize the lionfish before they are sucked alive into a tube. In its first public outing this month, the robot caught 15 lionfish during two days of testing in Bermuda. Top chefs competed in a cook-off of the captured lionfish. Lionfish go for nearly $10 a pound and Angle is hoping to get the price of the robot down from tens of thousands of dollars to about $500.

“What’s next?” Angle said. “Our ambition is much larger than lionfish.”

Brown tree snakes

A few decades ago, native birds started disappearing from the Pacific island of Guam, baffling scientists until they found that non-native brown tree snakes were eating all the birds and their eggs. The snakes, which live in the trees, had no natural enemies and just trapping them wasn’t working, Gosnell said. The snakes did prove to have one enemy: the painkiller acetaminophen, a generic form of Tylenol.

So biologists came up with a plan : Use a painkiller pill glued to dead fetal mice as bait. The mice are put in tubes, and dropped by helicopter in batches of 3,000. The mice pop out, and the whole contraption dangles in the trees. It’s still experimental but it will soon go to more regular use. There is one problem. Using dead fetal mice as bait is expensive and they have to be kept cold. But biologists are working on a solution: mouse butter. A new bait mixture smells like mice to snakes, but minus the expense and logistical problems.

Asian carp

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials are using souped-up old technology to catch Asian carp, a fish that’s taken over rivers and lakes in the Midwest. They use a specialized boat – the Magna Carpa – with giant winglike nets that essentially uses electric current as an underwater taser to stun the fish, said biologist Emily Pherigo. At higher doses, the fish are killed and float to the surface. In just five minutes, they can collect 500 fish, and later turn them into fertilizer. Using electro-fishing was written about as a possible conservation technique back in 1933, said biologist Wyatt Doyle.

Wild goats

On the Galapagos islands, wild goats were a major problem. In less than five years, scientists wiped out tens of thousands with sterile “Mata Hari” females. Biologist Karl Campbell of the nonprofit Island Conservation introduced specialized female goats that researchers sterilized and chemically altered into a permanent state of heat, to lure the male goats into fruitless goat sex. Santiago Island, once home to 80,000 goats, is now goat free and larger Isabella Island is getting close, he said.

And now, Campbell and others are going one step further: Tinkering with the genes of mosquitoes and mice to make them sterile or only have male offspring . That would eventually cause a species to die off on an island because of lack of females to mate with. There are worries about regulating and controlling this technology, along with actually being able to get it done, so it is years away, Campbell said.

 
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Another protest march will take place in Washington Saturday. The People’s Climate March targets President Donald Trump’s efforts to undo action on climate change. A movement that began with a few scientists has grown to include everyone from low-income people of color to major corporations. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more.
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Drug overdose deaths in the United States continue to rise. The majority of those deaths can be attributed to opioids, synthetic or natural drugs that when used correctly relieve pain. But, according to health authorities, nearly 100 Americans die every day from opioid abuse. While the nation tries to figure out ways to end the flood of opioids on U.S. streets, others are trying to help those who are trying to put opioid abuse behind them. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports.
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New climate-change findings mean the Pacific Ocean off California may rise higher, and storms and high tides hit harder, than previously thought, officials said.

The state’s Ocean Protection Council on Wednesday revised upward its predictions for how much water off California will rise as the climate warms. The forecast helps agencies in the nation’s most populous state plan for climate change as rising water seeps toward low-lying airports, highways and communities, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Discoveries that ice sheets are melting increasingly fast in Antarctica, which holds nearly 90 percent of the world’s ice, largely spurred the change.

Antarctic ice melting

As fossil-fuel emissions warm the Earth’s atmosphere, melting Antarctic ice is expected to raise the water off California’s 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) of coastline even more than for the world as a whole.

“Emerging science is showing us a lot more than even five years ago,” council deputy director Jenn Eckerle said Thursday.

Gov. Jerry Brown has mandated that state agencies take climate change into account in planning and budgeting. The council’s projections will guide everything from local decisions on zoning to state action on whether to elevate or abandon buildings near the coast and bays.

In the best-case scenario, waters in the vulnerable San Francisco Bay, for example, likely would rise between 1 foot and 2.4 feet (one-third to three-fourths of a meter) by the end of this century, the ocean council said.

