Researchers have analyzed cause-of-death data for 24 countries, uncovering the extensive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life expectancy. The study reveals sharp declines in life expectancy across most countries in 2020 and 2021, driven by both direct and indirect effects of the pandemic. In 2020, life expectancy fell in all but four of the 24 countries studied, with the United States experiencing the steepest decline of 2.1 years for males. The downward trend continued into 2021, with females in Bulgaria and males in Latvia suffering losses exceeding two years. Japan and South Korea emerged as notable exceptions, experiencing only minimal declines during this period. “This study explores the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality across the world and highlights that life expectancy losses had still not returned to pre-pandemic levels in several countries by 2022,” noted Antonino Polizzi, lead author and student at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science. Beyond COVID-19-related deaths, the study found increased mortality from cardiovascular diseases significantly contributed to the decline in life expectancy. Russia and Bulgaria were particularly affected, with cardiovascular disease-related losses reaching 5.3 months in Russia in 2020 and 5.5 months in Bulgaria in 2021. These figures may reflect disruptions in prevention and treatment or undercounted COVID-19 fatalities. “The pandemic reversed years of progress in reducing cardiovascular deaths in several countries, which constituted one of the largest sources of gains in life expectancy over the period 2015–2019. These losses continued through 2022,” noted Professor Jennifer Dowd, Deputy Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science. Substance abuse and mental health-related causes also surged in certain regions. The United States and Canada saw significant increases in drug-related deaths, contributing to their life expectancy declines. Latvia faced notable alcohol-related mortality, while suicide and accident mortality typically declined during the pandemic years. However, Japan’s females experienced comparatively large losses from suicide mortality in 2020. Despite the many challenges highlighted in the study, there was some encouraging news regarding cancer mortality. In most countries, deaths from cancer continued to decline during the pandemic. This indicates that the disruptions to cancer care, such as screenings or treatments, may not have been as severe as initially feared. The researchers propose two potential reasons for this trend: The findings emphasize the need for resilient health care systems capable of maintaining care for various conditions during global crises. Addressing regional disparities and developing targeted public health interventions are critical to mitigating the broader impacts of future pandemics. “This study highlights the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacted other causes of death, and the need to analyze different diseases and causes of death in a post-pandemic context to identify factors that can improve global health care systems,” said Dr. José Manuel Aburto, a co-author and demographer. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant and lasting effect on global life expectancy, undoing progress made in areas like reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and other preventable conditions. Many countries saw increases in mortality, not just from COVID-19 itself, but also from related issues like delayed medical care and worsening health conditions. This setback has reversed years of health improvements, highlighting vulnerabilities in global health systems. By studying these changes and understanding the factors behind them, policymakers and health authorities can learn valuable lessons. This analysis emphasizes the importance of creating healthcare systems that are both robust – able to handle emergencies – and equitable – ensuring all populations have access to care during a crisis. The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus. —– Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates. Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com. —–
The Powerball jackpot is worth an estimated $88 million for Saturday’s drawing. If someone wins Saturday’s jackpot, they could take home $40.2 million after taxes, according to the lottery. On Dec. 7, the winning $256 million ticket was sold in New York, resetting the jackpot back to $20 million. In October, a lucky player in Georgia won the $478 million jackpot, and in August, a lucky California player won a $44.3 million Powerball jackpot. The week before, a Pennsylvania player won the $213.8 million jackpot. Here are the winning Powerball numbers for the Saturday, Dec. 21 drawing. Holiday deals:Shop this season’s top products and sales curated by our editors. Lottery News:Did anyone win the Mega Millions drawing last night? $944M lottery jackpot up for grabs The winning numbers for the Powerball drawing on Saturday, Dec. 21 will be posted here once the results are released. Winning lottery numbers are sponsored by Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY network. Keep those tickets handy. Once the Powerball releases the results, all winners will be posted here. To find the full list of previous Powerball winners, click the link to the lottery’s website. In order to purchase a $2 Powerball ticket, you’ll have to visit your local convenience store, gas station or grocery store − and in a handful of states, you can purchase tickets online. To play, you will need to pick six numbers in total to mark on your ticket. Five numbers will be white balls ranging from numbers 1 to 69. The Powerball is red and one number which is between 1 and 26. If you want to increase your chances of winning, you can add a “Power Play” for $1 which increases the winnings for all non-jackpot prizes. This addition can multiply winnings by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, or 10X. Players can also ask a cashier for a “Quick Pick” where a cashier will give you computer-generated numbers on a printed Powerball ticket. Drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights. If there’s no jackpot winner, the cash prize will increase by millions. Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets. You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington D.C. and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer. Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. Must be 18+, 21+ in AZ and 19+ in NE. Not affiliated with any State Lottery. Gambling Problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY); 1-800-327-5050(MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-981-0023 (PR); 1-800-GAMBLER (all others). Visit jackpocket.com/tos for full terms.
