It’s Not Just Putting Down The Eggs: Stress Plays An Under-Recognized Role In High Cholesterol
In an era in which digital technology makes it hard for employees to unplug and relax, researchers are warning that chronic stress from these tough jobs and other causes can lead to high cholesterol just like poor diet and lack of exercise do. In other public health news, scientists find a new species of bacterium that causes Lyme disease and victims of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis are filing lawsuits against the state and other officials.
The Wall Street Journal:
Stress Raises Cholesterol More Than You Think
Of all the factors contributing to high cholesterol, many cardiologists say one often goes unmentioned in advice for patients: stress. Yet chronic stress from a tough job, a strained relationship or other anxiety-producing situations can play a role—along with poor diet, smoking and lack of exercise—in causing lipid concentrations to rise, they say. Cholesterol deposited by LDL can accumulate in the arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis, which can reduce blood flow. (McKay, 2/8)
NPR:
Scientists Discover A Second Bacterium That Causes Lyme Disease
Until very recently it was thought that just one bacterium was to blame for causing Lyme disease in humans. But it turns out that a second, related bug can cause it too. In 2013, during routine testing of bacterial DNA floating around in the blood samples of people suspected of having Lyme disease, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., realized they were looking at something different. When they sequenced the genome of the bacterium, they realized it was different enough to be considered a new species. (Bichell, 2/8)
The New York Times:
Unsafe Lead Levels In Tap Water Not Limited To Flint
In Sebring, Ohio, routine laboratory tests last August found unsafe levels of lead in the town’s drinking water after workers stopped adding a chemical to keep lead water pipes from corroding. Five months passed before the city told pregnant women and children not to drink the water, and shut down taps and fountains in schools. In 2001, after Washington, D.C., changed how it disinfected drinking water, lead in tap water at thousands of homes spiked as much as 20 times the federally approved level. Residents did not find out for three years. ... The crisis in Flint, Mich., where as many as 8,000 children under age 6 were exposed to unsafe levels of lead after a budget-cutting decision to switch drinking-water sources, may be the most serious contamination threat facing the country’s water supplies. But it is hardly the only one. (Wines and Schwartz, 2/8)
The Associated Press:
Lead Contamination Of Flint Water Draws Multiple Lawsuits
One lawsuit seeks to replace lead-leaching water lines at no cost to customers. Another seeks money for thousands of Flint residents who unwittingly drank toxic water. A third complaint has been filed on behalf of people with Legionnaires' disease. While government officials scramble to rid Flint's tap water of lead, victims are suing Gov. Rick Snyder, the former mayor, rank-and-file public employees and almost anyone else who may have had a role in supplying the troubled city with corrosive river water for 18 months. The lawsuits accuse them of violating civil rights, wrecking property values and enriching themselves by selling a contaminated product. (White, 2/8)