Suicides and drug overdoses pushed up U.S. deaths last year, and drove a continuing decline in how long Americans are expected to live. Overall, there were more than 2.8 million U.S. deaths in 2017, or nearly 70,000 more than  the previous year , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. It was the most deaths in a single year since the government began counting more than a century ago. The increase partly reflects the nation's growing and aging population. But it's deaths in younger age groups -- particularly middle-aged people -- that have had the largest impact on calculations of life expectancy, experts said. "These sobering statistics are a wake-up call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable," Dr. Robert Redfield, the CDC's director, said in a statement. These countries could soon have the highest life expectancies The  suicide death rate last year was the high...

The current Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- with 426 total cases, including 245 deaths -- is now the second largest and second deadliest in history, according to Thursday's report from the nation's Ministry of Health. A 2000-01 outbreak in Uganda included 425 cases and caused 224 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The deadliest outbreak occurred in West Africa in 2014, when the disease killed more than 11,000 people. "This is a milestone nobody wanted to hit," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic wrote in an email. On average, Ebola -- which causes fever, severe headache and in some cases hemorrhaging -- kills about half of those infected, but case fatality rates in individual outbreaks have varied. The latest outbreak in Congo, which began in August, has a case fatality rate of 57%. Of the total cases, 379 have been confirmed, and 47 are probable, according to the ministry. An additional 87 suspected cases are under investig...

Violence against women takes multiple forms: Intimate partner violence Physical Sexual Psychological Female Genital Mutilation Forced and early marriages Femicide Trafficking Virginity Testing Virginity Testing is an act of violence against women. “Virginity testing” aka “two-finger testing” has no scientific or clinical basis. It is an inspection of female genitalia designed to determine whether a woman or a lady has had vaginal intercourse. Virginity testing is: 1️⃣ medically unnecessary 2️⃣ often times painful 3️⃣ humiliating and traumatic 4️⃣ a form of violence against women and girls. There is NO examination that can prove a girl or woman has had sex. So-called Virginity testing is often performed by inspecting the hymen for tears or its size of opening, and/or inserting fingers into the vagina (the “two-finger” test). Girls are subjected, and often forced, to undergo Virginity Testing for various reasons - including requests from parents or potentia...

While medical and recreational cannabis are currently legal in 33 U.S. states and the nation’s capital, it still remains illegal at the federal level, fostering fears of punishment for professionals within the medical establishment who may want to prescribe cannabis as a medication. Cannabis’ federal illegality not only deters discussions between doctors and patients seeking relief for various ailments, but it also greatly limits scientific research that could help assist medical experts seeking to determine cannabis’ efficacy as a treatment for certain disorders. Hospice patients and those receiving end-of-life care — a group who could arguably greatly benefit from medicinal cannabis use — are often times uninformed about the plant’s therapeutic properties, because their doctors, nurses, and other medical staffers are often hesitant to speak with patients about the advantages and risks of consuming cannabis. “As an administrator, I can tell you it’s not that we’re not allowed t...

 Silicon Valley researchers are attacking flying bloodsuckers in California's Fresno County. It's the first salvo in an unlikely war for Google parent Alphabet Inc.: eradicating mosquito-borne diseases around the world. A white high-top Mercedes van winds its way through the suburban sprawl and strip malls as a swarm of male  Aedes aegypti mosquitoes shoot out of a black plastic tube on the passenger-side window. These pests are tiny and, with a wingspan of just a few millimeters, all but invisible. “You hear that little beating sound?” says Kathleen Parkes, a spokesperson for Verily Life Sciences, a unit of Alphabet. She’s trailing the van in her car, the windows down. “Like a duh-duh-duh? That’s the release of the mosquitoes.” Jacob Crawford, a Verily senior scientist riding with Parkes, begins describing a mosquito-control technique with dazzling potential. These particular vermin, he explains, were bred in the ultra-high-tech surroundings ...

The Uganda Ministry of Health has confirmed there is no Ebola case in the country, contrary to wide speculation of the disease spread in the country. The press release was jointly released with the country WHO 28 November, 2018 at Kampala. Below is the Press Release                           JOINT PRESS RELEASE CLARIFICATION ON ALLEGED EBOLA DEATH IN KABAROLE DISTRICT Following media stories on the alleged suspected Ebola death in kabarole District, the Ministry of Health together with the World Health Organization (WHO)  wish to update the public as follows: 1. On 26th November 2018, an alert case was received at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital from Bundibugyo district. 2. The 38year old male alert case is one of the many alert cases received in different health facilities as a result of the heightened surveillance a long all  boarder districts. 3. Blood samples were taken off the suspect and...

                       Dr. Jane Ruth The Minister of Health,  Uganda,  Dr Jane Ruth Aceng described the antimicrobial resistance as a growing threats to global health. She stated this during the antimicrobial resistance conference in Uganda,  She also unveiled the Antimicrobial Resistance National Plan. Below is her few lines: Antimicrobial Resistance is a rapidly growing threat to Global Health. This morning, I officiated at the National Antimicrobial Resistance Conference and launched the Antimicrobial Resistance National Plan. AMRConference 2018 enables us share experiences and learn from each other AMR is a cross-cutting issue spanning beyond human health involving the environment, agriculture, animal health as well as the economy. It was great to see representatives from other MDAs as combating AMR requires a concerted multi-sectoral approach in the spirit of one health. In a related developme...