Switch to the dark mode that's kinder on your eyes at night time. Switch to the light mode that's kinder on your eyes at day time. Switch to the dark mode that's kinder on your eyes at night time. Switch to the light mode that's kinder on your eyes at day time. byBrian Cantor Rosé & Bruno Mars’ “APT.” remains a bona fide YouTube smash, securing a ninth consecutive week atop the platform’s Global Music Videos and Songs Charts. The megahit collaboration stays at #1 on the Music Videos Chart, courtesy of the 61.5 million views it received during the December 13-19 tracking period. Up by nearly 4 million plays from last week’s mark, the view count actually ranks as the video’s best since the November 1-7 tracking period. Growing at this point in the run — especially given competitive impact of holiday videos — represents a major feather in the video’s cap, and a clear sign of the song’s impressive longevity. With views from other eligible uploads included, “APT.” amassed a total of 117.6 million plays during the tracking period. That yields the ninth straight week at #1 on the Songs Chart. apt.Bruno Marsrose Brian Cantor is the editor-in-chief for Headline Planet. He has been a leading reporter in the music, movie, television and sporting spaces since 2002. Brian’s reporting has been cited by major websites like BuzzFeed, Billboard, the New Yorker and The Fader — and shared by celebrities like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj. Contact Brian at brian.cantor[at]headlineplanet.com. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. Americas+1 212 318 2000 EMEA+44 20 7330 7500 Asia Pacific+65 6212 1000 Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. Americas+1 212 318 2000 EMEA+44 20 7330 7500 Asia Pacific+65 6212 1000 By Zach Williams New York has become the first state to give fashion models explicit legal protections against the unauthorized use of their digital likenesses under a law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Saturday. The Fashion Workers Act (S.B. 9832) also increases models’ leverage in negotiations with management companies while restricting the fees and expenses they can collect. Models have to give affirmative consent to renew contracts under the measure. Lawmakers will pass legislation early next year in exchange for Hochul’s approval “to clarify the duties of model management companies, and brands to ensure they engage in contract transparency” … AI-powered legal analytics, workflow tools and premium legal & business news. Log in to keep reading or access research tools.
By Eurasia Review When a volunteer supports a patient, a special and often rather unequal relationship can develop between the helper and the person receiving the help. Researchers have now investigated this relationship and offer guidance on finding the right balance. When people get sick, they often depend on family or friends to help them out. In Norway, there are also public services that usually support people who need it. “But public services or family and friends are not always enough. Volunteers and non-profit organizations are increasingly being used to provide care to the population,” says Associate Professor Gunhild Tøndel at the Department of Sociology and Political Science at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). It is not that surprising. An increasing proportion of the population are elderly people, and there are more and more people requiring care. The pressure on the public healthcare system is increasing – and on the people who are still able to work. “In the future, public services, family and social networks will increasingly struggle to meet the care needs,” said Tøndel. A lack of hands is not necessarily the main reason why volunteers are attractive helpers. There are probably things you do not really want to talk about with the people closest to you. Serious illness can cause symptoms and consequences that many people find it easier to talk about with strangers. For example, someone who becomes seriously ill may want to talk to someone who has experienced the same challenges, and some volunteers have this type of experience. Intimate disclosures, however, can create a situation that leads to an unusual and imbalanced relationship between the person helping and the person being helped. The relationship between a volunteer and a patient really shouldn’t be a friendship. “We wanted to study volunteers’ experiences, how they are supported, and at the same time how patients experience the help,” said Professor Aksel Tjora at NTNU’s Department of Sociology and Political Science. The Sociology Clinic, an independent working community of sociologists with a background from NTNU, was commissioned by the Norwegian Cancer Society to look into this. They have now presented their findings in the Norwegian Journal of Welfare Research. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with nine volunteers from the Norwegian Cancer Society’s ‘helping hands’ programme and six patients who had received help. The aim was to see how the relationship between the helper and the person receiving help developed. “The relationship involves useful assistance, but it can also create unclear expectations where one party views the relationship differently than the other,” says sociologist Maja Joner Ognedal at the Sociology Clinic. The Norwegian Cancer Society’s goal regarding the volunteers’ work is for patients to feel a greater sense of security, gain better insight into and overview of the treatment process, and feel that they are coping better with daily life. “The helping hands volunteers can be conversation partners, find solutions to practical problems, relieve relatives from the burdens of care, provide an overview of appointments related to cancer treatment, and interpret information