How not to treat your cold; Your brain on social media: CBC’s Marketplace cheat sheet

Miss something this week? Don’t panic. CBC’s Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need.

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Cold and flu season is here — but doctors say antibiotics won’t help you get better faster

Dozens of yellow capsules, neatly arranged in a pill holder.
Doctors are now more often taking a wait-and-see approach for certain conditions, including those where antibiotics used to be routinely prescribed. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

As the season for coughs and colds returns, medical experts have a reminder: antibiotics aren’t a go-to treatment for common viral respiratory infections. 

“I think that a lot of people are in the habit of still seeking antibiotics if they’re finding that their illness is prolonged or more severe, just in case,” said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.

Overprescribing — including at a patient’s request — and misuse of antibiotics is fuelling antibiotic resistance, a global health threat giving rise to superbugs that can’t be treated by first-line antibiotics. 

Saxinger says patients who are prescribed an antibiotic for an illness the drugs don’t treat can be given a false perception of their effectiveness.

“They get a prescription, it’s for a virus, but they start to get better shortly after because they’ve just peaked in their illness while this whole process was going on,” she told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of The Dose podcast.

“So there’s also a learned behaviour where people associate getting better with having had an antibiotic prescription.” Read more

Social media gets teens hooked while feeding aggression and impulsivity, and researchers think they know why

Girl watches makeup application on Instagram on a smartphone.
As kids and teens scroll on social media, their behaviour may change in both the short- and long-term. (Haven Daley/The Associated Press)

Kids who spend hours on their phones scrolling through social media are showing more aggression, depression and anxiety, say Canadian researchers.

Emma Duerden holds the Canada Research Chair in neuroscience and learning disorders at Western University, where she uses brain imaging to study the impact of social media use on children’s brains.

She and others found that screen time has fallen just slightly from the record 13 hours a day some Canadian parents reported for six- to 12-year-olds in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re seeing lots of these effects. Children are reporting high levels of depression and anxiety or aggression. It really is a thing.”

When parents said their children spend more time on screens and the grownups are stressed, then anxiety and depression scores in the kids also increase.

“Absolutely, I think this is a public health issue,” Duerden said.

Just as serotonin dips when we’re hangry — hungry and angry at the same time — screen time can also strongly influence the brain’s reward system that is key to decision-making.

“It could be that there’s an actual depletion in serotonin,” Duerden explained. “There’s this imbalance and that’s how it could be mediating aggression in children.” Read more 

Drugs like Ozempic are popular for weight loss. That’s because there’s been little other help: obesity doctors

A blue needle with the brand name "Ozempic" on the side is pictured in a man's hand.
Semaglutide, which is marketed under name brands like Ozempic, pictured here, as well as Wegovy and Rybelsus, were developed as diabetes drugs but are now widely popular as weight-loss aids. (Shutterstock)

Despite widely publicized reports of rare but severe side effects, obesity doctors say Ozempic and drugs like it have the potential to improve medical help for a chronic illness that patients have been forced for too long to try to cure on their own.

“There are still some aspects of our health-care community that say, ‘this is not important, weight loss is not important; it’s just cosmetic and you’re really not improving the health of these people,'” said Dr. Daniel Drucker, a physician-scientist whose research helped pave the way for Ozempic, one of several brand names for a drug known as semaglutide. “But now I think that argument will be laid to rest.”

Ozempic and other drugs in its class are known as glucagon-like peptides, or GLPs. Because GLPs act to stimulate insulin secretion, the first was approved for use as a diabetes drug in 2005, said Drucker, who is a senior scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

But it was actually back in the late 1990s that Drucker’s lab, as well as that of Dr. Steve Bloom in the U.K., began to publish what they’d observed in clinical trials — that patients treated with GLP medicines for their diabetes were also losing weight.

Now new data shows that semaglutide also reduces rates of heart attacks, strokes and death in people with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions. Drucker told White Coat, Black Art host Dr. Brian Goldman he believes this will “change the conversation around the importance of treating people with obesity.” Read more


What else is going on?

Here’s the 2022 list of the 10 most stolen vehicles in Ontario
Is your car one of them?

Workers at 17 No Frills stores in Ontario could strike Monday
The stores range from Aylmer to Renfrew, with most locations clustered in or near Toronto.

Housing market has gone into ‘hibernation,’ CREA says, as sales and listings decline
It’s a buyers market in B.C. and Ontario, says one economist.


Marketplace needs your help!

A table filled with multiple ingredients, including spices and sauces.
(Shutterstock/David Abrahams)

When it comes to your grocery items, have you ever found that you’re not getting the amount on the label? Does the 500 grams you were promised come out to less? Marketplace is on the case and wants to hear what grocery items may be falling short. Get in touch at marketplace@cbc.ca

A closeup of a finger pressing a touchscreen in a car.
(Shutterstock/David Abrahams/CBC)

Is new technology in your car giving you road rage? Is the touchscreen keeping your eyes off the road? We want to hear how new technology in cars is impacting your driving. Reach us at marketplace@cbc.ca

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RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

Prolific Artist, Radcliffe Bailey Dies at 54

Radcliffe Bailey

The Atlanta based artist’s body of work encompasses the Black experience in America


 

Radcliffe Bailey, the artist known for his  contributions to Black art has died. 

