California
America’s 15 Most Active Cities
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have created a fascinating map of the U.S. showing — down to the county level — the geographical distribution of our sloth. But we at Healthland prefer to …
Do the Chemicals That Turn Soda Brown Also Cause Cancer?
Soda is not good for you. The high-calorie, sugary drinks have been linked to obesity and a host of other health problems.
Study: National Abortion Rates Plateau, While Protests Increase
A new study from the Guttmacher Institute reports that national abortion rates remained steady between 2005 and 2008 after more than a decade-long decline that saw numbers far lower than the country’s highest recorded rate in …
Study: Asthma Hits Poor Minorities Worst in California
Asthma rates are on the rise in California, but the condition disproportionately affects low-income children and adults, according to a study [PDF] from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
The Most Dangerous Drugs? Alcohol, Heroin and Crack — in That Order
How often does life really imitate art? Let’s imagine that a writer has been commissioned to develop a comedic screenplay about the deeply serious business of how to classify and control drugs.
California’s Whooping Cough Epidemic Hits Latino Babies Hardest
An old disease, pertussis or whooping cough, reemerged this summer in California and crept into the Pacific Northwest. At least one infectious disease expert explained the epidemic by calling the region the “epicenter of vaccine …
7 Tips for California: How to Make Legalizing Marijuana Smart
However residents of California vote next week on Prop 19, the state’s marijuana-legalization initiative, polling among young people shows that they overwhelmingly favor a change in marijuana law — so it’s likely that the …
The Marijuana Number That Was Too Good to Check
Over the last few years, supporters and opponents of marijuana legalization have both cited the same statistic to back their cause: 60% of the profits made by violent Mexican drug lords come from marijuana. But now, it seems, …
Prop 19 Analysis: Will Marijuana Legalization Increase Use?
As California moves toward the legalization of marijuana — next month, voters will decide on Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 — a key question remains: could the new law produce a whole …
Whooping Cough Cases May Break Record in California
With nine deaths and 4,017 illnesses reported, California is on track to break a 55-year record in pertussis, or whooping cough, infections — a highly contagious upper respiratory illness that affects children in …
Drug-Resistant Superbug Shows Up in Three U.S. States
“Superbug” sounds fun and cartoonlike, but this is serious, folks. A gene that can make many types of bacteria resistant to nearly all antibiotics doctors have at their disposal is on the loose in three states.