Progress in containment of wildfires in Southern California as winds weaken

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Fires in the Los Angeles area have left at least 27 people deadhave destroyed more than 12,000 structures and left more than 60 square miles to ashes. The Palisades and Eaton wildfires continue this Saturday. The winds have been weakening, giving fire officials a much-deserved respite and easing some of the threats, so far. Nevertheless, The National Weather Service indicated that dangerous conditions are expected for next week. Additionally, officials noted that tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County remain under evacuation orders. Curfews remained in effect for the areas affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. For his part, heLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that civic leader Steve Soboroffformer police commissioner and advisor to the late former mayor Richard Riordan, to lead city’s rebuilding efforts after Palisades Fire as recovery director. The announcement comes a day after state lawmakers announced new proposals aimed at accelerating rebuilding and recovery efforts in Los Angeles County as thousands of people continue to be evacuated. “Steve Soboroff’s name is associated with hope,” Bass said. “It will recommend a comprehensive strategy for the city to rebuild and to accelerate the process. Accelerate is a very important word here. “We want to accelerate the return of residents, businesses, schools, non-profit organizations and parks”. He noted that no one is better prepared to create a reconstruction plan. “He knows our communities. He knows how to activate City Hall. “He has been at City Hall.” The expert said that he has a 10-point plan that will begin on his first day of servicereported CBS News. “It’s about the victims… It’s about restoring the community, because without community people are lost,” he said. To citizens criticizing the city’s actions in response to the fires, Soboroff explained the following: “If people want to get on the bus with us, let them get on. If you want to spend your time throwing embers now and next Tuesday when it’s windy doing that kind of thing, you better not get on our bus“. The mayor said she plans to sign several executive orders next week to speed up the recovery effort. “We are going to do everything we can to clear the way so that people can return home,” he said. Gavin Newsom issues order prohibiting tenant evictions The governor of California, Gavin Newsom issued an executive order preventing landlords from evicting tenants for housing survivors of the Los Angeles fires. “At a time when so many people have been suddenly displaced, we need more housing and shelter than ever,” Newsom said in a statement. “Opening your place of residence to help house those in need is not only encouraged and generous, it deserves protection.“. Although the order prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for housing one or more people displaced by the wildfires, it does not restrict them from enforcing other conditions of the lease. The governor’s office described the executive order as a temporary solution, set to expire on March 8. “These are extraordinary times,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “If you provide shelter to someone who has been affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, you should not be evicted. “To allow that to happen would be totally wrong.” California announced a series of legislative proposals aimed at helping Los Angeles County recover from the wildfires. The vast majority of the projects are aimed at protecting homeowners and renters affected by the flares that devastated an area of ​​more than 60 square miles in the last week. Keep reading:

Tourist accused of burning businesses in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, will remain detained in Missouri at least until next week