from public institutions such as hospitals and the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration,” said the researchers. Of course, patients have different needs and may require some or all of this assistance, but one thing is clear: “During their training, the volunteers are taught that they should ‘be a volunteer – not a friend’.” How the relationship between the parties develops, however, is still far from certain. This is due to basic human nature. Being a volunteer often comes with great emotional costs, as well as taking up a lot of time. A volunteer cannot be friends with everyone they help. “Most people respond intuitively in social situations. That means our initial response is to meet our fellow human beings without reservation. But in this case, the volunteers must simultaneously balance how much of themselves they invest in the relationship,” explained Tjora. Being a volunteer often comes with great emotional costs, as well as taking up a lot of time. A volunteer simply cannot be a friend to everyone they help. There is not enough time for it, and it is easy to become burned out. That does not benefit anyone. There are not enough volunteers as it is, and we cannot afford to lose them unnecessarily. If, as a helper, you become a friend, it is not certain that you will be able to hide your emotions if you become worried or overwhelmed, and you should definitely not reveal anything like that to the patient. In addition, things do not always end well when people get sick. Are you really able to cope with losing friends all the time? The volunteer–patient relationship often came up in the conversations the researchers had with the helping hands volunteers. “A key topic that comes up all the time is the experience of having to figure out the role they should have in the volunteer–patient relationship. The helping hands volunteers in particular found this challenging at the start of their work,” said the researchers. New volunteers felt that they were having to make it up as they went along when trying to figure out where to set the boundaries. But knowing where to set these boundaries can also be difficult for cancer patients. When do you start talking to a stranger about your experiences, and about feelings that can be difficult? Some helping hands volunteers found it easy to slip into the role, while others called for clearer instructions on what the role actually involves. Both the volunteers and the patients had varying perceptions of what the relationship between them should be. Should you primarily be a friendly companion? Someone who carries out practical tasks? Or both? Here, the sociologists have some advice. “We propose the concept of ‘controlled emotional voluntariness’,” Tjora said. This concept is intended to help people find the right balance between the necessary distance and intuitive closeness in volunteer work, where a close relationship may develop between the parties. The main point is to make the volunteer organizations aware of how important it is to establish clear rules regarding the volunteers’ work. “Controlled emotional voluntariness involves an ambiguity that characterizes many volunteer roles. This is especially true where volunteers step in over lengthy periods of time to help people in difficult situations with whom they should not develop close and lasting relationships,” said Tjora. The main point is to make the volunteer organizations aware of how important it is to establish clear rules regarding the volunteers’ work. “Clear boundaries must be established. Otherwise, the volunteers may find themselves in an emotional dilemma between what they truly feel and other people’s expectations of what they should feel,” explained PhD research fellow Lina Naoroz Bråten. The Norwegian Cancer Society has developed solutions, including through its ‘helping hands’ volunteer training programme and the opportunity for volunteers to ask for guidance along the way. In addition, collaboration between a volunteer and a patient is limited to six months. According to the Norwegian Cancer Society’s guidelines, this is when a volunteer–patient relationship should end anyway. None of this provides a guarantee, but it does limit the possibility and risk of an imbalance developing in the relationship that might be problematic for both the helper and the person receiving help. Many of the volunteers would like clearer rules. “Voluntary work is inevitably emotional. But the strength and basis of the relationship must be intentional for the interaction to work. The organization must understand the balance between the necessary distance and intuitive closeness. This will help develop this type of volunteer service, including recruitment and supporting volunteers as a scarce resource,” the researchers concluded. Eurasia Review is an independent Journal that provides a venue for analysts and experts to disseminate content on a wide-range of subjects that are often overlooked or under-represented by Western dominated media. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
Drones are being raced against the clock at Delft University of Technology’s ‘Cyber Zoo’ to test the performance of neural-network-based Sounds like Iranian propaganda Dear Debashis Chakrabarti, Thank you for your interesting article. It would be very helpful if you provided us with details… North Korean forces have suffered “several hundred” casualties fighting against Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region, according to a senior… According to Ben Gvir, all that the Israeli government wants is a permanent solution to the subhumans so they have… Injustice is injustice,regardless of when it was committed i.e. in the past or in present time. The longer it remains…
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