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WASHINGTON, DC – March, 2023 –  Three pharmaceutical companies, that manufacture 90% of the world’s insulin, have cut insulin prices. These new insulin price controls come after a recent surge in interest about the cost of insulin tripling over the past 20 years and being 10 times more than the average price in other countries. The drugmakers have been under pressure from patients, patient advocates, and elected officials to keep insulin affordable. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, has capped the monthly insulin prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries at $35 for eligible seniors, disabled people, and persons with chronic disease. However, persons younger than 65 were excluded from the cost savings. Therefore, at his 2023 State of the Union address in February, President Biden proposed that Congress pass a bill to cap the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for everyone.

By March, the 3 companies responded with insulin price cuts on some of their products and 2 of the 3 with a $35 monthly cap. The U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly will begin price cuts and a monthly cap later this year. Novo Nordisk, a Danish company, will cut prices beginning in 2024. Sanofi, a Paris-based company, announced price cuts and a monthly cap starting in 2024. Patients with high deductible health insurance and without health insurance will save a lot of money because they frequently pay the list price. However, there is no guarantee that the drug companies will not raise their insulin prices in the future.

According to the American Diabetes Association, between 8 and 9 million Americans need insulin to control their blood sugar. However, more than 1.3 million adults either skipped or had to ration doses because of the high cost. Therefore, this new policy will reduce the financial barrier to obtain these life-saving medicines.

About 37 million Americans, more than 11% of the population, have diabetes, a chronic disease. If left untreated, the blood glucose level becomes too high leading to short-term problems (like frequent urination, blurred vision and fatigue) and long-term problems (like heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, frequent infections, and nerve damage). Insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas, regulates the amount of glucose in the blood and, indirectly, controls the amount of energy available. People with type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin and must take this medicine every day. Some people with type 2 diabetes require insulin.

The price of insulin is not the only cost in managing diabetes. Diabetics who need insulin will also have to pay for other supplies like insulin pumps, testing strips, and continuous glucose monitors. The cost for these supplies can approach almost $10 thousand dollars a year, even with private health insurance.

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

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ASHEVILLE, NC  – May 31, 2023 – Last week, I saw a lot of haze whenever I looked at the mountains around Asheville and when I hiked Mount Pisgah with an out-of-town guest. That day was sunny with few clouds in the sky. Temperatures were perfect for a hike, in the high 60’s. There were hardly any people on the trail in the late afternoon. We took our time and hiked the 1.2-mile route beginning at the almost 5,000-foot trailhead and ending at the 5,721-foot peak. An observation deck at the top offered a 360-degree panoramic view of the Pisgah National Forest. Two people on the deck blamed the Alberta wildfires out west for the hazy visibility.

Wildfires produce greenhouse gases (which contribute to warming of the earth and climate change) and other air pollutants. The greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide and methane. The other air pollutants include nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and large amounts of fine particulate matter (PM). PM2.5 consists of microscopic pieces of solid or liquid droplets, 2.5 microns or less in diameter. If the smoke sinks to ground-level then a build-up of ozone can develop from the chemical reaction of some of the pollutants in the presence of sunlight.

Studies have shown that breathing air pollutants can lead to health problems. PM2.5 particles can cause premature death and heart and lung disease. Ground-level ozone can aggravate lung disease and cause breathing problems.

The fire season in western Canada has been more intense than usual. Drought and lightning strikes caused more than 100 active wildfires in the Alberta province. These have been aggravated by a heat wave. Beginning 2 weeks ago, the western Canadian wildfires sent polluted air over eastern Canada and the United States from Maine to North Carolina, traveling almost 2-thousand-miles along the jet stream. Last week, the smoke shifted to the Rocky Mountains and the Midwest.

By May 21^st, much of these areas have had air quality alerts for residents with heart and lung issues. According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, the air quality of Asheville had been in the moderate category on May 11, 15, and from the 20-25, 6 days in a row. Air quality in the moderate range is one level lower than good. There are 4 levels beneath moderate. Moderate air quality is generally safe for most people to breathe, but may affect a small number of people who already have heart and lung disease.

Persons with heart and lung problems should consider checking the air quality index report daily. In the event of moderate or worse air quality, susceptible individuals  should consider wearing a face mask, limiting outdoor activities, or staying inside.

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – May 31, 2023 – The national COVID-19 metrics are on the CDC’s COVID Dashboard. Weekly data from the week ending on May 20^th indicate:

• Hospital admissions are at a low level in every county in North Carolina and almost 100% of the counties in the U.S. Buncombe County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have decreased
• The number of weekly deaths due to COVID-19 in the U.S. has decreased by about 13%
• Emergency room visits for COVID-19 are minimal in North Carolina

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data for the week ending on May 17^th is on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard.

