High-Risk Drinking: More Young Adults Are Developing Acute Liver Disease, Doctors Say, As Alcohol-Related Deaths Double

USA Today: They Were Young. They Thought They Had Time. Then They Nearly Died Of Liver Disease.
Although Rachel Martin would never deny she had a drinking problem, she figured years would pass before it would take a toll on her health. After all, she had not yet hit 40 and she had managed to eke out two years of complete sobriety about a decade ago. Even when she was drinking, she would hit the bottle hard for three weeks but then go cold turkey for a week. So when Martin started feeling off about a year and a half ago, she tried to ignore the symptoms. (Rudavsky, 2/20)

USA Today: NYU Scientists, Others Call For Taxpayer- Funded UCSF Vaping Study Probe
One of the country's best-known tobacco researchers is under fire this week after one of his federally funded vaping studies was retracted and other academics are calling for federal review of some of his other influential anti-vaping research. The retracted study, by University of California, San Francisco medical school professor Stanton Glantz and published in Journal of the American Heart Association, said vaping doubled the risk of heart attacks. It was paid for primarily by the second of two $20 million grants awarded to Glantz and UCSF in 2018 from the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration to research tobacco and e-cigarettes. (O'Donnell, 2/20)

North Carolina Health News: Duke Researchers Hope A Better Toilet Saves Lives 
University researchers are sharing more than $200 million in grant money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop small-scale sanitation systems. An estimated 4.2 billion people worldwide lack safe human waste disposal systems. (Barnes, 2/20)

NBC News: Black LGBTQ Youth, Despite High Levels Of Mental Health Issues, Receive Less Professional Care, Study Says
Black LGBTQ youth are less likely to receive mental health care than the general LGBTQ youth population despite reporting similar rates of depression and suicidal thoughts, according to a recent study. The intersection of two identities -- LGBTQ and black -- makes these young people both more at risk of developing mental health problems and less likely to have access to adequate care, according to the study. (Knox, 2/20)

ABC News: While Car Crash Fatalities Declined Slightly In 2019, NSC Says Numbers Are 'Still Unacceptable' 
For the second year in a row the number of people who died in car crashes declined in 2019, according to the National Safety Council’s preliminary estimates released on Thursday. The data showed an estimated 38,800 people died in motor vehicles on the road last year -- a 2% decrease from 2018. (Schnell, 2/20)

Kaiser Health News: Stalked By The Fear That Dementia Is Stalking You
Do I know I’m at risk for developing dementia? You bet. My father died of Alzheimer’s disease at age 72; my sister was felled by frontotemporal dementia at 58. And that’s not all: Two maternal uncles had Alzheimer’s, and my maternal grandfather may have had vascular dementia. (In his generation, it was called senility.) So what happens when I misplace a pair of eyeglasses or can’t remember the name of a movie I saw a week ago? “Now comes my turn with dementia,” I think. Then I talk myself down from that emotional cliff. (Graham, 2/21)

CBS News: Fertility Treatment IVM Could Give Cancer Patients More Options 
A 34-year-old cancer survivor has become the first patient to give birth through a rare fertility treatment. It's giving hope to women with cancer who wish to have a baby.  (Oliver, 2/20)

ABC News: Nearly 6 Million Contigo Water Bottles Recalled Over A Choking Hazard 
Nearly 6 million children's water bottles from Contigo have been recalled over a spout that poses as a choking hazard, the company announced. It is the second time the product, Contigo Kids Cleanable Water Bottles, has been recalled in recent months. (Torres, 2/20)