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New York – Danielle Bertothy, the Missouri tourist accused of starting a fire that consumed several businesses in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Ricoright after New Year, She will remain detained in the aforementioned state at least until Wednesday of next week.. The El Nuevo Día report this Friday indicates that the Prosecutors in the case requested, through a motion, that the woman not be allowed to leave on bailafter leaving the island a few hours after the events. The 36-year-old defendant appeared yesterday at an initial hearing in the Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. headed by Judge Noelle C. Collins. The First Alert 4 report details thatThe woman arrived in the judge’s room handcuffed and wearing a sweatshirt with the phrase “Grateful Dead”the same one she had when she was arrested the day before. Bertothy responded sparingly to the judge’s questions without showing much emotion. Bertothy was arrested at her home in St. Peters by ATF agents. Bertothy, who is represented by attorney Justin Gelfand, waived the identity hearing. Gelfand asked that the hearing to determine whether or not he will be granted bail also be held in Missouri. The Prosecutor’s Office accepted the request, so it will be held on January 22. Cocaine and a firearm are seized in Bertothy’s home The motion presented by the federal prosecutor’s office in Puerto Rico indicates that Officers who raided Bertothy’s residence confiscated cocaine and a firearm.. The motion also specifies that Although the suspect has not confessed to the facts, she told agents that she had done some things that were not typical of her.. To support her request for preventive detention, prosecutor Corinne Cordero Romo stated in the judicial text that Bertothy represents a flight risk and a danger to the community. He argued that the woman left Puerto Rico shortly after the fire after leaving the Airbnb where she was supposed to stay until December 11. “Preventive detention is appropriate here because the defendant poured gasoline and set fire to a bar, store, restaurant and hotel with approximately 20 guests the day after New Year’s, endangering the lives of numerous people before fleeing the District of Puerto Rico”, stated the federal authorities. According to the document signed by Cordero Romo, “numerous factors favor the arrest, including the nature and circumstances of the accused crime, the weight of the evidence (which includes videos of the accused with a gas container in the bar shortly before the fire and walking towards the fire where he remains until the fire is lit) and the danger to the community.” The information that investigators have indicates that on January 2, at around 9:37 am, The accused asked a friend on the island to help her find someone to pick her up in the El Combate beach area. and transfer her to the airport that same day. A driver picked her up at approximately 11:28 am. According to the authorities, Security cameras at a fast food restaurant in the aforementioned municipality captured Bertothy wearing the same shoes as the person seen starting the fire. in other surveillance material. The incident at Bar Marea began around 8:30 pm on January 1when Bertothy arrived, already drunk, at the place. The woman ordered several drinks. But When he started behaving aggressively, the owners asked him to leave, which he refused.. After being called the first time, municipal police officers escorted the woman to the Airbnb where she was staying. However, she returned to the business 20 minutes later. “This time, the accused acted more aggressively, so the police were called again.. Finally, she left alone,” Cordero Romo revealed. At around 12:25 am, when they had already closed the business, Cameras captured a woman, who would be the accused, carrying a red container used to store gasoline in a behavior that is consistent with pouring the liquid. Immediately, the fire started with the person present. The suspect is then seen walking through the Marinera restaurant on her way back to her Airbnb. Researchers also have proof that the owner of the Airbnb had provided him with a generator with gasoline and a tourist tank in response to the general blackout reported on the island on December 31. “The host identified the red gasoline container in the video as having the same characteristics as the one she gave to the defendant, and identified the person seen in the recording as the defendant,” the motion details. The owners and employees of businesses in the area were the ones who initially identified Bertothy as the cause of the fire based on the recorded images of the altercation in Bar Marea and the subsequent material from surveillance cameras. The affected establishments were: Luichy’s Seaside Hotel, Marinera Restaurant, Bar Marea and Artesanías Juavia. These are located in the PR-3301 highway. Ángel Luis Marrero Negrón, owner of the inn, rents the other three establishments. According to preliminary calculations that he provided to the media, Losses were estimated at $500,000.. Agents from the ATF (Agency for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) raided the tourist’s home on January 7. At that time, she was not arrested. The foreigner left Puerto Rico on a Southwest Airlines flight which he took from the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. He arrived in St. Louis on January 3. That day, the agents had gone to the woman’s home to interview her. Bertothy’s arrest was reported after the Puerto Rico Federal Prosecutor’s Office accused her of arson. He faces between 5 and 20 years in prison if convicted.. This case echoed among Puerto Ricans in the diaspora who, outraged, began to share the images of the events that circulated on social networks. The Puerto Rican councilor of St. Louis, Daniela Velázquez, sent a letter to the employers of the woman at HLK Agency to take disciplinary action against her in view of the seriousness of the allegations. Although the woman was suspended from her job, there are no reports so far that she has been fired from her position at … Read more

Hearing for new sentence in case of the Menéndez brothers postponed until March 20 due to fires in Los Angeles

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Los Angeles – The Los Angeles prosecutor’s office reported this Friday that The hearing to consider a new sentence in the case of brothers Erik and Lyle Menéndez will be postponed to March 20 and 21due to the devastating fires. The Postponement of the hearing, originally scheduled for January 30 and 31, “is due to the impact of the recent forest fires in the parties’ extensive preparations for the hearings,” added the brief signed by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman. This hearing, which had its first motion on November 25seeks pave the way to change convictions and prison sentences for the murder of his parents in 1989 after existing Newly discovered evidence that both were victims of child sexual abuse by their fatherJosé Menendez. Among them, a letter written by Erik Menéndez admitting to another family member that he was being abusedas well as the testimony of a worker from the father’s company who alleges that he was abused by José Menéndez. The brothers were found guilty in a second trial of the murder of Kitty and José Menéndez at his Beverly Hills home on August 20, 1989, in a controversial case in which The young people reported having suffered sexual abuse by their father. After 35 years in prison, The brothers regained public attention due to the hit Netflix series ‘Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez‘, to which was added a documentary and the commotion of a new generation that looks with different eyes at those who were previously seen as ruthless killers. Keep reading: Who are the Menéndez brothers accused of murdering their parents in 1989, whose story was recreated in “Monsters” Netflix turned the Menéndez brothers’ house into a tourist spot

