Suicide is a serious issue that affects many people. Most people who take their own lives see a healthcare provider in the year before their death. This fact highlights the need for suicide prevention efforts in all medical settings, not just mental health clinics. Screening and assessing suicide risk is a crucial part of managing a patient's mental health. One i...
Chromium is a harmful metal that comes in two forms: chromite and chromate. Chromate is particularly nasty because it's used in making leather products. As the love for leather goods grows, so does the worry about the health risks from skin contact with chromium in these products. A recent study dug deep into this issue. Scientists tested 105 leather samples for to...
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, swept across the globe from 2020 to 2022. It spread quickly, but thankfully, most people did not die from it. However, it did put a lot of pressure on healthcare systems around the world. A recent study looked at how to predict future health risks from the virus. It used a new method to analyze data from diff...
In Wadi Ranyah, the main water supply for local folks comes from groundwater. To figure out if this water is safe, 77 samples were taken and tested for various factors. Most of the time, the water met the standards set by the World Health Organization. However, some harmful substances were found in amounts that are not safe. These include arsenic, lead, cadmium, ...
Mercury is a heavy metal that sticks around in the environment and builds up in living things. This is a big problem in Zambia's Copperbelt Province. Not many people have looked into how much mercury is in the Kafue River and its smaller rivers around Kitwe. In Kitwe, they checked the mercury levels in soil, river mud, and tilapia fish. They found more mercury in th...
Social media has become a goldmine for understanding various aspects of people's lives. One intriguing area of study is how it can help spot risky drinking habits. Researchers have been looking into using advanced language models to analyze social media posts for signs of alcohol misuse. This method could be a game-changer in public health, offering a way to assess l...
The Clean Water Act has a rule. It says the Environmental Protection Agency must set limits on certain things in our water. These things could be chemicals, living organisms, or physical conditions. The goal is to keep people safe from harm. For a long time, the EPA used a simple method to set these limits. It looked at a few key factors. But this method didn't accou...
Medical groups face a lot of challenges. These can come from outside or inside the organization. To handle these issues, they need to have a good risk management plan. A recent effort looked at the different risks that affect how well medical groups work. The study used a special way to group risks called the A. V. Zavrazhsky typology. This helped to figure out where...
Arsenic is a sneaky element found in the earth's crust. It can end up in various foods due to natural processes or human activities. While it's well-known that high doses of arsenic are toxic, long-term exposure to small amounts can increase cancer risks. The United States has some regulations for arsenic in certain foods, but there's no comprehensive rule covering a...
A spacecraft from the Soviet era is on its way back to Earth. This craft was originally intended to explore Venus in the 1970s. It is expected to make an uncontrolled descent. The exact landing spot is unknown. Experts are unsure how much of the spacecraft will survive the fall. The spacecraft is a half-ton chunk of metal. It was launched in 1972. A rocket failure k...