Rising water alters weather patterns

However, that’s only if the world cracks down on climate-changing fossil-fuel emissions far more than it is now.

The worst-case scenario entails an even faster melting of Antarctic ice, which could raise ocean levels off California a devastating 10 feet by the end of this century, the state says. That’s at least 30 times faster than the rate over the last 100 years.

Scientists say rising water from climate change already is playing a role in extreme winters such as this past one in California, contributing to flooding of some highways and helping crumble cliffs beneath some oceanfront homes.

 
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No bones? No problem! Scientists say they’ve figured out a way to extract tiny traces of ancient human DNA from dirt in caves that lack skeletal remains.

The technique could be valuable for reconstructing human evolutionary history, according to the study published Thursday in the journal Science.

That’s because fossilized bones, currently the main source of ancient DNA, are scarce even at sites where circumstantial evidence points to a prehistoric human presence.

“There are many caves where stone tools are found but no bones,” said Matthias Meyer, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who co-authored the study.

The researchers collected 85 sediment samples from seven caves in Europe and Russia that humans are known to have entered or even lived in between 14,000 and 550,000 years ago.

By refining a method previously used to find plant and animal DNA, they were able to search specifically for genetic material belonging to ancient humans and other mammals.

Scientists focused on mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down the maternal line, because it is particularly suited to telling apart closely related species. And by analyzing damaged molecules they were able to separate ancient genetic material from any contamination left behind by modern visitors

The researchers found evidence of 12 mammal families including extinct species such as woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, cave bear and cave hyena.

By further enriching the samples for human-like DNA, however, the scientists were able to detect genetic traces of Denisovans — a mysterious lineage of ancient humans first discovered in a cave in Siberia — and Neanderthals from samples taken at four sites.

Crucially, one of the sites where they discovered Neanderthal DNA was a cave in Belgium, known as Trou Al’Wesse, where no human bones had ever been found, though stone artefacts and animal bones with cut marks strongly suggested people had visited it.

 Eske Willerslev, who helped pioneer the search for DNA in sediment but wasn’t involved in the latest research, said the new study was an interesting step, but cautioned that it’s difficult to determine how old sediment samples found in caves are.

“In general [it] is very disturbed and unless you can show that’s not the case you have no idea of the date of the findings,” said Willerslev, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Meyer said the new method greatly increases the number of sites where archaeologists will be able to find genetic evidence to help fill gaps in the history of human evolution and migration, such as how widespread Neanderthal populations were and which stone tools they were able to make.

Scientists may also be able to greatly expand their limited knowledge of the Denisovans, whose DNA can still be found in Melanesians and Aboriginal Australians today, by using the new procedure.

“In principle, every cave where there’s evidence of human activity now offers this possibility,” Meyer told The Associated Press.
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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sailed into uncharted territory Wednesday between the planet Saturn and the rings that encircle it, and emerged Thursday unscathed.

The Cassini craft is the first and only spacecraft to ever venture into the gap between Saturn and its rings. It sent back its first signal early Thursday morning, about 20 hours after the crossing took place.

“I am delighted to report that Cassini shot through the gap just as we planned and has come out the other side in excellent shape,” said Cassini project manager Earl Maize of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Scientists lost contact with the ship during the passing because its antenna had to be shifted to protect the scientific equipment from potentially damaging material floating in Saturn’s rings.

The rings of Saturn are made up of moving particles of ice and space debris.

NASA scientists plan on performing 21 more crossings between now and September. The next scheduled crossing is set for May 2.

Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, but it is running low on fuel, so scientists decided to conduct the ring crossings before the spacecraft becomes inoperable in the near future.
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A low-cost and widely available drug could save the lives of 1 in 3 mothers who would otherwise bleed to death after childbirth, according to a new study.

Severe bleeding, known as postpartum hemorrhage, or PPH, is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, killing more than 100,000 women every year.  Even for mothers who survive, it is a painful and traumatic experience.

The world’s poorest countries, especially in Africa and India, are the worst hit.

