Redwood City Mayor Giselle Hale is dropping out of her campaign for the California Assembly due to political attacks against her that have affected her family's mental health and happiness.
Through your account TwitterThe mayor explained that the “difficult” decision was made during a “much-needed” vacation, and “during that time off, I saw how deeply this career impacted the mental health and happiness of my husband and our two daughters.”
Our family recently got away for a much-needed vacation. During this time off, I saw how deeply this race impacted the mental health and happiness of my husband and our two daughters. pic.twitter.com/1X9bvzIiwS
He explained that during his campaign, he faced down a $1.2 million special-interest smear campaign with all his might. “They appeared in our mailbox almost daily. While I could face the lies and attacks and continue driving, it was impossible for my family to remain unaffected.”
“My five-year-old daughter regularly received one of my opponents’ attack ads while watching a children’s YouTube show; and my eight-year-old daughter told me that a classmate brought a negative email to school. They couldn’t understand adults doing such things,” she stressed.
In this regard, the mayor explained that it is not very difficult to find people in politics who are willing to do or say anything to get elected. "But that is not me. Ultimately, my decision came down to protecting the three people I care about most."
However, Hale explained that her journey does not end in her quest to help those who need it most.
"I'm going to spend time with my girls and then I'll look for my next adventure. I will never stop fighting for the issues that put me in charge 8 years ago: housing, children, the environment and equality," she said.
Hale made it clear that as mayor of Redwood City, she will continue to fight for affordable housing, child care and public transportation.
She also said she will join the Vote Mama Leadership Council to advise other Democratic mothers seeking office, and will work to improve transparency in the campaign finance system.
“I am humbled and grateful to everyone who supported our campaign. From the donors who helped me raise $810,000, to the 300+ volunteers who knocked on 20,000+ doors, to the 100+ elected officials and community leaders who endorsed my campaign. The world needs more of you!” she concluded.
The mayor achieved the necessary votes during the primary elections to reach the November elections, where she will seek to obtain a seat in the California State Assembly.
Although he announced his withdrawal from the campaign, his name will remain on the ballot for the November 8 election.
Este viernes, la administradora de la ciudad, Melissa Stevenson Diaz, emitió dos permisos adicionales para tiendas de cannabis en Redwood City, lo que elevó el total otorgado a seis.
These two permits were authorized for Flor Peninsula LLC, located at 620 El Camino Real and Element 7 Redwood City LLC, located at 615 Woodside Rd, Suite 1.
Los permisos adicionales se emitieron luego de la selección inicial de cuatro titulares de permisos el 28 de marzo de 2022.
En noviembre de 2020, el Concejo Municipal autorizó al Administrador de la Ciudad a otorgar permisos comerciales de cannabis a hasta seis negocios minoristas de venta. Las regulaciones de la ciudad permiten los negocios en los distritos de zonificación de Redwood City que ya permiten usos minoristas generales.
El Concejo Municipal aprobó un riguroso proceso de autorización de solicitudes de cannabis basado en el mérito y dirigido por el personal para garantizar que los operadores comerciales minoristas del producto de alta calidad sean revisados a fondo y suficientemente calificados antes de recibir los permisos.
La alcaldía, señaló a través de un comunicado que todas las solicitudes para la venta minorista de cannabis en tiendas debían proporcionar información relevante, incluida la compatibilidad del vecindario, los planes de seguridad y protección, así como los de beneficios comunitarios.
«Después de una evaluación adicional de los permisos disponibles, creo que Flor Península y Element 7, que ocuparon el quinto y sexto lugar en la Lista de Elegibilidad, serían adiciones bienvenidas para operar un negocio minorista de cannabis aquí en Redwood City», dijo Stevenson Diaz.
Además de proporcionar ingresos adicionales muy necesarios a medida que la ciudad enfrenta déficits presupuestarios proyectados, cada negocio contribuirá a las organizaciones locales, subrayó el documento.
All retail cannabis storefront businesses must fund a 4 percent general tax on gross receipts paid directly to the city, an amount that is in addition to the state's 15 percent tax and the City's nearly 10 percent sales tax.
Se espera que los negocios minoristas de tiendas de cannabis generen entre 500 mil y 750 mil dólares en ingresos para financiar los servicios de la ciudad en el primer año completo de operación, aproximadamente para finales de 2023.
