It ‘Saved My Life’: Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Offering Cancer Patients Much-Needed Peace
Just a single dose of the drug offered patients lasting relief from their profound distress, a new study found.
Los Angeles Times:
Ingredient In Magic Mushrooms Is Shown To Ease Anxiety And Depression In Cancer Patients In One Dose
“This drug saved my life and changed my life,” said Dinah Bazer, a Brooklyn, N.Y., woman who was administered a single dose of psilocybin at a New York treatment center in 2011. In the wake of treatment for ovarian cancer, Bazer said, her anxiety at the prospect of its return was “eating her alive.” Under the influence of a single high dose of psilocybin, Bazer said Wednesday, she became “volcanically angry” as she visualized her cancer as a dark mass bearing down on her. With an epithet, she then saw herself throwing it off. (Healy, 11/30)
In other public health news —
Los Angeles Times:
Experiments With Embryos Suggest Ways To Make 3-Parent IVF Safer For Babies
Using [three-parent IVF], couples obtain eggs from a healthy donor, remove the nuclear DNA and replace it with nuclear DNA from the would-be mother. This combination egg is then fertilized by sperm in a dish, incubated for a few days in the lab and then transferred into the would-be mother’s uterus — just as with regular in vitro fertilization. (Kaplan, 11/30)
Oakland Tribune:
These Toys Can Be Hazardous To Kids, CALPIRG, Doctors Say
As families are flooding toy stores and browsing online sites this holiday shopping season, a consumer group is warning buyers to beware of toys that could be dangerous to children’s health. The California Public Interest Research Group released its annual “Trouble in Toyland” report, an annual survey of potentially hazardous toys that shows some toys that have been recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for lead, powerful magnets and other hazards are still available in online stores. Some of the recalled toys that researchers found were still available for sale at online stores include a toy glockenspiel (a percussion instrument) that was recalled in February because of high levels of lead in the paint. If the paint is scraped off and ingested, the lead can cause “adverse health effects,” the report said. (Sciacca, 11/30)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Santa Rosa Program Helps Latinos Battle Diabetes, Heart Disease
The class is part of the center’s larger strategy to combat diabetes and heart disease in the North Bay, and its growing focus on Latinos.It’s a population at greater risk for developing Type 2 diabetes and related health conditions that can lead to heart disease or stroke, according to the American Diabetes Association. In Sonoma County, nearly 11 percent of Latinos have Type 2 diabetes versus about 6 percent for the county’s white residents, according the 2014 Portrait of Sonoma County, a blue-ribbon report chronicling disparities in economic and social conditions...The [Northern California Center for Well-Being] recently expanded its Spanish language diabetes prevention services with the addition of a Spanish-speaking “patient navigator” who helps them complete the course named Diabetes y Su Salud, providing intensive outreach, vouchers for transportation and a food box of nutrient-rich foods to encourage healthy meal preparation. (Espinoza, 11/30)
Sacramento Bee:
New California Pesticide Rules Worry Farmers, Satisfy Some Parents
The policy, released in September and open for public comment until Dec. 9, would ban pesticide application by aircraft, sprinkler, powder and gas between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday within a quarter-mile of schools and child care facilities. Farmers have historically needed county permits for pesticide applications near schools, but the new rule would be the first state policy to put a blanket restriction on such aerial spraying. (Caiola, 11/30)