Why what we understand as “normal” development in children could be wrong

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Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Due to the immense variety of components that affect the growth of a human being, it is very difficult to define something as “normal.” Item information Author, Samuel Forbes and Prerna Aneja Author’s title, The Conversation* January 14, 2025 For parents, caregivers and teachers, it is often tempting to base our understanding of a child’s development on what we believe is “normal.” We often do it without thinking, when we describe a child as “doing well” in one subject and “falling behind” in another. Whenever we make this kind of comparison, we have some kind of mental reference point in our heads: for example, a toddler should be able to climb furniture at age 2. Increasingly, child development researchers argue that the same is true in their field, the study of how behaviors and skills such as language develop. Many of the studies that claim to investigate child development, whether implicitly or explicitly, claim that their findings are universal. There may be many reasons for this. Sometimes there is a temptation to exaggerate conclusions, sometimes it can be the way readers or the media interpret the findings. The result is that what has been found in a group of children is then taken as the standard, the criterion against which future research is compared. Academic biases Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Most of the existing academic research on child development comes from Western countries. Most research on child development comes from wealthier Western countries, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and France. Chances are, if you’ve heard of childhood development milestones, they occurred in one of these countries. This is because it can be difficult to conduct basic research on child development in developing countries, as colleagues and reviewers will ask or demand comparisons with Western populations to put findings from these regions in context. Of course, without realizing it, these colleagues and reviewers have established Western children as the norm. Complex environments Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Most academic studies on child development have been carried out in developed countries, and do not take into account development in other cultures. But is it fair to make these comparisons? One of the complicated aspects of child development research is that it occurs in a cultural and social context from which it cannot be separated. But this context is often confusing. Differences in physical environment, parenting styles, location, climate, etc. interact to shape children’s growth. In addition to these differences, there are also individual variations. These can be, for example, curiosity, shyness and neurodiversity, which can frame the way a child shapes their own learning environment. Take the field of childhood motor development: the study of how children learn to move. Many parents in particular may be familiar with charts showing when they can expect their child to sit, crawl, stand and run. The existence of these graphs makes it seem quite universal, and a child’s motor development is often judged in this way. This makes sense. Early research was concerned with finding out what was normal, and it makes sense to try to support children who might be at risk of falling behind. The time and order investigated then gave rise to the norms and scales that we still use today. Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Studies have standardized the stages of development, without taking into account that the environment affects each individual differently. Is something like the timing of motor development universal? It’s easy to imagine it could be. When there are no physical or cognitive barriers, we all learn to sit and stand, so at first glance it seems fair to say that it could be. But it turns out that the context in which children develop plays a very important role even in something as seemingly universal as this. In countries and cultures where babies routinely receive firm massages from their caregivers, such as in Jamaica, motor development accelerates. It is clear that a norm developed in one culture may not translate well to another. Beyond the rules Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Many times, research has no way to incorporate key information such as the social and cultural context of the children it studies. Clearly, the problems highlighted above are not unique to motor development. In areas such as language development or social development, the cultural component is even more pressing. There is simply no way to understand these elements of child development without also understanding the context in which they take place. Each child develops within a context and, no matter how normal our own culture may seem to us, There is no objective, context-independent standard with which we can compare other children.. That is, we should accept the disorder. If we think of normal child development as something that just happens, researchers miss understanding the dynamics of development itself. But worse, educators and caregivers may not realize that development is something we can act on, and they miss the opportunity to create change. Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Each child develops uniquely, and it is through that understanding that better results are achieved. An important part of viewing child development as intertwined with culture is that it not only means collecting data from other cultures, but involving local communities and research perspectives. Understanding communities means listening to them, empowering them and giving them space to have a voice. Moving beyond a Western-centric understanding of child development will not only benefit researchers and lead to more accurate science, but will hopefully benefit everyone who works with children around the world. *This article was published on The Conversation and reproduced here under the creative commons license. Beam click here to read the original version. Samuel Forbes is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Durham and Prerna Aneja is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of East Anglia. Subscribe here to our new newsletter to receive a selection … Read more

Supreme Court upholds law that bans TikTok in the US unless it changes ownership. How will it be applied?