Combinados, los seis titulares de permisos seleccionados proporcionarán un sólido paquete de beneficios comunitarios en su primer año de funcionamiento, que incluye alrededor de 800 mil dólares en contribuciones monetarias de la comunidad anualmente a una variedad de grupos y organizaciones de Redwood City y más de cinco mil horas de servicio voluntario, subrayó el ayuntamiento.
Todos los operadores de cannabis están sujetos a inspecciones, auditorías y supervisión periódicas.
De igual manera, la ciudad detalló que toda la vigilancia de seguridad y las imágenes se ponen a disposición del Departamento de Policía para monitorear la actividad comercial y disuadir cualquier posible actividad delictiva.
Ante ello, todos los minoristas de cannabis deben verificar la identificación y asegurarse de que los clientes tengan 21 años o más ‒18 o más si es un paciente médico‒. Además, los negocios minoristas de tiendas de cannabis deben estar a un mínimo de 600 pies de las escuelas, las guarderías, los parques públicos, los centros juveniles y las bibliotecas existentes y autorizadas.
Los permisos son renovables anualmente y pueden revocarse si la empresa no cumple con los términos de su permiso.
Desde 2019, Redwood City ha permitido negocios de cannabis sin escaparate ‒entrega‒ dentro de los límites de la ciudad, la cual, dijo, no ha experimentado quejas ni ha observado un aumento relacionado con la actividad delictiva relacionada con estas operaciones.
Los interesados en conocer más sobre las regulaciones de cannabis en la ciudad, pueden visitar el sitio www.RedwoodCity.org/Cannabis.
Esta imagen de 1997 se creó durante una investigación sobre un brote de viruela símica que tuvo lugar en la República Democrática del Congo (RDC), entre 1996 y 1997, anteriormente Zaire, y muestra las palmas de las manos de un paciente con viruela símica de Lodja, una ciudad ubicada dentro la Zona de Salud de Katako-Kombe, de la RDC. Imagen de los CDC a través de Bay City News.
San Francisco supervisors on Thursday criticized the public health response to the ongoing global outbreak of monkeypox, calling for better communication with at-risk groups and an influx of vaccine doses.
San Francisco currently has 141 confirmed cases, more than half of the 266 that were confirmed statewide as of Tuesday.
The vast majority of the city's cases have been confirmed in gay or bisexual men between the ages of 25 and 54, and about 42 percent of confirmed cases have been in Asian, Black or Hispanic residents.
La doctora Stephanie Cohen, directora médica de la Clínica de la Ciudad de San Francisco y directora de prevención de VIH e ITS dentro del Departamento de Salud Pública de la ciudad, dijo que la ciudad solicitó una estimación conservadora de 35 mil dosis de vacuna contra la viruela símica, pero solo recibió aproximadamente 7 mil 700 dosis.
«Las vacunas son la herramienta más efectiva en nuestro conjunto de herramientas para combatir este virus y la mejor manera de proteger a las personas», dijo Cohen al Comité de Supervisión y Auditoría Gubernamental de la Junta de Supervisores de San Francisco durante una audiencia sobre la respuesta a la viruela símica.
«Desafortunadamente, la respuesta federal ha sido lenta y con obstáculos, y el suministro es extremadamente limitado y está muy por encima de la necesidad y la demanda», subrayó.
El virus generalmente se transmite a través del contacto de piel con piel o fluidos corporales a través de besos, respirar de cerca, actividad sexual y compartir ropa de cama o ropa. Los funcionarios de salud locales, estatales y federales han enfatizado que el virus no se transmite por el aire como el COVID-19 o la gripe.
Los síntomas pueden incluir una erupción o llagas en la piel en cualquier parte del cuerpo del paciente. La contracción del virus a menudo también comienza con síntomas similares a los de la gripe.
El virus se ha confirmado a nivel mundial en muchos hombres que se identifican como homosexuales o bisexuales, pero los funcionarios de salud pública han enfatizado que el virus no es exclusivo de los hombres que se sienten atraídos por los hombres, y cualquiera puede contraer la viruela del mono a través del contacto cercano con una persona infectada.
