The Dangers Of Fires, Floods, & Having Your Hair Washed

It’s a dangerous business, going out of your door… And this week’s news round-up looks at 5 reasons why that might be:

Superspreading like wildfire

Environmental health risks are a big topic these days, with our changing climate. As for wildfires? Some of the risks are obvious: burning to death or choking to death in the smoke—but even upon surviving the seemingly worst, more threats remain that themselves can still kill.

Those threats include that both burns and smoke inhalation can cause acute and chronic changes in the immune system. Specifically: changes for the worse. The mechanisms by which this happens depend on the nature of any burns received, and in the case of smoke, what exactly was in the smoke. Now, there is no kind of smoke that is healthy to inhale, but definitely some kinds are a lot worse than others, and let’s just say, people’s homes contain a lot of plastic.

Additionally, if you think someone coughing near you spreads germs, imagine how far germs can be spread by miles-high, miles-wide billowing hot air.

In short, there’s a lot going on and none of it is good, and we’ve barely had room to summarise here, so…

Read in full: Wildfires ignite infection risks by weakening the body’s immune defenses and spreading bugs in smoke

Related: What’s Lurking In Your Household Air?

A flood of diseases

*record scratch*

Environmental health risks are a big topic these days, with our changing climate. As for floods? Some of the risks are obvious: drowning to death or having your house washed away—but even upon surviving the seemingly worst, more threats remain that themselves can still kill.

Those threats include increases in deaths from infectious and parasitic diseases, and respiratory diseases in general. Simply, a place that has been waterlogged, even if it seems “safe” now, is not a healthy place to be, due to bacteria, viruses, fungi, and more. In fact, it even increases all-cause mortality, because being healthy in such a place is simply harder:

Read in full: Linked to higher mortality rates, large floods emerge as an urgent public health concern

Related: Dodging Dengue In The US

Don’t lose your head

Visiting the hairdresser is not something that most people consider a potential brush with death—your hairdresser is probably not Sweeney Todd, after all. However…

There is an issue specifically with getting your hair washed there. Backwash basins—the sink things into which one rests one’s head at a backwards tilt—create an awkward angle for the cervical vertebrae and a sudden reduction in blood flow to the brain can cause a stroke, with the risk being sufficiently notable as to have its own name in scientific literature: beauty parlor stroke syndrome (BPSS).

❝While research suggests BPSS is most likely to occur in women over 50—and previous history of narrowing or thinning of blood vessels and arthritis of the spinal column in the neck are particular risk factors—it could happen to anyone regardless of age or medical history.❞

Read in full: The hidden health risk of having your hair washed

Related: Your Stroke Survival Plan

The smartwatch wristbands that give you cancer

It’s about the PFAS content. The article doesn’t discuss cancer in detail, just mentioning the increased risk, but you can read about the link between the two in our article below.

Basically, if your smartwatch wristband is a) not silicone and b) waterproof anyway, especially if it’s stain-resistant (as most are designed to be, what with wearing it next to one’s skin all the time while exercising, and not being the sort of thing one throws in the wash), then chances are it has PFAS levels much higher than normally found in consumer goods or clothing.

You can read more about how to identify the risks, here:

Read in full: Smartwatch bands can contain high levels of toxic PFAS, study finds

Related: PFAS Exposure & Cancer: The Numbers Are High

The cows giving milk with a little extra

Bird flu (HPAI) is now not the only flu epidemic amongst cattle in the US, and not only that, but rather than “merely” colonizing the lungs and upper respiratory tracts, in this case the virus (IAV) is thriving in the mammary glands, meaning that yes, it gets dispensed into the milk, and so far scientists are simply scrambling to find better ways to vaccinate the cattle, in the hopes that the milk will not be so risky because yes, it is currently a “reservoir and transmission vector” for the virus.

There are, however, barriers to creating those vaccines:

Read in full: Unexpected viral reservoir: influenza A thrives in cattle mammary glands

Related: Cows’ Milk, Bird Flu, & You

Take care!