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Today, the US Supreme Court unanimously confirmed the federal law that bans the social network TikTok starting next Sunday, January 19, unless it is sold by its parent company based in China.. The measure maintains that the risk to national security raised by its ties to China outweighs concerns about limiting the freedom of expression of the application and its 170 million users in the United States. The decision came in the context of a unusual political upheaval by President-elect Donald Trump – who promised he could negotiate a solution – and the outgoing administration of Joe Biden, who has indicated that he will not apply the law starting Sunday, his last full day in office. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement saying that “TikTok should continue to be available to Americans,” but that national security issues should be addressed. “Given the mere fact that it is time, this administration recognizes that actions to implement the law must simply fall to the next administration, which takes office on Monday,” he added. How does this affect current users? The bipartisan law requires that ByteDance, owner of TikTok based in China, will divest the company on Sunday, a day before Trump takes office. If no sales occur, the platform used by millions of Americans will theoretically be banned. A sale does not seem imminent And while experts have said the app won’t disappear from existing users’ phones once the law goes into effect on Jan. 19, new users won’t be able to download it and updates won’t be available. That will eventually render the app inoperative, said the Department of Justice In court documents, he highlighted Associated Press. In a rapidly changing situation, It is unclear what will happen on Sunday with TikTok in the United States, as there are signs that Trump could try to keep the app available. The Biden administration has also signaled that it will not take any enforcement action on Sunday. The Justice Department had raised two key issues in defending the ban: that the Chinese government could exercise control over content that users see to influence public opinion, and that could collect sensitive data over millions of American users. In today’s ruling, the court acknowledged that national security reasons affected its analysis of whether there was a violation of freedom of expression under the First Amendment of the Constitutionand the judges focused on the issue of data collection. The high court concluded that the reasons for enacting the law are “decidedly content-agnostic” and have nothing to do with restricting certain speech. “TikTok’s scale and its susceptibility to control by foreign adversaries, coupled with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, justify differential treatment to address the government’s national security concerns,” the supreme ruling said. “The challenged provisions promote an important governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of free speech and do not substantially burden free speech more than is necessary to promote that interest,” the court added. “The anti-TikTok sentiment that led Congress to pass the law, driven by concerns about the level of control the Chinese government has over the company, has quickly dissipated in some quarters,” he said. NBC News.

Tourist accused of setting businesses on fire in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, appears in court today in Missouri; faces up to 20 years in prison

