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Though US flu activity is still low, markers such as test positivity and emergency department (ED) visits show more rises, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly update. In its monitoring of outpatient visits for flulike illness, Louisiana and the District of Columbia are at the high and very high level, respectively, with Georgia and Arizona at the lower tier of the high level. Most detections are influenza A, and subtyping last week at public health labs shows nearly 62% of influenza A viruses were H3N2 and 36% were 2009 H1N1. Nationally, outpatient visits are highest in the youngest children, followed by patients ages 5 to 24 years old. (Schnirring, 12/6)

To produce the best of the best, the Navy’s elite TOPGUN flying school puts fighter pilots through a crucible of intense, aerial dogfighting maneuvers under crushing G forces. But behind the high-speed Hollywood heroics that the school is famous for, the Navy has grown concerned that the extreme flying may also be producing something else: brain injuries. This fall, the Navy quietly began a confidential project, code-named Project Odin’s Eye, to try to find out. (Philipps, 12/8)

In 2018, Matt Christensen kicked heroin by replacing drugs with drinking. When he stopped drinking in 2022, he turned to food. He put on 95 pounds. His doctor recommended he try Wegovy, part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, to help him lose weight. Eventually he switched to a different drug called Zepbound, which targets both GLP-1 and GIP agonists. The drugs worked. ... His cravings for food had diminished but so had his cravings for drugs and alcohol. (O’Neill, 12/7)

The mosquito-borne disease chikungunya has a higher global burden than previously estimated, an international team of researchers reports in BMJ Global Health. The analysis concludes that between 2011 and 2020, there were 18.7 million chikungunya cases in 110 countries, costing the world nearly $50 billion over the decade. (Blakemore, 12/7)

Drinking enough water daily can help you lose weight and prevent kidney stones, according to an analysis led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). What’s more, adequate hydration can prevent migraines, headaches, and urinary tract infections (UTIs); and control diabetes, blood glucose levels, and low blood pressure. The team’s systematic review of 18 randomized controlled trials was published Nov. 25 in the journal JAMA Network Open. (Leake, 12/7)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Resources Are Expanding For Older Adults On Their Own

Jeff Kromrey, 69, will sit down with his daughter the next time she visits and show her how to access his online accounts if he has an unexpected health crisis. Gayle Williams-Brett, 69, plans to tackle a project she’s been putting off for months: organizing all her financial information. Michael Davis, 71, is going to draft a living will and ask a close friend to be his health care surrogate and executor of his estate. These seniors have been inspired to take these and other actions by an innovative course for such “solo agers”: Aging Alone Together, offered by Dorot, a social services agency in New York City. (Graham, 12/9)