El supervisor Rafael Mandelman, uno de los dos miembros LGBTQ de la junta y el supervisor que convocó a la audiencia, comparó la respuesta al brote de viruela símica con la epidemia de VIH/SIDA de la década de 1980, calificándola de «inquietantemente familiar» para aquellos que recuerdan los primeros días de la epidemia.
Mandelman también calificó el esfuerzo federal para proporcionar más dosis de la vacuna Jynneos de dos dosis para la viruela del mono y la viruela como «totalmente inadecuado» para el alcance del brote actual, y señaló el esfuerzo rápido y exitoso para vacunar a unos 40 millones de personas contra COVID-19 en los primeros tres meses después de que las vacunas estuvieron disponibles a fines de 2020.
Los funcionarios federales de salud han declarado que planean vacunar por completo a unos 3.5 millones de personas contra la viruela símica para mediados de 2023, una meta que Mandelman calificó de «abismal».
«Tenemos casi 6 millones, tal vez más, hombres que tienen sexo con hombres y personas trans que viven en los Estados Unidos», explicó. «Todo esto es asumiendo que este brote de viruela del mono permanece dentro de la comunidad queer. No hay razón para creer que en algún momento no se extenderá, por lo que esto es una farsa».
Unas 6 mil 100 personas en la ciudad han recibido al menos una dosis de la vacuna contra la viruela del simio hasta el miércoles, según el SFDPH, pero Cohen dijo que la escasez de dosis de vacunas requerirá que la ciudad posponga la administración de segundas dosis para la mayoría de las personas. incluso si se les da una fecha y hora para regresar para su segunda inyección.
«Tenemos la intención de que todos reciban una segunda dosis, pero la orientación en este momento del estado es priorizar las primeras dosis para garantizar que recibamos la primera dosis para la mayor cantidad de personas posible, y tan pronto como tengamos el suministro para administrar esas segundas dosis, se administrarán», destacó Cohen.
Los funcionarios estatales también han pedido una afluencia de dosis de la vacuna Jynneos lo antes posible.
En una carta enviada el martes a los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades de EE. UU., el doctor Mark Ghaly, secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos del estado, y el doctor Tomas Aragon, director del Departamento de Salud Pública de California, dijeron que el estado necesita al menos entre 600 y 800 mil dosis, y dijeron que fue una estimación conservadora.
Incluso con la falta de dosis, la ciudad amplió su elegibilidad para la vacuna a todos los hombres que tienen relaciones sexuales con hombres que han tenido múltiples parejas sexuales en los 14 días anteriores, así como a los trabajadores sexuales de cualquier orientación sexual o género.
Mandelman contó una anécdota de Hans How, miembro de la Junta de Supervisión del Fondo de Estabilidad de la Vivienda de la ciudad, quien buscó una dosis de vacuna y se vio obligado a esperar en filas de horas en el Hospital General Zuckerberg San Francisco, solo para ser rechazado dos veces porque el hospital se había quedado sin dosis.
También dijo que el ex asistente y actual director político de Equality California, Tom Temprano, había buscado información del SFDPH sobre cómo vacunarse, pero finalmente se enteró de cómo acceder a una vacuna a través de Twitter porque los funcionarios del departamento no respondieron sus llamadas.
Mandelman calificó los problemas logísticos como «bastante imperdonables» y pidió a Cohen y a otros funcionarios del SFDPH que los resuelvan.
«Estas son dos personas con acceso extraordinario que han estado involucradas en el gobierno de la ciudad. Estamos hablando de percentiles superiores de capacidad para acceder a los servicios públicos», refirió. «Así que solo puedo imaginar cuán grande es la frustración y los sentimientos de impotencia para miles, si no decenas de miles de otras personas que deberían recibir esta vacuna».
El director ejecutivo de la Fundación contra el SIDA de San Francisco, Tyler TerMeer, dijo que si bien su organización ha vacunado a 761 personas hasta el miércoles, la fundación tiene solo 127 dosis de vacunas disponibles y unas 5 mil 300 personas en su lista de espera de vacunación.
TerMeer también señaló que la fundación lanzó recientemente una línea directa para obtener información sobre la viruela del simio que recibe aproximadamente una o dos llamadas por minuto, lo que señaló la necesidad de educar al público sobre el virus y cómo prevenir su propagación.