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is at a light blue level representing the 2^nd lowest level of 5 groups
• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample has decreased over the past 15 days.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants everyone to know that:

• COVID-19 can affect people differently. Some people have mild symptoms like a cold and others have more severe symptoms like a bad case of the flu. Some effects can be long-lasting.
• Older adults and immunocompromised people are at a higher risk of developing severe illness and being hospitalized. The CDC recommends that people in these groups get an updated COVID-19 bivalent booster because it gives added protection.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines
• For extra protection, wear an efficient medical grade mask
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home
• People with any COVID symptoms should get tested
• If you test positive, your doctor may recommend medical treatment

More and more Americans have developed some immunity to COVID-19 from immunizations and previous infection. New variants continue to infect people with the most at-risk groups more susceptible to severe illness.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

WASHINGTON, DC – May 16, 2023 – Researchers at the Pew Research Center wanted to know whether COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy would carry over to the rates of childhood immunizations. Their study compared vaccination beliefs before and after the COVID pandemic. They concluded that there is a growing movement of political and religious polarization and a populist belief that prioritizes parent’s rights over expert recommendations, state mandates, and the safety of other children. Vaccine hesitancy doubled for Republicans and white evangelical Protestants (from 20% to 40%) supporting parental rights to forego the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine for their school age children. These groups were more likely to be against vaccination before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CDC reported that the national vaccination rate for state-required vaccines among kindergarten students had fallen from 95% during the pre-pandemic 2019-20 school year to 93% during the 2021-22 school year in spite of a return to in-person learning. The CDC also found that the vaccination rates were high among most children, but there were lower rates in children from low resource families and those that live in rural areas. Schools usually require all students to have childhood vaccinations, although some exemptions are allowed. However, some schools relaxed their policies during the pandemic.

Many childhood diseases had almost been virtually eliminated in the U.S. due to high vaccination rates. Childhood vaccination have proven to be safe and effective for decades. However, the increase in vaccine hesitancy from the COVID pandemic with falling childhood coverage is likely to result in more childhood diseases. There has been a recent case of polio in New York. Measles spiked in the U.S. in 2019 to the highest level in years due to misinformation about the association between childhood vaccines and autism.

The polarizing reaction to COVID-19 vaccines has concerned many medical and public health professionals. Dr. Georgina Peacock, director of the CDC’s immunization division, feels that building trust in vaccinations “is something that has to happen at the local and community level.”

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, NC  – May 24, 2023 – The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America said that about one out of four adults in America reported that they had seasonal allergies in 2021. This represents about 81 million people. Exposure to pollen from trees, grass and weeds can incite allergic symptoms. In North Carolina, tree pollen season can run from February through May with an April peak; grass pollen season is from April to June with a May peak; and weed pollen is from August to November with a September peak. Western North Carolina can lag behind the rest of the state by 1-2 weeks. The dates can vary depending on the weather. Warmer weather can start the pollen seasons earlier and cooler weather can slow it down.

Pollen is a powdery substance of microspores produced by the flowers of male seed-bearing plants that can be transported by wind, birds, insects or water to fertilize female seed-bearing plants. The pollen is so light that it can stay in the air for a long time until it rains and causes the pollen to fall to the ground. The proteinaceous part of the pollen grains can induce an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals. The symptoms include: nasal stuffiness, runny nose, watery eyes, itching of throat and eyes, sneezing, and wheezing. Pollen can also aggravate asthma with coughing and wheezing.

The warmer temperatures associated with climate change can aggravate seasonal allergies from longer spring and fall seasons. 2 researchers, from the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan, published an article in Nature Communications in March 2022, reporting that pollen season was about 20 days longer in North America in 2021 than in 1990 and that pollen concentrations were about 20% greater. Plants feed off of carbon dioxide and produce more pollen as atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, a prominent greenhouse gas in the earth’s atmosphere that traps heat, increase from the burning of fossil fuels.

It is important for susceptible persons to know which type of pollen causes their allergic symptoms. They need to be aware of the daily pollen count for the offending agent. When the pollen count is high, consider wearing a face mask when going outdoors or avoid going outside. Natural treatment can consist of washing out the nose with saline solution after pollen exposure. Bathing will also remove surface pollen. Many people rely on allergy medicines like steroid nasal sprays and anti-histamines. It might be a good idea to contact your doctor and make a plan to relieve those nasty symptoms from seasonal allergies.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – May 24, 2023 – The U.S. public health emergency for COVID-19 infection ended on May 11^th even though the virus is still here. However, more and more Americans have developed some immunity to this disease from immunizations and previous infection. New variants continue to infect people with the most at-risk groups more susceptible to severe illness.

The end of the public health emergency signifies changes in data reporting by the federal and state government. Both websites will tabulate data for COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths, emergency department visits and wastewater evaluation. Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks in a community because the wastewater trends have historically mirrored the case counts.

The national COVID-19 metrics are on the CDC’s COVID Dashboard. Data from the week ending on May 13^th indicate:

• Hospital admissions are at a low level in every county in North Carolina and almost 99% of the counties in the U.S. Buncombe County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have decreased from last week.
• The number of weekly deaths due to COVID-19 in the U.S. has decreased by 11.8% from the previous week.
• Emergency room visits for COVID-19 are minimal in North Carolina

Buncombe County COVID-19 metrics are on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard. The Buncombe County wastewater data for the week ending on May 10^th indicate that:

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is at a light blue level representing the 2^nd out of 5 groups, where the 1^st group is the lowest level of virus and the 5^th group is the highest level of virus
• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample has decreased by 10-99% over the past 15 days.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants everyone to know that:

• COVID-19 can affect different people differently. Some people have mild symptoms like a cold and others have more severe symptoms like a bad case of the flu. It can harm other parts of the body too. Some effects can be long-lasting.
• Older adults and immunocompromised people are at a higher risk of developing severe illness and being hospitalized. The CDC recommends that people in these groups get an updated COVID-19 bivalent booster because it gives the best protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death from the new variants.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines
• For extra protection, wear an efficient medical grade mask
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home
• People with any COVID symptoms should get tested
• If you test positive, see your doctor because your doctor may recommend medical treatment

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour