The Columbian

Health Wire

Abbott Laboratories’ BinaxNOW is an at-home rapid COVID test.

Johns Hopkins study: Trust your home COVID result

February 20, 2024, 6:01am Health

People can test themselves about as accurately at home with rapid antigen coronavirus tests as health care professional using the same tests, according to a Johns Hopkins Medicine-led study published this week. Read story

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah and introduced as evidence at a trial shows fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone pills collected during an investigation. Accidental overdoses contribute to 90 percent of all U.S. opioid-related deaths. Rising use of illicitly manufactured and highly potent synthetic opioids including fentanyl has likely contributed to the unintentional death rate, which surged nine-fold between 2000 and 2017, the study found. (U.S.

Gov. Inslee talks fentanyl, clean energy in Walla Walla

February 19, 2024, 10:45am Health

In Walla Walla, fentanyl overdoses have become run-of-the-mill calls for first responders, and they happen almost every day. Read story

This image provided by the Alaska Department of Health shows several Alaskapox lesions. “A” is a lesion about 10 days after symptom onset, and “B” is the same lesion two days later. “C” is a lesion about 5 days after symptom onset, about 1.2 cm across. “D” is a lesion about 5 days after symptom onset, about 1 cm across, and “E” is same lesion about 4 weeks after symptom onset. “F” is a lesion around the reported symptom onset date. Alaskapox belongs to a family of viruses that can infect animals and humans, known as orthopoxviruses, which tend to cause lesions, or pox, on the skin.

What is Alaskapox? The disease has claimed its first fatality

February 19, 2024, 9:50am Health

Public health officials in Alaska have disclosed the first known human death from Alaskapox, a virus typically found in small mammals. Read story

FILE- Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife former First Lady Rosalynn Carter sit together during a reception to celebrate their 75th anniversary Saturday, July 10, 2021, in Plains, Ga. In the year since Jimmy Carter first entered home hospice care, the 39th president has celebrated his 99th birthday, enjoyed tributes to his legacy and outlived his wife of 77 years. Rosalynn Carter, who died in November 2023 after suffering from dementia, spent just a few days under hospice.

A year after Jimmy Carter entered hospice care, advocates hope his endurance drives awareness

February 18, 2024, 3:33pm Health

Since Jimmy Carter entered hospice care at his home in south Georgia one year ago, the former U.S. president has celebrated his 99th birthday, enjoyed tributes to his legacy and lost his wife of 77 years. Read story

Healthy Men: No, men aren’t getting what they deserve

February 18, 2024, 6:01am Health

Dear Healthy Men: I’ve read some of your columns and you spend a huge amount of time griping about how when it comes to health, men and boys are worse off than women and girls. Not true. Everyone knows that women’s health has been ignored for decades. And it’s clear… Read story

FDA’s plan to ban hair relaxer chemical called too little, too late

February 18, 2024, 6:00am Health

In April, a dozen years after a federal agency classified formaldehyde a human carcinogen, the Food and Drug Administration is tentatively scheduled to unveil a proposal to consider banning the chemical in hair-straightening products. Read story

Cities know that the way police respond to mental crisis calls must change. But how?

February 17, 2024, 6:52am Health

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741. Read story

Rokea Jones, who is a doula and community engagement specialist with Open Arms Perinatal Services, sits Tuesday in the organization’s offices at El Centro de la Raza in Seattle. Washington is a hotspot for birth workers, while state and corporate policies are starting to reflect that.

More Washington companies offer doula services in health benefits

February 17, 2024, 6:03am Business Free

For a small but increasing number of Washingtonians – including, possibly, people covered by Medicaid – doulas at birth could be covered by their medical insurance. Doula support has become increasingly recognized as a way to improve birth outcomes and equity in pregnancy care. But advocates say universal access remains… Read story

Here’s good news for those insured by Regence who feared losing MultiCare as in-network

February 16, 2024, 9:39am Health

A standoff between Tacoma’s MultiCare health system and Regence BlueShield is over. Read story

More people die after smoking drugs than injecting them, U.S. study finds

February 15, 2024, 4:13pm Health

Smoking has surpassed injecting as the most common way of taking drugs in U.S. overdose deaths, a new government study suggests. Read story