Health
'Vampire facials' at unlicensed spa likely resulted in HIV infections: CDC
Three women likely contracted HIV after receiving so-called “vampire facials” at an unlicensed spa in New Mexico, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The shocking findings would make them the first known cases of the virus being transmitted during a non-sterile cosmetic injection procedure, the CDC says.
A “vampire facial,” according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, is a procedure where blood is drawn from the arm, placed into a machine which “separates the platelets from the rest of your blood,” then is “re-injected into you (only the part of your blood that contains a high concentration of platelets).”
CLOSED NEW MEXICO SALON WHICH GAVE ‘VAMPIRE FACIALS’ LINKED TO NEW HIV CASES: OFFICIALS
The procedure is also known as “platelet-rich plasma” and is considered to be a more affordable and less invasive option than getting a facelift.
Kim Kardashian is among those to have undergone the treatment. She posted an image of her bloody face after undergoing the process in 2013 but has since come out against the procedure.
The CDC’s investigation states that a woman in her 40s tested positive for HIV while traveling abroad in 2018.
The patient reported no injection drug use, recent blood transfusions, or recent sexual contact with anyone other than her current sexual partner, who received a negative HIV test result after the patient’s diagnosis. However, the patient did report exposure to needles during a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) microneedling procedure in spring 2018 at spa A in New Mexico.
Another person tested positive for the virus during routine tests for life insurance in 2018, while a third did not find out she had HIV until last year, when hospitalized with an “AIDS-defining illness.”
CDC ISSUES HEALTH ADVISORY WARNING OF ‘ADVERSE EFFECTS’ FROM FAKE BOTOX INJECTIONS
“This investigation identified an HIV cluster associated with receipt of cosmetic injection services at an unlicensed facility that did not follow recommended infection control procedures or maintain client records,” the CDC states.
While the CDC report did not name the spa, referring to it as “Spa A,” last year a spa in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was linked to several new HIV cases and the New Mexico Department of Health reached out to its former clients stating that there was a risk they may have contracted HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C infection.
The spa, VIP Beauty Salon and Spa, closed in September 2018 after a multi-state agency “identified practices that could potentially spread blood-borne infections, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C to clients.”
In June 2022, the spa’s owner, Maria Ramos De Ruiz, pleaded guilty to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license, according to KRQE. She was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
However, the source of contamination remains unknown, the report states.
“Although the investigative team was not permitted to collect specimens from spa A, evidence from this investigation supports the likely transmission of HIV through poor infection control practices.”
Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
Health
Sleep experts sound alarm on late night screen time: How your phone could be sabotaging your rest
- More than half of Americans use their phones within an hour before bedtime, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
- Experts recommend shutting off devices earlier for better quality of sleep.
- Breaking the habit involves redesigning nighttime routines by replacing screen time with activities like reading or spending time with family.
Like many of us, Jessica Peoples has heard the warnings about excessive screen time at night. Still, she estimates spending 30 to 60 minutes on her phone before going to sleep, mostly scrolling through social media.
“Recently, I’ve been trying to limit the amount,” says Peoples, a discrimination investigator with the state of New Jersey. “I do notice that how much time I spend affects how long it takes to fall asleep.”
Over half of Americans spend time on their phones within an hour of going to sleep, according to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation. That’s the very latest we should shut off devices, experts say.
‘BED ROTTING’ IS SELF-CARE, SOME INSIST, BUT MENTAL HEALTH EXPERT SHARES WARNINGS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA TREND
The brain needs to wind down long before bedtime to get the restorative deep sleep that helps the body function, said Melissa Milanak, an associate professor at Medical University of South Carolina specializing in sleep health.
“You wouldn’t take a casserole out of the oven and stick it right in the fridge. It needs to cool down,” Milanak said. “Our brains need to do that too.”
Upending your bedtime routine may not be easy, but insufficient sleep has long been linked to anxiety, obesity and other negative outcomes. Research shows smartphones are particularly disruptive to the circadian clock that regulates sleep and other hormones.
“There are a million and one ways screens create problems with sleep,” said Lisa Strauss, a licensed psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral treatment of sleep disorders.
The brain, she said, processes electric light — not just a smartphone’s much-maligned blue light — as sunshine. That suppresses melatonin production, delaying deep sleep. Even very little bright-light exposure in bed has an impact.
IT’S NOT JUST THE LIGHT THAT KEEPS YOU UP
Of course, doomscrolling through the news, checking emails or being tempted by ever more tailored videos on social media has its own consequences.
So-called “technostress” amps you up — possibly even triggering the brain’s flight or flight response. And algorithms designed to be engaging compel many social media users to scroll longer than they intended.
“Now it’s 30 minutes later, when you wanted to watch a couple videos and fall asleep,” Milanak said.
Though much of the scientific research on online media focuses on adolescents and young adults, Strauss said most of her clients struggling with insomnia are middle-aged. “People go down these rabbit holes of videos, and more and more people are getting hooked,” she said.
HOW TO BREAK THE HABIT
The issue is not just curtailing phone use in bed, but phone use at night. That means redesigning your routine, particularly if you use your phone as a way to decompress.
It helps to create replacement behaviors that are rewarding. An obvious contender is reading a physical book (e-readers are better than phones but still cast artificial light). Milanak also suggests using that hour before bed to take a warm bath, listen to a podcast, make school lunches for the next day, spend time with family or call a relative in another time zone.
“Make a list of things you like that never get done. That’s a great time to do stuff that doesn’t involve screens,” she said. Using a notepad to write down the to-do list for the next day helps keep you from ruminating in bed.
Do those activities in another room to train yourself to associate the bed with falling asleep. If there’s no other private refuge at home, “establish a distinct microenvironment for wakefulness and sleep,” Strauss said. That could mean sitting on the other side of the bed to read, or even just turning the other way around with your feet at the headboard.
Finally, sequester the phone in another room, or at least across the room. “Environmental control can work better than will power, especially when we’re tired,” she said.
WHAT IF STOPPING DOESN’T FEEL REALISTIC?
There are ways to reduce the harm. Setting the phone on night mode at a scheduled time every day is better than nothing, as is reducing screen brightness every night. Hold the phone far from your face and at an oblique angle to minimize the strength of the light.
Minimize tempting notifications by putting the phone on do not disturb, which can be adjusted to allow calls and messages from certain people — say, an ailing parent or a kid off at university — to go through. But none of these measures give you carte blanche to look at whatever you want at night, Strauss said.
She also recommended asking yourself why checking social media has become your late-night reward.
“Think about the larger structure of the day,” she said. Everyone deserves solitary moments to relax, but “maybe be more self-indulgent earlier so you have what you need.”
Health
Handling grief on Mother's Day, plus disease-fighting foods and heart health risks
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