A 70-year-old Hong Kong woman has contracted the rat-specific version of Hepatitis E, signifying only the second time the disease has been documented in humans. Health officials in China are now scrambling to understand the implications of this disturbing new development. The patient, a retiree from Hong Kong’s Wong Tai Sin district, was admitted to Kwong Wah Hospital on May 1, 2017, and has since recovered, reports the South China Morning Post. The woman is now the second human known to have contracted the rat-specific version of hepatitis E, the first reported case happening this past September, also in Hong Kong. A  human version of hepatitis E  exists, and it’s primarily contracted by drinking contaminated water or eating undercooked meat. Scientists had previously assumed that the rat version, which is caused by a different virus, could not infect humans. This assumption was thrown on its head after the disease was detected in a 56-year-old Ho...

A 4-year-old’s mother who thought her son’s watery eye was either a common cold or a case of conjunctivitis is speaking out after the boy’s symptoms were actually signs of a rare cancer. “It’s so rare and unexpected that it’s hard to look for,” Carly Cooke, Harri Cooke’s mother, told Caters News Agency. Last September, when the Gloucestershire boy’s face began to swell, his mom took him for further testing. In January, he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare type of bone or soft tissue cancer that can occur in the bones of the legs, arms, feet, hands, chest, pelvis, spine, skull or other parts of the body.  According to the National Cancer Institute,  it’s most common in adolescents and young adults and can cause pain or swelling, lumps, fever or broken bones. “It didn’t seem to bother him, he was so happy all of the time,” the mom told Caters. “But when his face began to swell we were referred from our GP (general practitioner) to an eye specialist. Onc...

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to rise as violence hampers health workers' efforts to battle the virus. There are now 358 cases of Ebola and 213 deaths since the outbreak began in August,  according to the nation's Ministry of Health. Conflict between militant groups and government forces has made it difficult for health workers to access some of the hardest-hit areas. Operations suspended On Friday evening, an armed group tried to attack UN peacekeepers in the city of Beni in North Kivu province -- the epicenter of the outbreak. The attack occurred near the Ebola Response Emergency Operations Center and hotels where many Ebola health workers are staying,  according to the health ministry . The peacekeepers were able to push the attackers back after several hours of clashes but all field activities were suspended in Beni Saturday due to the violence. The Emergency Operations Center remained closed and...

A runny nose is usually a sign that you have a cold coming on, but for one North Carolina man, that cold never actually arrived. His sniffles persisted for over a year, with doctors diagnosing him with a variety of possible ailments. As it turned out, none of the suggested causes were actually correct. With such long-running symptoms, the man, Greg Phillpotts, assumed he had developed some unusually severe allergies. During the days, his nose would run, and at night, he developed a nasty cough due to what he thought was mucus running down this throat. After a visit to New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, he learned that it wasn’t snot at all, but brain fluid leaking out of his skull. The human brain doesn’t just sit loosely in our skulls, but is instead surrounded by a cushion of fluid that acts as a protective layer to mitigate brain trauma. Normally that fluid stays within the brain case, but sometimes gaps can develop which allow the fluid to leak out. Earlier this year a similar...

Dr. Ruth Jana Aceng: Uganda’s health ministry has spoken out on reports of an Ebola outbreak in Rukungiri district, days after two patients succumbed to an Ebola-like-disease. The current birth of modern technology is the biggest advantage for everyone to be conscious of what is going on around us. This is the best way to get prepared to fight any threat, whether terrorism or diseases such as Ebola. In most of my articles about Ebola, I warned that Ebola will soon hit Uganda and Sudan, and surely it has happened. On Tuesday, junior health minister in charge of health care, Joyce Moriku, presented a statement on the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo and the government’s preparedness to handle any outbreaks in the country. “As of today, November 13, 2018,” said minister Moriku. “There is no confirmed case of Ebola in Uganda.” But on the 4 th  of November 2018 within an official document, it is stated that within Niakybale Hospital Tumuhereze Wallen, age 23, died with all sy...

 Taking a good soak in a hot shower or bath may help improve inflammation and blood sugar levels, says a new study. Here are there other health benefits of hot showers. Amazing health benefits of hot bath or showers The benefits of taking a bath, regardless of the temperature, have been scientifically proven. According to a new study, taking a good soak in hot shower or bath may help improve inflammation and blood sugar levels, particularly in sedentary overweight men. It is also claimed that having a hot bath can help you burn as many calories as working out, thereby helping you lose weight. The study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, stated that physical stress such as exercise can increase the level of an inflammatory chemical (IL-6), which activates the release of anti-inflammatory substances to combat unhealthily high levels of inflammation, known as chronic low-grade inflammation. However, if you’re unable to exercise, relaxing in a hot bath may improv...

A 19-year-old died after inhaling deodorant spray to get high, according to a new case report, and doctors who treated the man in the Netherlands are using the case to highlight the fatal consequences of inhaling chemicals. Such cases are "very rare," according to Dr. Kelvin Harvey Kramp of Maasstad Hospital's intensive care unit in Rotterdam. Kramp explained that because deaths from deodorant inhalation are not common among the general population, the "consequences aren't really known," causing people to continue this dangerous behavior. The patient, who had a history of psychotic symptoms, had been admitted to a rehabilitation center for cannabis and ketamine abuse and was taking antipsychotic drugs. During a relapse in July, he placed a towel over his head and inhaled deodorant spray to get high, according to the report, published Thursday in the BMJ. He became hyperactive, jumping up and down, before blood flow stopped suddenly, causing him ...