Trauma From Gun Violence A Long-Lasting Threat To Survivors’ Health
Children who are exposed to gun violence are more likely to smoke, drink, abuse drugs and engage in unsafe sex. In other public health news, researchers are trying to understand the effects of "culture of shaming" and how author Roald Dahl's curiosity about medicine led to a breakthrough in stroke rehabilitation.
Modern Healthcare:
Gun Violence Survivors And Witnesses Could Face Lifetime Of Trauma And Bad Health
Chicago has been pummeled with near constant gun violence this year. An estimated 3,600 shootings have taken place, on average—that's about 10 shootings a day. During the recent Halloween weekend alone, 17 people died and 41 were wounded.And while politicians and policy makers struggle to find ways to create policies to address America's violence, another related crisis is slowing growing. Most of the shootings are concentrated in impoverished communities. The virtual war zones are home to people who suffer from poor health and lower rates of insurance coverage, leaving them at a disadvantage when they are injured, either physically or tangentially, by gun violence. (Johnson, 11/5)
Stat:
Too Much Public Shaming Is Bad, But That’s Not The Real Problem In Science
A “culture of shaming” is now permeating psychology, and science in general, according to a former president of the Association for Psychological Science.In an essay in the society’s house organ, the Observer, Princeton psychologist Susan Fiske claims that the “new media” “can encourage a certain amount of uncurated, unfiltered denigration. In the most extreme examples, individuals are finding their research programs, their careers, and their personal integrity under attack.” (Oransky and Marcus, 11/4)
The Washington Post:
Roald Dahl Was Fascinated By Medicine And ‘The BFG’ Is Proof
This kind of behavior was no mere one-off for the future author of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” While Dahl is known around the world for his exuberant children’s books ... he also held a quieter, parallel fascination with medicine that spanned his entire adult life. That passion not only crept into Dahl’s fiction over the years, but even led to the writer’s making some legitimately groundbreaking contributions to the field. He led vaccination awareness campaigns and invented a medical device that was implanted in thousands of children. And when his first wife suffered a stroke, Dahl, who would have turned 100 in September, came up with a treatment whose legacy he couldn’t have foreseen. (Hingston, 11/6)
In other news, Janet Reno has died from complications related to Parkinson’s disease —
USA Today:
Janet Reno, First Female U.S. Attorney General, Dies At 78
Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, has died at age 78.Her godddaugher, Gabrielle D’Alemberte, told The Associated Press that she died early Monday from complications related to Parkinson’s disease. Reno was sworn in as the first female attorney general on March 12, 1993, under the administration of Bill Clinton. She served in the role until 2001. (Onyanga-Omara, 11/7)
