What Else Is News?
Recent topics that aren't getting a lot of attention
Where’s the beef? Some scientists say it should be on your plate.
Carnivores, rejoice! A group of almost 1,000 scientists declared that not only is meat-eating not harmful to the planet, it’s also crucial for human health. The Dublin Declaration, which was recently published in the journal Animal Frontiers, was signed by scientists from the British universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bristol, Belfast, Newcastle, Nottingham and Surrey.
“Livestock-derived foods provide a variety of essential nutrients and other health-promoting compounds,” the declaration states, adding that unprocessed meat contains “most of the vitamin B12 intake in human diets, plays a major role in supplying retinol, Omega-3 fatty acids and minerals such as iron and zinc, as well as important compounds for metabolism, such as taurine and creatine.”
The scientists cautioned that “vegan zealotry” is leading many people to miss out on the health benefits of eating meat.
So how would you like your steak?
Fox shows its true (pride) colors?
Surprisingly, this story did not attract a lot of media attention. (We thought MSNBC would have been all over it.) The conservative news organization The Daily Signal got its hands on the employee handbook for conservative Fox News and found that some of the latter’s policies are quite liberal.
“Fox News employees are allowed to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, rather than their biological sex, and permitted to dress in alignment with their preferred gender,” the article in The Daily Signal reads. “They must also be addressed by their preferred name and pronouns in the workplace. Fox also offers to help employees come up with a Workplace Transition Plan to ease their gender transition at work.”
Revelations from the handbook seem to contradict Fox News’ conservative image; however, a look at some recent stories suggests that the Fox may be leaning ever-so-slightly left when it comes to social issues. Fox News hired Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) as a contributor in 2022. Also last year, Fox News ran an uplifting, positive segment about a California transgender teen, which sent shockwaves through the conservative world.
It’s unlikely that Fox will go full-on progressive, but the news corporation has taken at least a step in that direction when it comes to its employees.
Deadly eye drops
An old commercial bragged that a certain eye drop “gets the red out.”
In the last few months, contaminated quantities of two lesser-known eye drops have done much more than that, causing blindness and even death in some users.
In February, the CDC and FDA warned consumers not to use the eye drops EzriCare and Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears because of the risk of exposure to a drug-resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The bacteria can be especially vicious on people with weakened immune systems, leading to pneumonia or infections in the blood, lungs and other parts of the body.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa "is a very dangerous bacteria because it could melt through the eye up to the cornea into the bloodstream pretty quickly," said Dr. Daniel Laroche, president of Advanced Eyecare of New York and clinical associate professor of ophthalmology at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine.
In May, the CDC stated that 81 patients in 18 states had been treated for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Of those cases, four people died, 14 people experienced vision loss and four people had to have their eyeballs surgically removed.
While a recall continues on EzriCare and Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears, the CDC stresses that other eye drops can be used safely.
It’s what you eat (and the pills you take)
Eat less, exercise more. People who struggle with maintaining a healthy weight grow frustrated by the oversimplified advice given by physicians and non-physicians alike.
When willpower and determination aren’t quite enough, people may turn to weight loss programs to give them a healthier understanding of food and exercise so they can naturally reduce their girth. WeightWatchers, Nutrisystem and, until this month, Jenny Craig provide one-on-one and group guidance, while newcomers like Noom maintain a sense of community through their user-friendly apps.
Now, some of these weight loss programs are adding diet pills to their regimen. WeightWatchers recently purchased Telehealth company Sequence for $132 million dollars. Sequence uses FDA-approved medications to combat “biological factors” that prohibit weight loss. With this deal, WeightWatchers will be able to supplement its traditional method of weight loss with medications in certain circumstances.
Noom just launched Noom Med, which will offer prescriptions for weight loss drugs such as Wegovy, Saxenda, Ozempic and Mounjaro — all designed to curb appetite and reduce cravings. Noom will also have prescriptions for less effective and less expensive drugs like metformin.
Noom insists that the medications will be used alongside its existing program of promoting healthy eating and lifestyles. “For the millions of Americans taking these medications, lasting success is really not often achievable without having that anchor in behavioral change,” said Linda Anegawa, Noom’s chief of medicine.
According to UCHealth, “Ozempic and Wegovy are helping many people lose considerable weight — about 12% of body mass, on average — which can dramatically improve a person’s health.”
Experts nevertheless advise caution when considering weight loss drugs. “If you lose weight with new drugs, you likely will need to keep taking the medications forever to keep the weight off,” according to UCHealth. “People who stop taking Wegovy and Ozempic often gain weight back relatively quickly.”
They may also find themselves looking older and gaunter, noted UCHealth. “While many people taking weight loss drugs are pleased to shed some pounds, some say they’re dropping weight in the wrong place: their faces.”