«Acabamos de ver una demanda increíble de acceso a la información, para que las personas hablen sobre sus preocupaciones y temores a medida que la viruela del mono continúa propagándose en nuestra comunidad», dijo.
Cohen precisó que el Departamento de Salud Pública también se ha visto inundado con llamadas y mensajes de voz de personas que buscan información sobre el virus, pero el equipo de comunicaciones del departamento ha tenido problemas para mantenerse al día.
«Creo que no solo hemos estado dando mala información, sino que en realidad hemos empeorado las cosas al decirles a las personas que llamen a estos números donde, al menos de las personas con las que estoy hablando, no están recibiendo llamadas», dijo Mandelmann.
Cohen sugirió que el estado actual de la ciudad de tratar de sofocar el brote se debe en parte a «fallas en múltiples niveles» y a una visión demasiado optimista de los funcionarios federales de salud de que la viruela símica podría contenerse vacunando solo a aquellos que corren el mayor riesgo de contraerla, contrayéndolo y propagándolo, estrategia conocida como vacunación en anillo.
Con una mejor preparación, argumentó, las vacunas podrían y deberían haberse distribuido en grandes cantidades hace unas seis semanas.
Por ahora, los funcionarios locales de salud pública se preguntan junto con los residentes de San Francisco cuándo se entregarán más dosis.
«Creo que estamos tratando de esperar lo mejor y planificar para lo peor en torno a las asignaciones», destacó Cohen. «Pero continuaremos manteniendo a todos actualizados porque también estamos al borde de nuestros asientos por eso».
The Spanish far-right party VOX made a documentary against Lula da Silva, a progressive leader of Brazil and candidate for the next presidential elections, with money from the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Spain.
The documentary was funded through the Disenso Foundation, created by VOX in July 2020 and of which Santiago Abascal, a far-right leader, is a lifelong patron.
In the video, which is available on Internet platforms, some international far-right figures question Lula and the Sao Paulo Forum, a front for Latin American organizations from different currents of the left.
In the Forum it is possible to find social democratic organizations as well as communist and revolutionary ones.
According to the newspaper El País, Disenso has received a total of around 92,342 euros from Spanish public funds and has been one of the main beneficiaries of the Ministry of Culture and Sport.
The documentary features figures from different countries criticizing left-wing organizations that promote values of equality and, in particular, attacking Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, who will run against Jair Bolsonaro for the presidency on October 2.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the current president and deputy for Sao Paulo, plays a prominent role in the documentary, stating that Lula is the protagonist of the biggest corruption scandal in the country's history.
Health officials in Rockland County, New York, confirmed Thursday the first case of polio in the U.S. in nearly a decade after one of its residents tested positive for the viral disease.
Given the situation, the New York State Department of Health He urged residents to be extra vigilant, and for doctors and health care providers to be on the lookout for additional cases.
Because the polio vaccine remains included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) standard childhood immunization schedule, those who are already vaccinated are considered to be at lower risk.
In particular, the polio vaccine is part of the compulsory school vaccination programme for all children and therefore those of school age are vaccinated before starting school.
However, people who are not vaccinated, including those who are pregnant, those who have not completed their polio vaccination series previously or community members who are concerned about having been exposed, should be vaccinated, the health authority said in a statement.
He added that those who are already vaccinated but are at risk of exposure should receive a booster shot.
“Based on what we know about this case and polio in general, the Department of Health strongly recommends that unvaccinated individuals get vaccinated or boosted with the FDA-approved IPV polio vaccine as soon as possible,” said state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett.
"The polio vaccine is safe and effective, protects against this potentially debilitating disease, and has been part of the backbone of routine required childhood immunizations recommended by health officials and public health agencies across the country," he stressed.
In this case, sequencing performed by the Wadsworth Center, the New York State Department of Health's public health laboratory, and confirmed by CDC, showed Sabin virus type 2 reversed polio.
This, they said, is indicative of a chain of transmission from an individual who received the oral polio vaccine (OPV), which is no longer authorized or administered in the U.S., to one who is not vaccinated.
In the US, only the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) has been administered since 2000.
Therefore, the virus may have originated from a location outside the U.S. where OPV is administered, as reversed strains cannot arise from inactivated vaccines.
Poliomyelitis, what is it and how is it transmitted?