Bailey’s art depicted the Black experience through paintings, sculpture and mixed-media pieces. 

The artist often incorporated repurposed objects in his creations such the wooden piano keys used “Windward Coast–West Coast Slave Trade.” The display features a sequined head  sitting atop a “sea” of wooden piano keys and was featured in the Art In Common gallery in Chicago.   The gallery label describes the meaning of the piano keys. 

This piece expresses his love of music, as well as the history, culture and spirituality contained in the song. Here, the undulating keys are arranged to resemble the turbulent waters of Middle Passage.”  

In an interview with the Brooklyn Rail, the artist explained his process in selecting the materials for the 2021 piece, “Slow Blues.” 

“I used indigo, and there’s that heavy, loaded meaning behind indigo, used as a crop during slavery, and also references the blues. It’s a mixture of all that. And the piece is in a cabinet, it’s not a frame; I refer to these works as medicine cabinets. The idea was that whenever you get sick, you go to the medicine cabinet to get something to make you feel better. I refer to memory as medicine.”

Bailey was born on Nov. 25, 1968 in Bridgeton, New Jersey and was raised in Atlanta.  He received his BFA from Atlanta College of Art in 1991.  

While in college, he established himself in the art world with his early works which were inspired by the Hip-Hop culture of the 1970’s and 1980’s.  

Fans and friends took to social media to pay tribute to the renowned artist, including former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Bailey’s childhood friend.  

Bailey is survived by his wife Leslie Parks Bailey, daughter Olivia, son Coles, his father and mother Radcliffe Sr. and Brenda along with a host of family and friends.

RELATED CONTENTBlack Artist To Create Harriet Tubman Statue At Philadelphia’s City Hall Following Controversy

 

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

African-American of Ghanaian descent sworn into US Congress

An African-American of Ghanaian descent, Gabe Felix Kofi Amo, has been elected into the United States’ Congress.

He will be serving Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District and is the first black congressman to do so.

In an interview with Good Morning America, the congressman said his election to office means a whole lot to him.

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“When I look at the struggles of my parents, my dad from Ghana, my mom from Liberia, the hard work they’ve put in, my dad owning a liquor store, my mom as a nurse, it is a dramatic leap to go from that in one generation to having their son as a member of the United States’ House of Representatives,” he said.

Gabe grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and is the son of a Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants.

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He graduated from Moses Brown School in Providence, where he was President of the Student Senate and received the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s Civic Leadership Award.

At Wheaton College, Gabe received a Truman Scholarship for public service and, after graduating, received a Marshall Scholarship to study public policy at Oxford.

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He later served in the White House under Barrack Obama in the Office of Inter-Governmental Affairs as a liaison to Governors and state elected officials.

Gabe was then appointed by former Rhode Island Governor, Gina Raimondo as Director of Public Engagement and Community Affairs.

He served as Governor Raimondo’s principal advisor on outreach to businesses and labor, faith groups, local government, grassroots organizations, and communities of color.

Most recently, Gabe served as the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Inter-Governmental Affairs and Special Assistant to the President, working as President Biden’s principal liaison to mayors and local elected officials.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

Residents are sharing their favorite memories at the Palm Desert 50th Anniversary party

The City of Palm Desert celebrates its 50th anniversary with a free event called The Party in the Park.

What: The Party in the Park
When: Saturday, November 18, 2023, from 3 to 10 p.m.
Where: Palm Desert Civic Center Park, 73510 Fred Waring Dr, Palm Desert, CA 92260

Residents near and far will enjoy live music performances from soul and R&B group Rose Royce, Grammy-nominated country band Thompson Square, and local desert rock bands Brant Bjork, Fatso Jetson, and Unsound.

Organizers also highlight Coachella Valley artists Cristopher Cichocki, Pete Salcido (of Flat Black Art Supply), and Ryan Campbell, who will present onsite art installations.

All attendees will have access to Family-friendly activities, food trucks, local restaurants, and a beer & wine garden.

The event organizers are asking the public to bring copies of photographs of favorite Palm Desert memories to place on a 40-foot-tall “Tell All Board.” The board will be on display throughout the event.

What you need to know about parking:
The entrance to the Civic Center Park at San Pablo Avenue and Fred Waring Drive will close at 4 p.m. Overflow parking will be available at the College of the Desert, accessible from the Fred Waring Drive and Monterey Avenue entrances. Rideshare drop-off/pick-up and ADA parking are available via the Fred Waring Drive entrance to the Civic Center Park. Golf Carts will not be permitted in the Park during the event.

Shuttle service (including ADA) will also run continuously to and from The Shops at Palm Desert from 4 to 10 p.m. at the southeast upper-level lot between JC Penny and Buffalo Wild Wings on Monterey and Highway 111.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment