Health | WPN World People News

Understanding the full effects of the nation’s opioid epidemic requires coordinated, long-term research involving women of reproductive age and children. In an editorial in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and Matthew W. Gillman, M.D., S.M., director of NIH’s Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, emphasize that women and children bear a substantial burden of the U.S. opioid epidemic. They write that misuse of opioids before and during pregnancy can raise the risk of health consequences for both woman and child, potentially leading to intergenerational cycles of opioid overuse.

Artificial intelligence has an expanding role to play in medical imaging. NIBIB

Algeria and Argentina have been officially recognized by WHO as malaria-free. The certification is granted when a country proves that it has interrupted indigenous transmission of the disease for at least 3 consecutive years.

Six countries restricted industrially produced trans fat since 2018, and another 24 countries, including the European Union, recently adopted trans fat regulations that will come into effect over the next two years. Yet, more than 110 countries still have no regulations against this harmful compound, meaning five billion people are at risk for industrially produced trans fat exposure in the foods they eat every day, according to the first annual global progress report on trans fat elimination issued by WHO, on May 22nd.

More than 20 million babies were born with a low birthweight (less than 2500g; 5.5 pounds) in 2015—around one in seven of all births worldwide according to the first-ever estimates documenting this major health challenge.

People can reduce their risk of dementia by getting regular exercise, not smoking, avoiding harmful use of alcohol, controlling their weight, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining healthy blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, according to new guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 14th.

Parents visiting her 15-year-old daugher, who is suspected of being infected by Ebola, at the Ebola Treatment Center in Beni, DRC (January 2019).

Baby in Papua New Guinea wears an orange hypothermia alert device at the neo natal unit in Mendi General Hospital in Southern Highlands Province to monitor its temperature.

An elderly woman rides her bike in Croatia (13 February 2013). New World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines stress the value of regular exercise to prevent the onset of dementia.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is “worsening” and has killed more than 1,000 people.