Posts Tagged ‘california’

Research presented this week at the Neuroscience 2009 meeting in Chicago revealed an interesting side effect of internet use on older brains. Researchers from University of California, Los Angeles found that frequent internet use among the elderly – even those who only recently started using the web – increased brain functioning beyond their baseline. By comparing novice users to seasoned internet veterans the researchers found that even after just one week of using the internet, the novice users’ brains showed activity in areas important for working memory and decision making – activity that wasn’t apparent on brain scans prior to engagement with the web. [via Medical News Today]

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“The recent deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson have made clear to the whole world just how dangerous prescription drug abuse can be,” said California Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr., as he unveiled the state’s new CURES internet database which provides physicians, pharmacists and law enforcement officers instant access to any patient’s prescription drug use history. Although not necessarily targeted for patients like the above named celebrities, the main use of the database is in an effort to curb prescription drug abuse, especially among patients who seek out and receive multiple prescriptions from different doctors. With 7,500 pharmacies and 158,000 prescribers reporting prescription information annually, CURES is the largest online prescription-drug monitoring database in the United States. Its goal is to reduce drug trafficking and abuse of dangerous prescription medications, lower the number of emergency room visits due to prescription-drug overdose and misuse, and reduce the costs to healthcare providers related to prescription-drug abuse. [via ABC KERO 23]

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Lawmakers in the state of Rhode Island today overrode a veto by their governor making it legal for up to three nonprofit stores to sell medical marijuana. The stores will sell medical marijuana only to chronically ill patients who are registered with the state Department of Health. Under federal law medical marijuana is still considered illegal, but President Obama’s administration has stated they will not target stores which comply with local state law. California and New Mexico are the only other states in the US that allow medical marijuana sales.

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California Senator Barbara Boxer has introduced the National Nursing Reform and Patient Advocacy Act. The legislation aims to attract and maintain a sufficient nursing workforce in order to provide quality healthcare for the coming years. The bill would establish specific nurse-to-patient ratios, which would increase patient safety and reduce job burn out. As well, it would provide whistle blower protections to protect the right of nurses to advocate for the safety of patients and report violations of minimum standards of care. Read more about the bill.

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Trans fats are once again in the news after governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a ban on the use of trans fats by California restaurants. Trans fat is produced by the food industry to increase the shelf life of food products by making oil solid at room temperature. The problem with trans fats is that they have severe adverse effects on cholesterol levels which increases coronary heart disease risk. But, is selecting foods labeled as containing zero grams of trans fats enough to avoid it? As it turns out, trans fat does not have to be listed if the total fat in a food is less than 0.5 gram per serving (source: FDA). For now, the only reliable way of reducing your trans fat intake is to eat unprocessed foods or follow some of these practical tips from the FDA.

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