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New York – This Friday, Danielle Bertothy, the Missouri tourist suspected of starting a fire that left several in rubble business in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, shortly after New Year’smust appear at a hearing in a court of the aforementioned state to respond to the accusations that federal authorities presented against him. The arrest of Berthothy, 36, was reported yesterday in St. Peters, the city where he resides. A federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico accused the tourist of arson. As reported by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, On or about January 2 last, Bertothy maliciously damaged and destroyed, by means of fire, a building and other property furniture and real estate used in interstate and foreign commerce and in activities that affect interstate and foreign commerce. In this Thursday’s press releasefederal authorities add that the accused will be held responsible for her dangerous actions. “This defendant will be held responsible for her dangerous actions that caused significant harm and put many lives at risk“, declared W. Stephen Muldrow, head of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office, together with federal, state and local partners, will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws to bring to justice criminals who engage in violent crimes,” Muldrow added. For Christopher A. Robinson, special agent in charge of the Miami Field Division of the ATF (Agency for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), the prosecution demonstrates the commitment of that office in the fight against violence and destructive criminal behavior, whether in the United States or the territories. Bertothy is accused of using fire to destroy buildings affecting interstate commerce. The woman is scheduled for a hearing this Friday before a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. If convicted, the defendant faces a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison. and a maximum of 20 years. The federal authorities thanked the collaboration of prosecutors from the Department of Justice in Mayagüez and the Explosives and Public Security Division of the Puerto Rico Police. Ismael Cartagena, in charge of the Office of Explosives and Public Security, indicated through Facebook this Thursday that, to be effective, “investigations are not carried out in a hurry.” “The responsibility of the law and order agencies is to collect all possible evidence, corroborate information and present it to the public ministry to file charges and achieve a conviction. With this, we make true justice shine,” he said as a reflection on the course of events and the management of the authorities. El Diario is carrying out procedures to interview Cartagena as a follow-up to the coverage of the case. The accusations against the woman occurred about two weeks after the fire that occurred on highway 3301 in the El Combate sector. which affected four businesses: Luichy’s Seaside Hotel, Marinera Restaurant, Bar Marea and Artesanías Juavia. Merchants and residents of the area provided local and federal authorities with audiovisual material that allegedly implicates the woman in the crime. One of the videos shows a female, who would be the American, carrying a gallon of gasoline in the area. In another, the tourist is seen arguing with Bar Marea staff in the presence of agents. In an interview with the podcast specialized in issues about Puerto Rico, Válgame PR, this week, Ángel Luis Marrero Negrón, owner of Luichy’s Seaside Hotel, revealed that there are other videoslike one from cameras from a nearby business, which link the woman directly to the events. “That girl is walking with a container, I don’t know, because it was dark, she sprinkles something that is supposedly gasoline and takes a match, and, ‘wow.’ There you can see when the fire starts and she stares, making sure, and walks along the side of the businesses; But, I want to clarify that the coldly calculating woman waited for all the businesses to be closed,” described the interviewee. Audiovisual content began to be shared massively on social networks until reaching members of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the states, who expressed themselves with indignation. St. Louis Councilwoman of Puerto Rican origin, Daniela Velázquez, sent a letter to Bertothy’s employers to take disciplinary action against the woman in light of the seriousness of the allegations. “Your audacity to commit such a brazen act of violence during our beloved holiday season too has impacted Puerto Ricans like me in the diaspora“, Velázquez said to the senior advertising management of HLK Agency. “As a St. Louis-based company with a reputation for commitment to diversity and community impact, I am confident that they will review the situation with the seriousness it requires. “Your response will send a powerful message about living in accordance with global values ​​and communities,” he added. Shortly after, managers notified her that the employee had been suspended from her work at the company. It is not clear whether, as a result of the accusations, other actions such as dismissal would be taken. HLK argued in the statement dated January 4 that they had not yet been contacted by the authorities in Puerto Rico, but that they would be collaborating with any investigation. “We are outraged by this insensitive act and we hope that the authorities can address the matter in a timely manner,” they declared. The case has also encouraged the debate about the humiliating treatment of some tourists towards locals on the island versus the concessions of the authorities to those who visit the territory. The merchants have questioned that, despite the fact that the municipal police were alerted on at least two occasions about the bellicose and aggressive attitude of the woman, who also had verbally and physically attacked staff and customers of Bar Marea before the incident was reported. fire, they did not take her to the barracks or take her information. Supposedly, Berthothy was upset because they didn’t want to serve her any more alcoholic drinks. One of the agents who arrived at the … Read more

They use force on people who pose no threat.

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The Department of Justice conducted an investigation into Louisiana State Police’s Recurring Patterns of Excessive Use of Force during chases and arrests, concluding that his conduct violates the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. “After an exhaustive investigation, “The Department of Justice today announced its findings that the Louisiana State Police (LSP) engages in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” DOJ shared in a statement. Against people who pose no threat As drafted, the Department of Justice considers that the LSP uses unjustified force of Tasers, escalation of minor incidents and use of force against people who did not pose a threat. The findings were released two days after federal prosecutors said No charges filed for fatal 2019 arrest of African-American motorist Ronald Greene. The facts of this case occurred when officers stunned, beat and dragged Greene on the side of a roadafter a high-speed chase outside Monroe, Louisiana. AP reported. According to the same information agency, it highlighted that the state police and their chiefs ignored or concealed evidence of beatingsdeflected blame and impeded efforts to root out misconduct at the agency. As an example of the violations committed by the police, on one occasion officer hit black man 18 times with flashlight after a traffic stop. The governor disagrees Among the improvements, Louisiana Police have revised their policy on the use of force, and “has created a Use of Force Investigation Unit for cases of serious uses of force and has updated the training,” the statement dictates. “The Department is committed to working collaboratively with the state and LSP to continue strengthening these reforms.” Republican Governor Jeff Landry criticized the report as an attempt to “diminish the service and exceptionalism of the Louisiana State Police.” “We will not allow that to happen”Landry said in a statement published by the AP. “The reputation of our men and women in blue is one of respect, admiration and appreciation, and we will always stand behind them.” Keep reading:

