Opinion | Doing Away With Needle Exchange Programs Won’t Prevent Drug Use
Assaf is an epidemiologist and postdoctoral fellow researching substance use, drug-related overdose, and harm reduction. A needle exchange program, also known as a syringe services program, is a harm reduction strategy that provides clean and sterile injecting equipment to those who inject drugs. At first glance, these programs may sound radical. But the reality is, […]
9 Things Dentists Would Never, Ever Do To Their Teeth
hobo_018 via Getty Images You likely know that skipping brushing and flossing can harm your teeth, but dentists say chewing ice, using a toothbrush with too-hard bristles and biting your nails can be damaging as well. Brushing, flossing and visiting the dentist regularly — we all know the pillars of good dental hygiene. But knowing […]
Opinion | ‘Is This an Underestimate of the Harm?’: What We Heard This Week
“Is this an underestimate of the harm?” — Martin J. Landray, PhD, of the University of Oxford in England, on preprint data from the RECOVERY trial showing higher corticosteroid doses raised the risk of death in non-ventilated COVID-19 patients with hypoxia. “I was talking to some other doctors about it online, and there was a […]
Police Attitudes on Naloxone Use for Overdose Improved With Pharmacists’ Help
LAS VEGAS — After pharmacists in one Tennessee county trained police officers on harm reduction and opioid overdose, police attitudes, such as concern and readiness to handle these situations, improved, a survey showed. Among 89 police officers who completed the survey, mean composite scores in attitude changes towards opioid overdose and use of naloxone (Narcan) […]
More Harm Reduction, Less Abstinence-Only in COVID Messaging, Experts Say
More attention to harm reduction — rather than totally abstaining from risky behaviors — would improve messaging on the COVID-19 pandemic, Amesh Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said Wednesday. “A lot of COVID-19 was abstinence-only” when it came to behavior, Adalja said during an online briefing sponsored […]
Capturing an elusive shadow: State-by-state gun ownership
Policy-makers are faced with an exceptional challenge: how to reduce harm caused by firearms while maintaining citizens’ right to bear arms and protect themselves. This is especially true as the Supreme Court has hobbled New York State regulations restricting who can carry a concealed weapon. While meaningful legislation requires an understanding of how access to […]
More alcohol, less brain: Association begins with an average of just one drink a day
Even light-to-moderate drinking is associated with harm to the brain, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed data from more than 36,000 adults that found a link between drinking and reduced brain volume that begins at an average consumption level of less than one alcohol unit a day — the equivalent of about half a […]
Hopeful Dads Can Relax About COVID Vax: No Link to Infertility
Researchers of a recent study looking at whether the authorized COVID-19 vaccines harm male fertility were deluged with hundreds of emails from freaked-out men and their worried partners leading up to publication. Now, the findings from 45 vaccinated men are in: none showed any significant signs of lower sperm counts after getting their shots. It’s […]
Clearing the Hurdles to Safe Injection Facilities
Rhode Island authorized the first ever safe injection facilities (SIFs) or “harm reduction centers” in the U.S. last week, but many states still face an uphill battle to opening their own sites. The bill calls for launching a two-year pilot program which would permit harm reduction centers or SIFs to serve as a community resource, […]