Chickens and Cancer
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A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare
If there are subjects you’d like to see or improvements made, please let me know using the comment button below.
Videos of these newsletters appear on Youtube on this channel. They are on hold until early June.
Reproductive Rights and Single Payer Insurance - Webinar
Reproductive Rights are under attack in the US. Join Endocrinologist Dr. Judy Albert who will present “A Conversation About Single Payer and Reproductive Health Rights, Wednesday June 12th 2024 at 5 pm Pacific Time. Register here. Sponsored by National Single Payer.
Contraception
The Senate voted on legislation to protect access to contraception. It did not pass.
The bill, called the Right to Contraception Act, S.4381 — 118th Congress (2023-2024) would codify the right to contraception in federal law. Republicans said there as no need to create a right to contraception since no one was seeking to take that right away. The bill needed 60 votes to move forward to a full vote and only received 51. At this link you can see how your senators voted.
As I reported last week, Republican lawmakers in Missouri blocked a bill to widen access to birth-control pills by falsely claiming they induce abortions. An antiabortion group in Louisiana killed legislation to enshrine a right to birth control by inaccurately equating emergency contraception with abortion drugs. An Idaho think tank focused on “biblical activism” is pushing state legislators to ban access to emergency contraception and intrauterine devices (IUDs) by mislabeling them as “abortifacients.”
Additionally, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said landmark high court rulings that established gay rights and contraception rights should be reconsidered now that the federal right to abortion has been revoked. (CNBC)
In case anyone in your sphere mentions the morning after pill as an abortion - let them know that pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg attaches to the uterus, about 2-3 days after fertilization. The morning after pills generally prevent that attachment. Contraception.
ACTION
Call your senators and let them know how important this is to you. You can find their contact info here, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
Chickens and Chemotherapy
A new method of drug delivery using proline, an amino acid found in chicken feathers and skin tissue, could be used to limit the side effects of chemotherapy and repair important enzymes, new research suggests. (ScienceDaily)
Published in the journal Chem, researchers have designed a cage (a box made of single molecules) from biologically compatible peptides, short amino acids that form the basis of proteins. These cages can house drugs of different sizes and transport them in the body with high levels of precision.
The negative side effects associated with chemotherapy, such as hair loss and nerve damage, are a result of 'off-site toxicity', where the treatment kills healthy cells surrounding tumors as well as the tumor itself. By creating a nano-sized cage to house the drug and carry it into the tumor before releasing it, this effect can be channeled more directly to the tumor, shielding healthy cells.
The cage can be tuned to different sizes, enabling different payloads of drugs. This flexible structure allows for chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, and antivirals to potentially be delivered. Previously, cages of this kind could only be made using hydrocarbon molecules found in tar, which can often be toxic to humans.
Traumatic Brain Injury Advance
A new rapid test that checks for traumatic brain injuries using a single drop of blood is expected to make its debut in the military in the coming months. The product marks one of the most significant steps forward for TBI patients’ care in the past 20 years, Lt. Col. Bradley Dengler, an Army neuroscientist who directs the Military Traumatic Brain Initiative at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland, said in a recent release announcing the product’s approval by the Food and Drug Administration. (Military Times)
Computer Games in Medicine
I worked for years at Hughes Aircraft. One of the companies they purchased was a small manufacturer in California that made flight simulators to train pilots. The idea that you don’t need a plain to practice flying one has found it’s way into medical training.
Medical students can now practice and hone their skills in a safe and controlled environment with the help of virtual reality (VR), which has grown in popularity in recent years. Students can practice medical procedures and scenarios using VR technology, which helps them become more adept at diagnosing and treating patients According to a recent study by Yiasemidou et al. [72], medical students' performance and confidence improved when VR was used for surgical instruction. Moreover, using VR technology can replace animal or cadaveric models in training for less common medical operations. The use of VR in medical education has the potential to raise the standard of medical instruction and increase patient safety. (NIH Medical Advances)
Resources
Find My Elected Officials
Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email
Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
Learn About Healthcare Policy
The Kaiser Family Foundation has put together an online course about healthcare policy. It is called Health Policy 101. It is free and here is the link to their course page. I will keep this note here for a few days.
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“In case anyone in your sphere mentions the morning after pill as an abortion - let them know that pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg attaches to the uterus, about 2-3 days after fertilization. The morning after pills generally prevent that attachment. Contraception.”
Yes!!! Cut through the gaslighting with facts!
Traumatic brain injury -- I wonder if the National Football League and college and high school football programs are glomming onto this testing advance. Oh... and soccer, anyone? Boxing and its offshoots?