Latest California Healthline Stories
How One Patient’s Textured Hair Nearly Kept Her From a Needed EEG
An EEG can help diagnose conditions like epilepsy, sleep disorders, and brain tumors. But a design flaw and outdated Eurocentric practices make the test less effective on thicker, denser, and curly hair types, potentially excluding or deterring some people from getting screened.
UC Physician Training Program Adds Diversity, but Where Do Graduates End Up?
Researchers found that, while a University of California medical training program has diversified the system’s pool of medical students, there’s not enough long-term data to know whether graduates return to practice where they’re needed most.
Programa forma médicos multiculturales, pero no siempre ejercen en áreas vulnerables
Investigadores han descubierto que el programa ha logrado diversificar la inscripción, pero no hay suficiente seguimiento a largo plazo para saber si estos graduados ejercen en las regiones donde más se necesitan.
Fresh Produce Is an Increasingly Popular Prescription for Chronically Ill Patients
Fresh produce prescription programs are getting a boost in Montana as a way of helping people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The approach may be a model for other rural states to promote healthy eating in food deserts.
The US Remains a Grim Leader in Preterm Births. Why? And Can We Fix It?
American women are more likely to deliver their babies prematurely than women in most developed countries. It’s a distinction that coincides with high rates of maternal and infant death, billions of dollars in costs, and even lifelong disabilities for the children who survive.
Estados Unidos sigue siendo uno de los países con más partos prematuros. ¿Se puede solucionar?
Aproximadamente uno de cada 10 nacimientos vivos en 2021 ocurrió antes de las 37 semanas de gestación, según un informe de March of Dimes publicado en 2022. En comparación, investigaciones recientes citan tasas de nacimientos prematuros del 7,4% en Inglaterra y Gales, del 6% en Francia y del 5,8% en Suecia.
Pandemic Stress, Gangs, and Utter Fear Fueled a Rise in Teen Shootings
With their brains still developing and poor impulse control, teens who carry firearms might never plan to use them. But some do.
Estrés pandémico, pandillas y miedo impulsaron un aumento de tiroteos adolescentes
Investigaciones muestran que los adolescentes expuestos a la violencia armada tienen el doble de probabilidades que otros de cometer un delito violento grave dentro de los dos años luego del trauma, lo que perpetúa un ciclo difícil de romper.
Feds Move to Rein In Prior Authorization, a System That Harms and Frustrates Patients
The federal government wants to change the way health insurers use prior authorization — the requirement that patients get permission before undergoing treatment. Designed to prevent doctors from deploying expensive, ineffectual procedures, prior authorization has become a confusing maze that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities. New rules may not be enough to solve the problems.
Black Patients Dress Up and Modify Speech to Reduce Bias, California Survey Shows
Many Black patients also try to be informed and minimize questions to put providers at ease. “The system looks at us differently,” says the founder of the African American Wellness Project.