It’s Tough to Be an American Woman
Women in the United States have worse healthcare access and outcomes than their peers in 13 other high-income countries, such as Australia, Japan, Canada, and South Korea. For example, according to STAT:
Women in the US have the lowest life expectancy and the highest rate of avoidable deaths. If prevention measures had been in place or the right treatment had been provided, 70 out of every 100,000 women who die in the US could live. This rate is more than three times the rate of avoidable death in South Korea.
All 13 other countries in the analysis provide some form of government healthcare coverage to all residents. None has a substantial portion of people who are uninsured. In the US last year, 14% of women ages 19-64 said they were uninsured, including more than a quarter of Hispanic women.
The US and Australia are the two countries where women most often report having a mental health care need. But they’re also the two countries where women are most likely to skip getting mental health services due to the cost.
Body of Knowledge
Light passing through the lenses of your eyes creates upside-down images on the retinas. Your brain flips the images. The upside-down effect is due to the curvature of the surfaces of the eyes.
Get Me That, Stat!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 3 states, declining or likely declining in 23 states, and are stable or uncertain in 22 states.”
Stories for the Waiting Room
Someday, scientists will figure out how to get humans to and back safely from Mars. But building a suitable rocket ship is just one hurdle. There’s also the problem of medicine expiration dates.
A recent study found that more than half of the medicines currently stocked in space (i.e., on the International Space Station), like pain relievers, antibiotics, and sleep aids, would expire before Mars-bound astronauts could return to Earth. The quickest roundtrip to the red planet is currently estimated to require 34 months, with no layover.
It’s also not known how well some medicines will work in reduced gravity or when exposed to space radiation.
Doc Talk
Gynecomastia: An increase in the amount of breast gland tissue in boys and men. An imbalance in the hormones estrogen and testosterone causes it. The condition may go away on its own, though there are also drug and surgical treatments.
Mania of the Week
Oniomania: An obsessive or uncontrollable urge to buy things
Food for Thought
Natamycin is a natural antimicrobial peptide produced by strains of the bacterial species Streptomyces natalensis. It effectively acts as an antifungal preservative and is often added to food products like yogurt, sausages, juices and wines.
In its pharmaceutical, nonedible form, natamycin is also used as a medication to treat fungal infections around the eye.
Best Medicine
I told the doctor I didn’t want brain surgery, but he changed my mind.
Observation
“I recently had my annual physical examination, which I get once every seven years, and when the nurse weighed me, I was shocked to discover how much stronger the Earth’s gravitational pull has become since 1990.” – American humorist, Dave Barry
Medical History
This week in 1772, the soon-to-be state of New Jersey passed the first law in the US to license medical practitioners, except those who do not charge for their services or whose activity is bleeding patients or pulling teeth.
Fit to Be Tried
There are thousands of exercises and you’ve only got one body, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try them all: Wall sits are pretty much what they sound like, and an excellent way to work out the lower body, especially the quads.
Proper form is crucial. Assume a position mimicking being seated in a chair with your back against a wall, feet flat, knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Hold the position for as long as you can, or until the wall falls the other way.
Medical Myths
Drinking soy milk does not cause men’s breasts to enlarge. The idea comes from the fact that soybeans and other legumes contain isoflavones, which are estrogen compounds structurally similar to human estrogen. But isoflavones have different biological properties than human estrogen and do not promote harmful estrogen effects on the body. In fact, they may be protective in terms of reducing the risk of breast cancer.
Curtain Calls
Samuel Wardell was a lamplighter in Brooklyn, New York. In order to be up and ready for his rounds, he attached a 10-pound rock to his alarm clock to help wake him up in the morning. When the alarm went off, the rock would crash to the floor, awakening him.
On Christmas Eve in 1885, Wardell rearranged his furniture for a party but forgot to change his room back afterward. When the alarm mechanism released the rock in the morning, it fell on his head, killing him.
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Originally published September 25, 2024
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