As a viral disease that can affect the nervous system and cause muscle weakness, the polio virus usually enters the body through the mouth, and from hands contaminated with fecal matter from an infected person. Respiratory and mouth-to-mouth transmission can also occur through saliva.
Polio is highly contagious and a person can spread the virus even if they are not sick. Symptoms, which can be mild and flu-like – fatigue, fever, headache, stiffness, muscle pain, vomiting – can take up to 30 days to appear, during which time an infected person can transmit the virus to others.
Although rare, some cases of polio can cause paralysis or death.
CDC recommends that children receive four doses of polio vaccine.
They should receive one dose at each of the following ages:
2 months old
4 months
6 to 18 months of age
4 to 6 years
“Many of you may be too young to remember polio, but when I was growing up, this disease struck fear into families, including my own,” said County Executive Ed Day. “The fact that it is still happening decades after the vaccine was created shows how relentless it is. Do the right thing for your child and the good of your community and get your child vaccinated now.”
Due to the success of the vaccine, which was introduced in 1955, and a national vaccination program, polio cases dropped dramatically in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with the last known case in the country recorded by the CDC in 2013.
“Vaccines have protected our health against old and new viruses for decades,” said Dr. Ashwin Vasan, New York City’s health commissioner. “The fact is, the urgency for safe and effective vaccines has always been there, and we need New Yorkers to protect themselves against completely preventable viruses like polio.”
Farmworkers in San Mateo County will soon be able to access health care resources via a double-decker bus, thanks to a new program launched by local advocacy groups and backed by major life sciences companies like Genentech.
Launching in September, the Farmworker Equity Express program will be equipped with computers and internet to help farmworkers connect virtually with health care providers, mental health resources, online tutoring and adult classes in community college programs.
Belinda Hernández-Arriaga, executive director of the Latino advocacy group Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS), said she and her team saw firsthand how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated obstacles farmworkers already faced when trying to obtain basic resources.
"There is a medical clinic here in the community, but the farmworkers are so hard-working that many of them don't take the time to go, or they have transportation issues, or they don't want to miss work out of concern for job loss," Hernandez-Arriaga said in an interview.
"The privilege of how others have access to health care is not the same in many ways for farmworkers."
Community access to mental health care is an especially overlooked challenge, said Joaquin Jimenez, director of ALAS’ farmworker outreach and program.
“Bringing mental health to the forums has always been a goal,” Jimenez said. “Two ALAS doctors visit the farms during the week and do activities and counseling, but farmworkers also come to our office. This bus will provide a conference room for doctors to meet with farmworkers and their families, and it also has two soundproof areas for mental health via telehealth.”
The organization pitched the idea of a resource-on-wheels program to Life Science Cares Bay Area, a coalition of life sciences companies looking to give back to the community, and together they secured the funding to make it a reality.
The Gilead Foundation was a major donor, and AbbVie Inc. also contributed. Biotechnology company Genentech donated its time and expertise to design a double-decker bus suitable for the project, similar to the buses they operate for their daily commuters.
Now, instead of having to take time off work to go to the doctor's office, or avoid care altogether due to lack of insurance, farmworkers can visit a bus parked right outside their workplace.
ALAS already works with about 20 farms in the county to provide services to farmworkers, and the organization hopes to map out a weekly schedule of where the bus will be and when as September approaches.
“The Farmworker Equity Express bus is the result of the power of nonprofits and biotech companies coming together and turning ideas into reality,” Hernandez-Arriaga said.
It cost approximately $250,000 to purchase the bus and turn it into a resource center, and the organization is now seeking more donors to keep the project sustainable and long-term.
In this regard, Hernández-Arriaga calls on other life sciences companies in Silicon Valley to support the project and be an example of what partnerships between companies and non-profit organizations can look like.
“We’ve heard all around how impactful this can be for others, for other communities and for the entire country. This can be a game-changer for other farmworker communities, so we’re hoping to continue to build that funding stream for this,” Hernandez-Arriaga said.
ALAS will also be hosting community information sessions to provide more information about the Equity Express Farm Bus on August 10, 17, 24, and 31 from 5-7 p.m. in the Half Moon Bay Library Community Room, located at 620 Correas St.
On Thursday morning, President Joseph Biden tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said in a statement, after the president's physician, Kevin C. O'Connor, sent a letter with the test results.