Drug from 1960s

But there is new hope. In the 1960s, Japanese researchers developed a drug called tranexamic acid, which works by stopping blood clots from breaking down. But they could not persuade doctors to try the drug for treating PPH.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has done just that, in a trial involving 20,000 women in 21 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. The results show tranexamic acid reduces the risk of bleeding to death by almost a third, with no side effects for either mothers or babies.

Dr. Nike Bello, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist in Nigeria, said that “if a drug can prevent hysterectomies, a drug can prevent death, a drug can minimize the amount of blood we need, then that is a good thing, all over the world.”

Refinements needed

But there are challenges to getting the drug where it is needed. First, the doctors must know about its effectiveness, said professor Ian Roberts of the London tropical medicine school, who led the latest research.

“We want everyone to hear about the results,” he said. “But then there are the nitty-gritty issues. Is the treatment available in the hospital? Do doctors and midwives know how to use it? It is heat stable, so it does not have to be kept in the fridge. It is relatively inexpensive — it is about a dollar.  And no child should grow up without a mother for lack of a treatment that costs a dollar.”

In the trial, tranexamic acid was given via a drip. Researchers say the next step is to find an easier way to administer the drug so it can be used in clinics and rural settings across the world.
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Anti-vaccine activists endured a cold, rainy day in Washington one recent Friday, to rally against childhood vaccines.

Gabriele Cashman drove for five hours to support the anti-vaccine cause. She and her husband don’t want anyone to force anything on their children when they have them. 

“As parents, it’s our decision whether or not we want to vaccinate,” she said.

Watch: Top Doctors Address Vaccine Safety

The anti-vaccine movement has gained so much momentum that doctors like Peter Hotez are alarmed. Hotez works on vaccines at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. 

“We now, in the state of Texas, have 50,000 kids whose parents are opting them out of getting vaccinated,” he said.

Hotez said these children generally live in communities near each other. He is concerned that only an outbreak of measles will convince these parents that vaccines save lives and prevent disability.

The activists don’t believe the science. Instead, they believe vaccines can cause anything from autism to severe allergies.

But Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health says while children can have an adverse reaction, it’s so rare, that it’s unmeasurable. Fauci heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and oversees the development of vaccines.

Side effects that children may have are usually minor, according to Dr. Linda Fu, a pediatrician at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington. 

“The most common side effects to any of these vaccines are pain at the injection site and fever for 24 to 48 hours,” Fu said.

Still, anti-vaccine activists, like Irine Pi, who helped organize the protest in Washington, are convinced harmful ingredients are added to vaccines. The preservative thimerosal was removed from vaccines in the U.S. by 2003, to help alleviate parents’ concerns that it caused autism. Numerous studies in the U.S. and elsewhere show it has no negative effect on children. But Pi is adamant that harmful ingredients are in vaccines routinely given to children.

“Now it’s aluminum that has been added. Add to that formaldehyde, polysorbate, and add to that significant human aborted fetal cell lines, bovine cells, pigs, sheep, monkey, dog. These cells are not meant to be injected into the human body,” Pi said.

Again, the science says otherwise. Fu has a specialty in immunizations. She told VOA, “The vaccines that the children are getting today are more pure and are very safe and effective.”

They are so effective that Dr. Flavia Bustreo at the World Health Organization says young people have no memory of the diseases they prevent.

“Currently, if you speak with any young mother or young father in Italy, where I come from, they don’t know diphtheria. They’ve never seen it. They don’t know that you can lose your child from diphtheria,” she said.

The World Health Organization has an online site to help parents find reliable information on vaccine safety. The CDC does the same.

Hotez wants the U.S. government to launch a campaign to persuade parents to vaccinate their children, but Fauci disagrees.

“I think that there will be a certain number of people, a certain percentage of people, who no matter what you say to convince them with evidence, they’re not going to be convinced, but I think the approach towards people who are anti-vaccinating is to respect their opinion and don’t denigrate them and don’t criticize them, but try to explain to them on the basis of solid evidence why the risk/benefit of vaccines clearly, clearly favors very, very heavily towards vaccinating your children,” Fauci said.

Hotez is now writing books for parents about vaccines. He says scientists have to get away from their laboratories and talk to people about vaccines.

