Health

Insurance

Vaccine trial results could come in November; thousands of health workers have died; cases in Europe up

By Gertrude Aziz 20 hours ago

As the race to find a coronavirus vaccine continues, the World Health Organization on Thursday announced grim reminders of COVID-19’s global impact.

The WHO said cases are surging again in Europe, with more than half of European countries seeing a 10% or greater spike in cases. COVID-19 is also disproportionately affecting healthcare workers, according to WHO data.

Health workers make up 2-3% of the global population but account for about 14% of reported COVID-19 cases. “Thousands of health workers infected with COVID-19 have lost their lives worldwide,” the organization said.

Meanwhile, progress towards a vaccine continued Thursday: Moderna said it was moving up its trial results timeline. The company said it could have enough clinical trial results for its candidate vaccine as soon as November.

That news followed cautions from Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Wednesday. Redfield urged the use of face masks

Personal

How to manage your mental health during lockdown

By Gertrude Aziz 1 week ago

The National Domestic Abuse helpline has seen a 25 per cent increase in calls since lockdown began (Getty)

On 23 March prime minister Boris Johnson implemented a nationwide UK lockdown, which saw people confined to their homes.

Only able to leave the house for a number of essential reasons: getting food or medicine, once-daily exercise or travelling to work as a key worker.

Although the restrictions are now starting to ease in England, many people will have spent weeks at home – and are still unable to meet friends and family.

A long period of isolation may well have been a necessary measure to protect public health against Covid-19 but it has been acknowledged that it could also have a detrimental impact on people’s mental health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a mental health guide for people who are self-isolating saying: “This time of crisis is generating stress in

Business

This Pet Stock Just Bought an Animal Health Business for $7.6 Billion

By Gertrude Aziz 2 weeks ago

Based in Indiana, Elanco Animal Health (NYSE: ELAN) develops products and services that treat diseases in pets and commercial animals around the world. Just two short years after being spun off from Eli Lilly, Elanco has taken a bold step by acquiring Bayer Animal Health in a $7.6 billion move that establishes it as the second-largest animal health company in the world by revenue (behind Zoetis).

A $7.6 billion animal-health merger

The deal was announced in August 2019 and was financed with $5.2 billion in cash and 72.9 million shares of Elanco. Management believes Bayer will help it strengthen its focus on the connections between pet health and farm animal health, as well as providing new research and development capabilities that will help expand the portfolio of pet and farm products and generate future cash flow growth.

The deal will triple Elanco’s international footprint, and that greater scale

Insurance

The Mental Health Trauma of the Black Maternal Mortality Crisis

By Gertrude Aziz 3 weeks ago

Inequality is rampant throughout the health care system: Women of color are more likely to die of breast cancer, heart disease, and COVID-19, and more likely to report chronic, severe anxiety. There are many reasons—gaps in biomedical research, deliberate discrimination and racism, lack of resources, lack of empathy—all of which come to a head when a Black woman gets pregnant. Black women in the United States are three to five times more likely to die from pregnancy or postpartum issues than white women, a maternal mortality crisis that cannot be ignored. In Glamour’s Black Maternal Health series, we’re sharing these stories—and solutions.

Freedom Smith was scared to scream during childbirth. She was a 21-year-old single mother-to-be with no insurance, no family support, and no stable prenatal care, and the words of the staff in the maternity ward had weighed heavily on her mind. “I had a

Personal

14 Mental Health Instagram Accounts You Should Follow ASAP

By Gertrude Aziz 4 weeks ago

There’s no denying that 2020 has been incredibly distressing for most people.

Fortunately, there are ways to combat the negative mental health effects many of us are experiencing ― one of which includes social media. Given that we’re arguably spending more time on our phones than ever, why not fill your feed with uplifting content from people about mental health?

There are tons of influencers, artists, therapists and others who play a crucial role in maintaining a sense of community and holding space for everyone to show up as they are, where they are. From guided meditations to affirmations to gorgeous illustrations to remind you things will be OK, these social media personalities will help you improve your overall mental well-being.

So, what are you waiting for? Here are a few people you should check out right now:

Tabitha Brown

Tabitha Brown rose to social media stardom with her soothing

Personal

‘Emotional support K-pop boys’ help fans with their mental health

By Gertrude Aziz 1 month ago

“Every time I see him I feel like the sun is shining on my face.”