"This morning, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is fully vaccinated, twice boosted, and experiencing very mild symptoms. He has begun taking Paxlovid," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
This would be the first time that the 79-year-old US president has tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, two and a half years into the pandemic and after receiving all his doses of the vaccine against the disease.
In accordance with CDC guidelines, Biden will self-isolate at the White House and continue to perform all of his duties during that time. “He has been in contact with members of the White House staff by phone this morning and will participate in his planned meetings by phone and Zoom from the residence.”
Thus, in accordance with the White House protocol for positive COVID cases, which goes beyond CDC guidance, he will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative. Once the results indicate that he no longer has the disease, he will return to his activities in person.
Jean-Pierre detailed that “in the spirit of transparency, the White House will provide a daily update on the President’s status as he continues to perform all duties of the office while in isolation.”
As per standard protocol for any positive case in the President's residence, the White House Medical Unit will inform all of the President's close contacts throughout the day, including members of Congress and the press who interacted with him during yesterday's trip.
The president's last previous test for COVID was on Tuesday, when he had a negative result.
It is worth noting that, due to the president's age, the CDC specifies that this group of people need to have two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and two boosters, to prevent the disease from becoming complicated and causing severe symptoms, hospitalization and/or death.
Regarding the treatment that the president is already taking, Paxlovid is an oral antiretroviral drug from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer ‒ a combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir tablets ‒ that is strongly recommended for patients with non-severe forms of COVID-19 who are at high risk of progressing to severe forms of the disease and being hospitalized, such as unvaccinated, elderly, or immunosuppressed patients.
The drug has emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and requires a prescription.
The Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Center in San Mateo County, which is operated by StarVista, began receiving calls to the number 988 this week, as part of the national network for responding to this type of event.
Local callers to 988 will receive free, confidential support 24/7 through the StarVista Crisis Center hotline program.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) called 988 a first step toward a transformed crisis care system in the United States.
If you are a San Mateo County resident without a 650 area code and would like to access the StarVista Crisis Center, you can call Lifeline at 650-579-0350, which remains available after the launch of 988 on July 16, 2022.
“StarVista’s Crisis Center is honored to be one of only 13 call centers in the state of California to literally answer the call for this new initiative,” said Taylor Coutts, Program Manager for StarVista’s Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Hotline.
“Our hotline team stands ready to support this initiative in this capacity and we look forward to the ways this will positively shape crisis services in our communities in the years to come,” she added.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is comprised of more than 200 state-funded and local Crisis Centers across the country. The StarVista Crisis Center is a participating call center that operates the 24/7 crisis hotline at 650-579-0350.
Most Lifeline calls with a 650 area code are forwarded to the StarVista Crisis Center.
With the addition of 988, the program hopes to see an increase in calls to its center.
StarVista is a nonprofit agency that provides high-impact services through counseling, case management, skills development, and crisis prevention to children, youth, adults, and families.
StarVista Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention Center provides suicide intervention services and programs for San Mateo County residents, including a 24-hour crisis hotline, a mobile youth crisis response team, online and text-based crisis support for teens, and educational presentations for the community and schools.
Un estudio realizado por investigadores de varios países a lo largo de 30 años, reveló que el consumo moderado de alcohol en mayores de 40 años es benéfico para la salud, sin embargo, en general, este recalca que, pese a los descubrimientos, su ingesta se desaconseja por completo.
De acuerdo con el análisis, publicado por la revista científica The Lancet, un grupo de investigadores se dio a la tarea de analizar los efectos del alcohol entre personas de 15 y 95 años a partir del estudio de la Carga Global de Enfermedades.
Este estudio sobre los efectos del alcohol no se ha hecho a la ligera pues se han tomado datos de personas de 204 países desde 1990 a 2020.
Dentro de los análisis realizados se tomaron 22 indicadores de salud que van desde las enfermedades cardiovasculares, el cáncer y accidentes de tráfico.
Los resultados del estudio, si bien no son del todo positivos, si son alentadores en lo que respecta al consumo moderado de una a dos copas de vino para algunos miembros de la población de los 40 años en adelante, los cuales podrían obtener algunos beneficios sobre su salud.