Otherwise, he says, children will suffer and die from diseases that can be prevented.
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Rain didn’t stop dozens of activists from gathering in Washington on a recent Friday to rally against childhood vaccines. They want President Trump to establish a committee to look into vaccine safety. VOA’s Carol Pearson spoke to the activists and to some of the world’s top doctors about vaccine safety.
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Scientists at the University of Cape Town in South Africa say they have tested a new experimental drug they believe could not only treat but also eradicate malaria, a deadly disease that strikes 200 million people each year. The compound has worked successfully in mice and monkeys. If it proves successful in humans, it could become a significant breakthrough in the treatment of the deadly disease. Zlatica Hoke has more.
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California lawmakers pushed forward Wednesday with a proposal that would substantially remake the health care system of the nation’s most populous state by replacing insurance companies with government-funded health care for everyone.

The idea known as single-payer health care has long been popular on the left and is getting a new look in California as President Donald Trump looks to replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law.

The proposal, promoted by the state’s powerful nursing union and two Democratic senators, is a longshot. But supporters hope the time is right to persuade lawmakers in California, where Democrats like to push the boundaries of liberal public policy and are eager to stand up to the Republican president.

“It is time to say once and for all that health care is a right, not a privilege for those who can afford it,” said Democratic Sen. Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens, who wrote the bill along with Democratic Sen. Toni Atkins of San Diego.

Hundreds of nurses clad in red rallied in support of the measure and marched to the state Capitol in Sacramento, packing the hallways before a Senate Health Committee hearing. They were joined by Democratic activists and supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who advocated single-payer health care in his unsuccessful presidential campaign and has introduced federal legislation.

Democrats on the panel voted to advance the measure.

No out-of-pocket costs

The measure would guarantee health coverage with no out-of-pocket costs for all California residents, including people living in the country illegally.

Private insurers would be barred from covering the same services, essentially eliminating them from the marketplace. Instead, a new state agency would set prices and contract with health care providers such as doctors and hospitals and pay the bills for everyone. 

However, an essential question is unanswered: Where will the money come from? California health care expenditures last year totaled more than $367 billion, according to the Center for Health Policy Research at University of California, Los Angeles.

The measure envisions using all public money spent on health care — from Medicare, Medicaid, federal public health funds and “Obamacare” subsidies. But it also would require significant tax increases on businesses, residents or both to replace billions of dollars in health care spending by employers and individuals while generating enough money to cover people who are currently uninsured.

The California Nurses Association commissioned a study of the costs and potential funding methods that will be ready before the measure goes before the next committee later this year, spokesman Chuck Idelson said.

Opposition

Employers, business groups and health plans have mobilized in opposition, warning that the measure would require massive tax increases and force patients into lengthy waits to see a doctor.

They say the state should stay focused on implementing Obama’s health care law, which is credited with significantly reducing the ranks of California’s uninsured.

“California can’t afford a single-payer health care system,” said Charles Bacchi, president and CEO of the California Association of Health Plans. “It’s going to reduce the quality of care. We think it will restrict access to care, and it will be incredibly disruptive to all the Californians who currently get health care coverage through their employer.”

The idea faces significant hurdles.

The bill, SB562, would affect everyone — not just the roughly 8 percent of Californians without insurance — including people on Medicare and private, employer-sponsored insurance, plans that are generally well-liked.

Two-thirds of the Assembly and Senate also must approve the tax increases required to fund it.

And even if it were to clear the Legislature and be signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, it would need cooperation from Trump’s administration to waive rules about federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars.

The idea to increase the government’s role in health care comes as Trump and congressional Republicans look to reduce it. The conservative House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday announced its support for a newly revised GOP health care bill, a month after its opposition forced Republican leaders to pull the legislation.

California lawmakers have considered single-payer health care several times before. The Legislature approved a single-payer bill in 2007 but it was vetoed by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

More recently, Vermont abandoned an attempt to create a single-payer system when cost estimates came in high. Colorado voters last year rejected a ballot measure that would have created the system. 

“By having everything in one pool, you’re going to decrease administrative costs, and you’re also going to get away from a system where so many different players in the system are there only because of greed, because they want to make money off of people’s health care needs,” said Thorild Urdal, a nurse in Oakland who is originally from Norway, which has government-funded health care.
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