In the News: Zika

Zika is the fastest-growing global health issue today. It seemed to spring out of nowhere less than a year ago, and now we have daily news reports of its far-reaching effects.

​Additionally, due to the growing concerns of Zika causing microencephaly in newborns, the disease has touched off a firestorm of controversy regarding birth control and abortion, as well as healthcare decisions about how to prevent its spread.  As of this writing, here is some of the latest information on its effect worldwide. 

Countries that have active Zika virus transmission. Source: CDC

• A Trail of Zika-Borne Anguish (photos) 
  
  
• ​Sexual Transmission of Zika More Common than Previously Believed
  
  
• ​Zika Awakens Debate Over Legal and Safe Abortion in Latin America
  
  
• ​Zika Vaccine Still Years Away, Says WHO
  ​
• Zika Virus Now Linked to Autoimmune Neurologic Conditions
  ​
• ​New Paper-Based Test Can Diagnose Zika in Hours

---

"In reality, women in many Latin American countries have almost as little control over their bodies as they do the weather. They are subject to rampant sexual violence, have received little or no sex education and may have limited access to birth control. When they do get pregnant, abortion is illegal in most countries...”
-- From LA Times Editorial, "With No Reproductive Rights, Many Latin American Women at Mercy of Zika Virus"

---

Flickr/James Cridland

Lancet Study: Number of Adults with Diabetes has Quadrupled Worldwide

Since 1980, the number of adults with diabetes worldwide has quadrupled from 108 million to 422 million in 2014, according to a recent study published in The Lancet.

Find out who is most affected, and which 5 countries have over half of all adults with diabetes. 

---

Flickr/L.Whittaker

These Will Be the Oldest Populations by 2050

Over the next 35 years, the global tally of people over age 60 will grow to 2.1 billion.

​In the six countries aging most rapidly, only Japan — already the world's oldest population — seems to be thinking of how to care for its elderly. Find out the best - and worst - countries in which to grow old. 

Flickr/Futurilla

Why Some Indigenous Cultures 
Don't Have Back Pain 

Nearly all Americans will experience back pain at some point. But in certain cultures, back pain is virtually nonexistent. A curious acupuncturist set out to learn why.

​ Here's the primary startling difference she found - and what you can do to alleviate (or prevent) back pain. 

---

Could This "Drinkable Book" Provide Clean Water to the Developing World? 

Pour untreated water over a page from the book and silver nanoparticles embedded in it will kill nearly 100 percent of disease-causing bacteria.