L. Gissele has three emotional support K-pop boys: Kim Namjoon aka RM from BTS, Bang Chan from Stray Kids, and Johnny Suh from NCT 127.

“[Namjoon’s] words speak to me and he motivates me to always do better and to aim big. To always challenge myself,” the 18-year-old Panamanian told Mashable via DM. “[Chan] has been there for me at my lowest point in life. He makes me remember that depression does not define me and that I can get through everything.”

And Johnny? “Seeing him smile makes me happy.”

Feeling a strong attachment to or drawing strength from a specific idol isn’t unusual in K-pop fandom. Commonly called “emotional support K-pop boys,” these artists inspire and reassure people through their music, livestreams,

Insurance

Latinos’ health threatened by coronavirus misinformation and distrust

By Gertrude Aziz 1 month ago

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When Claudia Guzman suspected she had caught the coronavirus, her friends and family were full of advice: Don’t quarantine. Don’t get tested. A homemade tea will help cure you.

“They were saying, ‘Don’t go to the hospital,’ because supposedly, if you are admitted into the hospital, they administer the virus into your body,” said Guzman, who was born in Chicago to parents from Mexico and now lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

False claims and conspiracy theories, ranging from bogus cures to the idea that the virus is a hoax, have dogged efforts to control the pandemic from the beginning. While bad information about the virus is a problem for everyone, it can pose a particular threat to communities of people of color who already face worse outcomes from the virus.

Among Latinos in the U.S., misinformation around the coronavirus has found fertile ground because many in their communities

Insurance

Young people struggle with finding mental health support amid COVID-19 pandemic

By Gertrude Aziz 1 month ago

Kathryn Boit feels “guilty for struggling so much” these past few months.

As president of the Harvard Student Mental Health Liaisons, she has “college friends, acquaintances and strangers reach out to me for resources and advice,” she said. “I don’t know the answers anymore.”

It’s no wonder Boit, a Harvard sophomore, feels overwhelmed. Prevalence of depression among college students increased since the pandemic closed campuses this spring compared with fall 2019, according to a survey of 18,000 college students published by the Healthy Minds Network on July 9. And of the nearly 42% of students who sought mental health care during the pandemic, 60% said it was either much more or somewhat more difficult to access care.

Mental health among young people has been worsening for years. A 2019 analysis of teens reported 13% of U.S. teens ages 12 to 17 (or 3.2 million) said in 2017 that they had

Money

College students face financial strains, health concerns from pandemic ahead of fall semester

By Gertrude Aziz 1 month ago

Brittany Goddard’s final semester at Howard University isn’t the dream ending she imagined in Washington, D.C.

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down the U.S. economy in March, she scrambled to pack up her belongings since she had to be out of her dorm room within 48 hours. At the same time, she lost her part-time job at a catering company and still hasn’t received unemployment after filing for jobless benefits in April.

She was set to study abroad in Barcelona over the summer, but those plans were upended due to the pandemic. And with just weeks to go before the fall semester begins, she’s worried about how she’ll pay the remaining balance of her tuition and fees – roughly $9,000 – since her financial aid won’t cover it at the private school.

“It’s heartbreaking. I’m a low-income student. I can’t afford tuition,” Goddard, 20, says, who’s created a GoFundMe page … Read More

Insurance

Young people struggle with finding mental health support amid COVID pandemic

By Gertrude Aziz 1 month ago

Kathryn Boit feels “guilty for struggling so much” these past few months.

As the president of the Harvard Student Mental Health Liaisons, she has “college friends, acquaintances, and strangers reach out to me for resources and advice,” she said. “I don’t know the answers anymore.”

It’s no wonder Boit, a Harvard sophomore, feels overwhelmed. Prevalence of depression among college students increased since the pandemic caused the closure of campuses this spring compared to fall 2019, according to a survey of 18,000 college students published by the Healthy Minds Network on July 9. And of the nearly 42% of students who sought mental health care during the pandemic, 60% said it was either much more or somewhat more difficult to access care.

Mental health among young people has been worsening for years. A 2019 analysis of teens reported 13% of U.S. teens ages 12 to 17 (or 3.2 million) said in