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This working group is focused on discussions about health.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about health.

Members

jonber37 Kathy Gilbeaux Lisa Stelly Thomas mdmcdonald MDMcDonald_me_com

Email address for group

health-tx@m.resiliencesystem.org

Mental Health was Hurricane Harvey’s Greatest Toll, First of its Kind Registry Finds

           

Harris County Public Health Martha Marquez, from left, Mac McClendon and Dr. Umair A. Shah, talk with Hurricane Harvey victim Juan Cazares in the Aldine community Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Houston. The assessments of became part of a recently released report.  Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Hurricane Harvey Registry - Initial Report - February 2019 (20 page .PDF report)

houstonchronicle.com - by Todd Ackerman - February 21, 2019

Hurricane Harvey’s greatest lingering toll was on Houstonians’ mental health, according to initial findings from a first-of-its-kind registry that surveyed people about the 2017 storm’s impact on their lives.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to the registry, modeled on the one created in the aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, reported intrusive or unintended thoughts about the hurricane and its resulting flooding. That was a higher rate than physical symptoms reported by respondents.

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Report: Texas Coal Power Plants Leaching Toxic Pollutants Into Groundwater

           

An Environmental Integrity Project examination of power company data made available for the first time in 2018 found that all (16 of 16) of the coal-fired power plants in Texas for which records are available are leaking unsafe levels of contaminants into groundwater.

Analyzing groundwater monitoring data that power companies are now required to report to the federal government, the Environmental Integrity Project found that groundwater under 16 Texas coal plants had unsafe levels of contaminants including arsenic. The pollution is linked to disposal pits for spent coal.

CLICK HERE - Groundwater Contamination from Texas Coal Ash Dumps

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Groundwater Contamination from Texas Coal Ash Dumps (70 page .PDF report)

texastribune.org - by Kiah Collier - January 17, 2019

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Federal Report Says U.S. Impacts of Climate Change are Intensifying and Will Batter Economy

           

weather.com

CLICK HERE - FOURTH NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT

bbc.com - November 23, 2018

Unchecked climate change will cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars and damage human health and quality of life, a US government report warns.

"Future risks from climate change depend... on decisions made today," the 4th National Climate Assessment says . . .

. . . But it says that projections of future catastrophe could change if society works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and "to adapt to the changes that will occur".

CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE - Climate change: Report warns of growing impact on US life

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

CLICK HERE - U.S. Should Expect Worsening Weather Disasters, New Government Climate Report Warns

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93 Percent of the World’s Children Breathe Toxic, Polluted Air Each Day

CLICK HERE - REPORT - WHO - Air pollution and child health: prescribing clean air

usatoday.com - by Doyle Rice - October 30, 2018

Nearly 2 billion children – about 93 percent of the world’s children under the age of 15 – breathe toxic, putrid air that’s so polluted it puts their health and well-being at serious risk, a new report said. 

Many of the children die: The United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 600,000 children died in 2016 from lower respiratory infections caused by dirty air . . . 

 . . . Air pollution can affect children's cognitive ability and can also trigger asthma as well as cancer. Children who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk for chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease later in life . . . 

 . . . The report said that overall, about 7 million people around the world die each year because of air pollution. In fact, one-third of the deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease stem from polluted air, the WHO said.

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Study Shows High Post-Epidemic Seroprevalence of Zika Virus in Nicaragua

           

CLICK HERE - STUDY - PNAS - Seroprevalence, risk factor, and spatial analyses of Zika virus infection after the 2016 epidemic in Managua, Nicaragua

sph.berkeley.edu - August 30, 2018

Almost half of the population of Managua, Nicaragua, is infected with Zika virus, according to a study by UC Berkeley School of Public Health researchers. Eva Harris, professor of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the School of Public Health and director of the UC Berkeley Center for Global Public Health, led the research, which was published August 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Knowing that 50 percent of the population was infected in only a three-month period during the epidemic is important because it means that another epidemic of that size and ferocity in the near future is very unlikely,” says Harris.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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Texas, Refineries Urged to Plan Storm Shutdowns to Cut Pollution

           

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Shell Deer Park Manufacturing Complex is seen in Deer Park, Texas, U.S. August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Preparing for the Next Storm (33 page .PDF report)

reuters.com - by Timothy Gardner - August 16, 2018

Texas environment regulators should coordinate shutdowns of oil refineries and other petrochemical plants during major storms to avoid big releases of air pollution like during last year’s Hurricane Harvey, a report said on Thursday.

A year ago Harvey dumped more than 60 inches (1.5 meters) of rain on southeastern Texas, halting refineries that produce a quarter of U.S. fuel and damaging infrastructure.

Texas industry, including refineries and petrochemical plants, released an extra 8.3 million pounds (3.8 million kg) of air pollutants including cancer-causing benzene, during Harvey, said the report . . . 

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UTHealth Finds Unprecedented Psychological Distress Months After Harvey

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Health and Recovery in the New Year: A County-Wide Snapshot, Institute for Health Policy, UTHealth School of Public Health, 2018 - (23 page .PDF document)

More than half of Harris County residents are still struggling

sph.uth.edu - by Hannah Rhodes - April 4, 2018

HOUSTON – Four months after Hurricane Harvey soaked the Houston area and displaced more than a third of the population, an alarming 52 percent of Harris County residents said they were still struggling to recover, according to a new report from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health.

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The rise of neglected tropical diseases in the "new Texas"

           

Fig 1. Percentage of children in poverty ages 0 to 17 by county in Texas in 2015.  Original map drawn by Dr. Melissa Nolan and Mr. Nathaniel Wolf based on data from the US Census Bureau

journals.plos.org - by Peter J. Hotez - January 18, 2018 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005581

Abstract

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Following Five Healthy Lifestyle Habits May Increase Life Expectancy by Decade or More

sciencedaily.com - April 30, 2018

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Impact of Healthy Lifestyle Factors on Life Expectancies in the US Population - https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047 - Circulation. 2018;CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047

Summary:  Maintaining five healthy habits -- eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, not drinking too much alcohol, and not smoking -- during adulthood may add more than a decade to life expectancy, according to a new study.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

CLICK HERE - These 5 healthy habits could help you live a decade longer, study suggests

CLICK HERE - Healthy lifestyle may prolong life expectancy in US adults

 

 

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Are We Ready for the Deadly Heat Waves of the Future?

           

HEAT ISLANDS  Heat claims more lives than floods, hurricanes and other weather-related disasters. How will cities cope as temperatures rise?  ULTRAFORMA/ISTOCKPHOTO

When days and nights get too hot, city dwellers are the first to run into trouble

sciencenews.org - by AIMEE CUNNINGHAM - April 3, 2018

Since 1986, the first year the National Weather Service reported data on heat-related deaths, more people in the United States have died from heat (3,979) than from any other weather-related disaster — more than floods (2,599), tornadoes (2,116) or hurricanes (1,391). Heat’s victim counts would be even higher, but unless the deceased are found with a fatal body temperature or in a hot room, the fact that heat might have been the cause is often left off of the death certificate, says Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

As greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, heat’s toll is expected to rise. Temperatures will probably keep smashing records as carbon dioxide, methane and other gases continue warming the planet. Heat waves (unusually hot weather lasting two or more days) will probably be longer, hotter and more frequent in the future.

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