Lo anterior, según el artículo, se debería a que el etanol ‒principal ingrediente de bebidas alcohólicas‒, incrementa la producción de colesterol bueno en el entodelio ‒tejido que tapiza el interior de venas y arterias‒, lo cual podría ser beneficioso ante enfermedades cardiovasculares o diabetes tipo 2.
Los grupos de personas que podrían verse beneficiados por este exhaustivo análisis son hombres de entre 40 y 64 años consumiendo un total de 1.69 copas de vino y en mujeres un 1.89.
Sin embargo, al aumentar la edad, en mayores de 65 años, aumenta el margen de consumo pudiendo llegar en hombres hasta un total de 3.19 copas de vino y en mujeres hasta un 3.51.
Pese a lo anterior, este resalta la importancia del consumo del alcohol relacionado con la pérdida de la salud por enfermedades como la cirrosis hepática, el cáncer de mama y la tuberculosis. Por lo cual se desaconseja por completo su ingesta.
Además, recalca el estudio, los riesgos por la carga del consumo de alcohol varían según la región y edad.
Cabe resaltar que, si bien el consumo del alcohol se remonta a unos 10 millones de años atrás, los percances de su consumo sobre la salud también lo son, pues tan sólo en 2020 la ingesta de estas bebidas fue responsable de 78 millones de muertes en el mundo y el principal factor de riesgo de mortalidad entre los varones de 15 a 49 años, menciona el estudio.
Discrimination against older adults is on the rise around the world. From anti-aging creams to criticism of those who hold public office due to their age, the need to reflect on the impact that these prejudices have on the daily lives of this population is becoming increasingly evident.
93 percent of older adults between the ages of 50 and 80 have experienced discrimination due to their age, as this not only occurs in the form of being forced to retire or withdraw from certain activities but also in their daily lives.
“Birthday cards with jokes about aging, anti-aging products, comments like ‘you look so good for your age’ or people assuming that all older adults have memory problems or hearing loss,” said Jullie Allen, an assistant professor of health promotion at the University of Oklahoma, are all forms of what she calls “everyday ageism.”
In a panel organized by Etnic Media Services, the expert highlighted that in addition to the obvious impact on the mental health of this sector, age discrimination also affects physical health, as there is an acceleration of aging due to the stress suffered by older adults, increasing the risk of suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart problems and even premature death.
Loneliness, depression and chronic illnesses are part of the stereotypes of aging that cause older adults not to receive or seek specialized medical care, since these conditions are seen as something "normal" in relation to their age.
"Older adults receive lower quality health care than younger people," Allen said, because individual health providers' decisions about what types of situations are worthwhile for treatment are based on an individual's age, denying this segment of the population procedures such as organ transplants.
However, older adults are not only excluded from basic activities or work, but their mental and physical capacity to hold public office is also questioned, using stereotypes of this sector as an indicator to decide whether or not they should be part of politics.
Paul Kleyman, national coordinator of the Network of Journalists in Generations, pointed out that Joseph Biden, President of the United States, or Dianne Feinstein, US senator, should be judged based on their merits and not their age, since "age discrimination in the country affects vital sectors of our society."
Likewise, Patricia D'Antonio, vice president of policy and professional affairs for the Gerontological Society of America, pointed out that "we have to recognize that there are challenges for us as we age, but there is also accumulated wisdom that comes with age" so older people should be included in addressing those challenges.
D'Antonio stressed the importance of older adults being recognized and knowing that they continue to contribute to society and that society recognizes and supports them with wheelchairs, transportation systems, companies without age prejudices and health services.
"The number of birthday candles on your cake is simply a recognition to celebrate our years and our wisdom," said D'Antonio, who took the opportunity to highlight that intergenerational experiences make a culture much richer.
Women are the most affected by discrimination against older adults
“Women are aging in greater numbers than men,” said Louise Aronson, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2016, there were 79 men for every 100 women aged 65 or older, and although the numbers have changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are a greater number of women within the older adult population.
Aronson also said that women are not only discriminated against because of their age, but also because of their sex, which increases the complications they experience as a result.
"Women earn less money than men," she said, so they not only face the aforementioned physical and mental health problems, but also financial ones.
She also pointed out that women are more likely to age while men are more likely to die, so they are the ones who suffer from chronic diseases, disabilities and a lower quality of life.
