Weight loss surgeries for teens and kids on the rise

As obesity becomes more common in children and teenagers, more physicians are recommending weight loss surgeries. According to a recent article, the number of surgeries jumped to 19% from 2020 to 2021. Also contributing are the recent updated guidelines for obesity treatment, the first in 15 years. Experts now encourage surgery as part of the treatment plan for obese adolescents.

Emotional effects of a hysterectomy

Women who undergo a hysterectomy will likely experience a wide variety of symptoms. They may become stressed and depressed because they lose the ability to have a child. They also will likely experience heavy mood swings depending on the type of hysterectomy. If the uterus and both ovaries are removed, she will then undergo menopause. Experts advise having a support system to help deal with these changes.

Tick bite risk

Experts say Lyme disease transmission is low if the tick is removed within 24 hours. The bacteria that cause Lyme disease, borrelia burgdorferi, lives in the mid-gut of the tick, not in the salivary glands. The tick needs chemical compounds in blood to activate the bacteria. Ticks “transmit a greater diversity of pathogens than any other vector," Jonathan Oliver, PhD, a public health entomologist at the University of Minnesota said in an interview. “If a tick attached long enough, it will eventually transmit whatever diseases it is carrying."