Patient dies due to hospital error asking the wrong family about disconnecting life support

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This sounds like a nightmare, but it really happened. In summer 2021, David Wellsa 69-year-old man, arrived at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington, after an accident in which He choked on a piece of meat and fell unconscious.. What happened next is something that even in the worst horror movie you couldn’t imagine. It turns out that, due to an identification errorWells was mistaken for his roommate, Michael Beehler. The hospital contacted Beehler’s sister, Debbie Danielson, and asked if she wanted to turn off life support for who she believed was her brother, since he was supposedly with “brain death”. Without thinking too much, Debbie made the difficult decision to authorize the disconnectionbelieving he was ending his brother’s life. Debbie then organized the funeral, wrote the obituary and mourned the loss of what she thought was her loved one. But on August 14, an unexpected call shocked her. His brother Michael was alive. He receives a call from his “dead brother” “I told him, ‘You can’t be alive. You’re dead!’”Debbie remembered, completely surprised. From there, everything was chaos. The medical examiner confirmed that the body presumed dead was not Beehler’s, but Wells’. But that’s not all, since the worst of all is that Wells’s son, Shawn, did not find out about the mix-up until 2023, when the story was revealed in the media. “I have no words to describe how poorly they handled this. “I can never take that decision back,” Shawn said, devastated. And even though his father David Wells they had detected him brain deaththe family was not consulted to disconnect him, although the hospital thought so, but the call was made to the family of Michael Beehler. The incident was so serious that the Washington Department of Health investigated what happened. The hospital had not implemented a proper process to verify patient identities, resulting in this fatal error. Affected family sues Although no sanctions were imposed, the hospital said it took steps to improve its identification procedures. But the Wells family, along with Beehler and Danielsondecided to sue the hospital and other entities involved, including ambulance and funeral homedue to negligence and emotional distress. They are seeking justice for the terrible mess that changed their lives forever. For its part, the PeaceHealth hospital issued a statement in which it defended its care and explained that everything happened during the difficult days of the COVID-19 pandemicwhen hospitals were under enormous pressure. Despite this, the affected family cannot help but feel that such a serious mistake should never have happened. Keep reading:

The experts who want to redefine obesity to improve the health of millions of people around the world

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Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Experts say that people with excess body fat can still be active and healthy. Item information Author, Philippa Roxby Author’s title, BBC News, Health Correspondent January 16, 2025 A report prepared by experts from around the world warns that there is a risk of diagnosing too many people with obesity, and that a “more precise” and “nuanced” definition of this term is needed. Doctors should take into account the overall health of patients with excess fat, rather than simply measuring their body mass index (BMI), the report says. Those who suffer from chronic diseases caused by their weight should be diagnosed with “clinical obesity,” but those without health problems should be diagnosed with “preclinical obesity.” It is estimated that more than one billion people suffer from obesity worldwide, so there is a great demand for weight loss medications. The report, published in the magazine The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinologyis supported by more than 50 medical experts from around the world. New look “Obesity is a spectrum,” says Francesco Rubino, a professor at King’s College London and president of the group that carried out the research. “Some suffer from it and manage to lead a normal life, function normally.” “Others cannot walk or breathe well, or are in a wheelchair and have serious health problems.” Image source, Getty Images photo caption, There is a difference between overweight people who can be physically active and lead healthy lives and those who cannot, the report says. The report calls for “reframing” the concept of obesity to distinguish between patients with a disease and those who remain healthy but are at risk of disease in the future. Currently, in many countries, obesity is defined as having a BMI greater than 30, a measure that estimates body fat based on height and weight. Access to weight loss medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro is usually restricted to patients in this category. However, according to the report, BMI reveals nothing about a patient’s overall health, and does not distinguish between muscle and body fat or take into account the more dangerous fat around the waist and organs. Experts advocate a new model that takes into account the signs of obesity that affect the body’s organs – such as heart disease, dyspnea, type 2 diabetes or joint pain – and its detrimental impact on daily life. This indicates that obesity has become a clinical disease and needs pharmacological treatment. Image source, Getty Images photo caption, Access to weight loss medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro is often restricted to patients with a high BMI. However, people with “preclinical obesity”, instead of drugs and surgery, should be offered weight loss advice, counseling and follow-up to reduce the chances of health problems developing. Treatment may also be necessary. “Unnecessary treatment” “Obesity is a health risk; the difference is that for some it is also a disease,” Professor Rubino said. The expert added that it was sensible to redefine it to know the level of risk in a broad population, instead of the current “blurred image of obesity.” According to the report, waist-to-height ratio or direct measurement of fat, along with a detailed medical history, can provide a much clearer picture than BMI. Image source, Getty Images photo caption, BMI is not an index that gives us information about a person’s health status, the report says. Louise Baur, a childhood obesity expert at the University of Sydney who helped produce the report, says the new approach will allow obese adults and children to “receive more appropriate care”, while reducing the number of overdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. At a time when drugs that reduce body weight by up to 20% are being prescribed on a large scale, the report states that this “rethinking” of obesity “is all the more relevant” as it “improves the accuracy of diagnosis.” “Limited funding” The Royal College of Physicians of London says the report lays a solid foundation “for treating obesity with the same medical rigor and compassion as other chronic diseases.” Distinguishing between preclinical and clinical obesity would be “a vital step” and would “highlight the need to identify and intervene early,” while providing appropriate care to patients whose health was already severely affected, the college said. Many fear that pressure on healthcare budgets will mean less money for “pre-obese” patients. Jim Mann, co-director of the Edgar Center for Diabetes and Obesity Research in Otago, New Zealand, said there was likely to be an emphasis “on the needs of those defined as clinically obese” and that limited funding was “very likely” to be intended for them. Subscribe here to our new newsletter to receive a selection of our best content of the week every Friday. And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate them.

