The Columbian

Health Wire

FILE - A sales clerk holds a pistol during an auction in Rochester, Wash., on Oct. 20, 2017. A study published in Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday, April 4, 2022, suggests people who live with handgun owners are murdered at more than twice the rate of people who live in homes without such firearms.

Study finds higher homicide risk in homes with handguns

April 4, 2022, 2:29pm Health

Most U.S. gun owners say they own firearms to protect themselves and their loved ones, surveys show. But a study published Monday suggests people who live with handgun owners are shot to death at a higher rate than those who don’t have such weapons at home. Read story

An unidentified student rests on his desk as the Mojave Unified School District Superintendent Katherine Aguirre, center rear, addresses students before their spring break at California City Middle School in California City, Calif., on Friday, March 11, 2022. Since the pandemic started, experts have warned of a mental health crisis facing American children that is now visibly playing out at schools across the country.

With students in turmoil, U.S. teachers train in mental health

April 4, 2022, 1:30pm Health

As Benito Luna-Herrera teaches his seventh-grade social studies classes, he is on alert for signs of inner turmoil. And there is so much of it these days. Read story

FILE - A man who scavenges recyclable materials for a living rests to smoke a cigarette on a mountain of garage amidst smoke from burning trash at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in the capital Nairobi, Kenya, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. The U.N. health agency said Monday, April 4, 2022, nearly everybody in the world breathes air that doesn't meet its standards for air quality, calling for more action to reduce fossil-fuel use, which generates pollutants that cause respiratory and blood-flow problems and lead to millions of preventable deaths each year.

WHO says 99% of world’s population breathes poor-quality air

April 4, 2022, 7:56am Health

The U.N. health agency says nearly everybody in the world breathes air that doesn’t meet its standards for air quality, calling for more action to reduce fossil-fuel use, which generates pollutants that cause respiratory and blood-flow problems and lead to millions of preventable deaths each year. Read story

File - In this May 11, 2018 file photo, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, center, speaks in front of Western State Hospital in Lakewood, Wash. Gov. Inslee unveiled Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2018, his budget and policy plan for fixing the state's struggling mental health system in the coming years. Inslee said he wanted to invest in the troubled Western State Hospital to address safety concerns there, but he didn't mention the rise in assaults at the state's largest psychiatric hospital. (AP Photo/Ted S.

Big changes at Western State Hospital fit into Inslee’s plan to ‘re-imagine’ mental health

April 4, 2022, 6:02am Health

If there is an apt symbol of Washington’s strained mental health system, it’s Western State Hospital. Read story

FILE - Anti-abortion demonstrators pray and protest outside of a Whole Women's Health of North Texas, Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, in McKinney, Texas. A federal judge did not say when he would rule following a nearly three-hour hearing in Austin during which abortion providers sought to block the nation's most restrictive abortion law, which has banned most abortions in Texas since early September.

As red states push strident abortion bans, other restrictions suddenly look less extreme

April 3, 2022, 6:02am Health

What is the ultimate goal of the anti-abortion movement? It might be surprising. Read story

Aging in the shadows: llinois’ new health care program for undocumented seniors leaves some of the most vulnerable behind

April 3, 2022, 6:00am Health

For more than a decade, Ananias Ocampo pushed a heavy ice cream cart through the streets of the Pilsen neighborhood as he waited for knee replacement surgery. When it got too cold for ice cream, the 78-year-old would go door-to-door selling homemade cheese even though he depended on a walker.… Read story

Aerial view of the Seattle cityscape, Seattle, Washington, USA

How happy is Washington compared to other cities and states?

April 3, 2022, 6:00am Health

By some accounts, Seattle is among the most stressed and sleep deprived metros in the nation, but let’s forget about that for a moment. New reports find Seattle, and Washington as a whole, rate high on the happiness scale. Read story

FILE - Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk along Broadway in the SoHo district of New York, Friday, March 4, 2022. COVID-19 hospitalization numbers have plunged to their lowest levels since the early days of the pandemic, offering a much needed break to health care workers and patients alike following the omicron surge.

Number of COVID patients in U.S. hospitals reaches record low

April 1, 2022, 2:21pm Health

COVID-19 hospitalization numbers have plunged to their lowest levels since the early days of the pandemic, offering a much needed break to health care workers and patients alike following the omicron surge. Read story