Health, Fitness and Style

While a recent Pew Research Center poll found that 59% of Americans think climate change affects their local community “a great deal or some,” only 31% say it affects them personally, and views vary widely by political party. Why do so few doctors talk about the impact of the environment on health? Besides a lack of guidelines, doctors say, they don’t have time during a 15- to 20-minute visit to broach something as complicated as climate change. Some doctors say they worry about challenging a patient’s beliefs on the sometimes fraught topic. more »

Women Veterans who have experienced IPV: “VA can help.” According to the VA Women’s Health Services Office, one third of women Veterans experience IPV in their lifetime, compared with less than a quarter of civilian women. Another story is from VA Officials from the five selected Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers with whom GAO spoke with reported various factors that contribute to providers' mental health treatment decisions, including decisions regarding the prescribing of psychotropic medications and the offering of non-pharmacologic therapy. In addition, a VA study found that a form of brain stimulation that can rapidly improve communication between neurons in the brain helped ease PTSD symptoms. more »

It's Okay to Be Smart has videos exploring all manner of curiosities and scientific topics, such as why cereal tends to either clump together or stick to the edges in your cereal bowl, whether it's true that everyone has a doppelganger, and how fire ants became so widespread in the southern US; Hidden Brain "reveals the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, and the biases that shape our choices;" LGBTQ Materials in the New York Public Library is a super-collection, composed of hundreds of documents, photographs, post cards, and more. The Trevor Project, a national organization whose mission is "to end suicide among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning young people." more »

Despite a lower uninsured rate than men (11% vs 14%), women are more likely to skip a recommended medical test or treatment due to cost... cost barriers to contraception have decreased for insured women since the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) coverage requirement took effect. Women without a regular clinician are less likely to receive certain preventive services, such as a mammogram and Pap test. Women are more likely than men to have a preexisting health condition ... Another government study recommends: The USPSTF has found that there isn't enough evidence to recommend screening women over age 75 for certain diseases, particularly breast cancer, cervical cancer, and colorectal cancer. In many cases, there just weren't enough older people in the studies to permit a judgment for or against screening. In other cases, screening was recommended, but the panel couldn't determine how often it should be done. more »