By : Brianna

FDA explores ways to get kids who are hooked on nicotine to quit vaping as teen e-cigarette epidemic grinds on

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/17/fda-explores-how-to-help-kids-hooked-on-juul-other-e-cigarettes-quit.html

The Food and Drug Administration is hoping to find ways to limit the use of vaping devices for middle and high school students as in recent times, many have found that underaged youth addicted to “Juuls” and other e-cigarette devices. Data shows, teen use of e-cigarettes have rapidly increased over the years, and many are declaring it as an “epidemic.” The Juul company has already pulled many of its fruity flavors from the market in hopes to decrease the number of teens abusing these devices. Reports suggest that some teenagers find themselves hooked on nicotine and unable to stop vaping. The problem here is that doctors do not know what to do in order to combat this crisis. Treatment is usually targeted towards adults such has nicotine patches and gums. The public health community is looking for ways to get these teens to quit, but if the solutions that have already been implemented do not decrease the number of teens, then the industry may have to face a complete shutdown.

It is clear that there is a problem within the youth as many have found themselves addicted to nicotine at a young age. The many fruity flavors and easy access to Juuls make it even more enticing to the youth, as the device is easy to use and portable as well. Even though the company has already made advances to stop advertising to teens, another problem lays ahead as most have found themselves unable to stop vaping. But then that leads us to ask, “will completely getting rid of e-cigarettes be the solution to this problem?” This may completely disregard why e-cigarettes have been created in the first place, which was to help adults with nicotine addiction veer away from combustable cigarettes. The original intent was to help smokers as they could have potentially benefitted from these products, but now the product as a whole may be removed from the market.

As a class we have discussed public policy and what the government does in order to battle these issues. It is clear in this case we must find a solution to stop teens from abusing nicotine products but at the same time help adult smokers find healthier options to combustable cigarettes. E-cigarettes have their pros and cons but it is now up to the higher ups to decide what to do for the health of the public.

Painkiller marketing aimed at physicians has been linked to higher numbers of overdoses in a study investigating the causes of the opioid crisis gripping the U.S.

https://www.newsweek.com/opioid-crisis-overdoses-rise-after-pharma-advertises-directly-doctors-1295828

This news article by Kashmira Gander on 1/18/19 informed the readers about the connections between a rise in opioid marketing and a higher rate of prescription drug deaths. The authors of the study published in the journal JAMA Network Open found that between August 2013 and December 2015, pharmaceutical companies spent $39.7 million on materials aimed at more than 67,507 physicians across 2,208 U.S. counties. Today, an average of 130 people die from an opioid overdose each day. The role of advertising on doctors can be used to explain why this is happening. A past study found that Medicare doctors who had seen opioid adverts were more likely to prescribe the drugs to these patients.

Opioid Epidemic became the leading cause of death in recent years. In class, we discussed the process of passing public policy. In what way will the government combat this opioid crisis? The government have to pass policies to address the crisis.

Between 2013-2015, almost $40 million were spent on opioid marketing targeting doctors. I agree with the article that the painkiller marketing causes a higher number of overdose. I think there should be a limit on prescription drugs. Healthcare is also a factor in this opioid crisis, there should be an adjustment made on the healthcare that relates to the prescription drugs.

By: Reuel

New ‘planetary health diet’ can save lives and the planet, major review suggests by Nina Avramova January 21,2019

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/health/new-diet-to-save-lives-and-planet-health-study-intl/index.html

A new diet has been found that could help save lives and help out the planet. The diet is known as, “the planetary health diet” and is a daily meal plan to help cut down on the intake of red meat and starchy vegetables. Scientist believe that if the diet was used globally then health issues and premature deaths would decrease. The main purpose of the diet is to create a more ideal intake of all kinds of food and increase the intake on vegetables, fruits and nuts. The following image was provided in the article on how much you should eat of each kind of food.

I believe that this diet would help reduce a lot of obesity issues that currently take place in America today. However I believe that it is almost impossible to get this diet to go globally. As much as scientist would like this to go global, it is very difficult to change how the world eats. As stated in the article, ” some countries are not able to grow enough food”. I do think that maybe schools and other facilities should use this diet for ideas for lunch and meals. This way scientist could test how this diet works on a smaller scale and try to reproduce this for the masses.

In class we talked about how public policies are made and the process that they go through to make them. I believe that if this diet is implemented into small groups such as schools and other places then the diet can be tested and the results about how people’s health are being affected can be found. For example the possibility of obesity can be reduced, possibly due to this healthy eating habit. If this is found to be true, then possibly this diet can reach a broader audience of people.