Eating processed red meat increases dementia risk, study reveals

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Although the dementia It is a disease more common in older adults or the elderly, hundreds of thousands of people are diagnosed with early dementia each year. Several factors could point to having increased risk of suffering from this disease, among which something so common in diet like red meat. The largest and most robust dementia study to date was conducted in 2023, analyzing data collected on 356,052 people under the age of 65 in the UK. The results, published by the magazine JAMA Neurology and collected by the portal ScienceAlertpointed to a series of factors, among which were elements related to the lifestyle and health. Among these factors, stood out a low socioeconomic level, social isolation, hearing impairmentstrokes, diabetes, as well as vitamin deficiency or excessive alcohol consumption. Now, new research published this January 15 in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, Neurologyemphasizes diet, particularly processed red meat, such as sausages, bologna or bacon, as a factor that multiplies the risk of developing dementia throughout life. An observational study The research, carried out jointly by the hospital network Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in the United States, concludes that Higher consumption of red meat, particularly processed red meat, is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia and poorer cognition. The researchers, led by Yuhan Li, of the Harvard University Department of Epidemiologyindicate that their objective was to examine the association between red meat intake and multiple cognitive outcomes, since previous studies had shown inconsistent associations between these two parameters. However, they detail that the research is solely observational, so a direct cause and effect relationship cannot be established. All in all, a total of 133,771 people were measured in this study over 43 years, with an average age of 49 years at the beginning of the study. Of the initial group, 11,173 people developed dementia. Swap red meat for nuts The results indicate that participants with an intake of processed red meat greater than 25% per day (approximately two slices of bacon, one and a half of bologna or a hot dog), compared to those who consumed only 10% per day, had 13% increased risk of dementia. The researchers point out that replacing red meat processed by a diet rich in nuts and legumes It was associated with a 19% lower risk of dementia in the patients analyzed. Experts, however, point out that we must also consider clinical, demographic and lifestyle factors, such as socioeconomic level and family history of dementia to assess all the results. They also insist that more research would be needed to evaluate, for example, how general these findings are in populations of diverse ethnic origins. Connect diet and brain health For Dong Wang, of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital network in Boston and one of the lead authors of the study, “dietary guidelines tend to focus on reducing the risks of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabeteswhile cognitive health is analyzed less frequently, despite being linked to these diseases,” according to a note. “We hope our results encourage greater consideration of the connection between diet and brain health,” he adds. The study defines processed red meat as bacon, hot dogs, sausages, salami, bologna and other processed meat products. While the unprocessed was set as beef, pork, lamb and hamburger. Keep reading:

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