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From rolling back drug pricing policies to limiting gender-affirming care, President Donald Trump signed several health-related executive orders in the first hours of his second presidency. Here’s a roundup of the changes and what they mean.

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The creator warns viewers not to self-apply nail polish that requires a UV light to cure. In later videos, @alina.gene explains that at-home use differs from in-salon use because salon professionals have access to higher-quality chemicals that are less likely to cause reactions and that they also have proper training on how to safely apply the products.听

“I know I sound real dramatic because an allergy to gel nails or even an allergy to acrylates isn’t going to kill you, but the thing is, in the wrong situation it could prevent you from getting lifesaving medical care,” said @alina.gene . Common medical products contain acrylates, and developing this allergy can cause major issues in obtaining future medical care.听

We asked an allergist to walk us through this viral video.听

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鉁嶏笍: 麻豆女优 Health News Audience Engagement Team聽

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Después de su diagnóstico hace 10 años, Scholes controló su afección en parte tratando de consumir, o evitar, ciertos alimentos y bebidas. Pero a veces, transferir lo que sabía que tenía que hacer a sus platillos diarios era complicado y requería de tiempo.

“El hecho de tener esa información no significa que planee mis comidas con esa información todo el tiempo”, dijo Scholes.

Scholes estaba navegando por TikTok cuando vio un video que explicaba cómo se usaba para crear un plan detallado de nutrición y entrenamiento.

Ese video la interesó a ver si chatbot, un programa de inteligencia artificial entrenado para ofrecer respuestas detalladas, podría brindarle opciones de comidas adaptadas al SOP.

El control del peso y de la insulina puede ayudar a reducir el impacto de la afección. Debido a que muchas personas con SOP experimentan resistencia a la insulina, controlar sus niveles a través de la dieta es uno de los mejores pasos que se puede tomar.

Scholes comenzó preguntando a ChatGPT si sabía cuáles eran los mejores alimentos para las personas con síndrome de ovario poliquístico y resistencia a la insulina, y el chatbot le proporcionó una lista. Luego preguntó si el sistema podría darle un plan de dos semanas, con tres comidas al día, dos refrigerios y postres sin edulcorantes artificiales.

En cuestión de segundos, Scholes tenía una lista de alimentos, que luego le pidió a ChatGPT que la convirtiera en una lista de compras.

Scholes dijo que, al transformar la información en comidas planificadas, el chatbot 聽le facilitó la compra de ingredientes para una variedad de menús.

“La gran ayuda de ChatGPT no solo fue que tomó la información que ya conocía; puso esa información en un espacio tangible para mí”, dijo Scholes.

ChatGPT, desarrollada por la empresa OpenAI, se lanzó públicamente en noviembre y llegó a 100 millones de usuarios activos en enero, lo que la convirtió en .

ChatGPT está entrenada en una gran cantidad de texto de una variedad de fuentes, como Wikipedia, libros, artículos de noticias y revistas científicas. El chatbot avanzado de inteligencia artificial (IA) permite a los usuarios ingresar un mensaje de texto y recibir un resultado generado de manera inteligente, que además, permite iniciar una conversación.

Otros chatbots, como el chat de Google y , también de Microsoft, son similares a ChatGPT y pueden planificar comidas.

Algunos profesionales de salud y bienestar dicen que la capacidad de ChatGPT para tener conversaciones puede ser útil para generar planes de comidas e ideas para personas que tienen objetivos de salud y necesidades nutricionales específicas.

Scholes usando ChatGPT en un video de TikTok. Ese video ahora tiene más de 1.3 millones de visitas y una sección de comentarios colmada de preguntas sobre su experiencia.

En febrero, Jamie Askey, de Lufkin, Texas, hizo explicando cómo usar ChatGPT para generar planes gratis de comidas y listas de compras que cumplan con los objetivos de calorías y macronutrientes: los nutrientes que el cuerpo necesita, como grasas, carbohidratos y proteínas.

Askey ha hecho muchos videos desde principios de 2021 dando consejos de salud, desde recetas fáciles para preparar comidas hasta consejos sobre cómo dejar de comer compulsivamente.

Su video ahora tiene más de 13,000 visitas en TikTok, con gente agradecida por los consejos.

“Lo mejor de este sitio web es que es muy conversacional”, dijo Askey sobre ChatGPT.

A diferencia de Google y otros motores de búsqueda, los usuarios no tienen que buscar un tema a la vez. El formato de diálogo hace posible que ChatGPT siga una instrucción, brinde una respuesta detallada y responda a preguntas de seguimiento.

Los usuarios interesados en generar opciones de comidas pueden decirle a ChatGPT “Quiero que actúes como nutricionista” o “Quiero que me hagas un plan de nutrición saludable”. El chatbot luego responderá con preguntas aclaratorias para ayudar a generar un plan de comidas apropiado. Es posible que el usuario deba proporcionar información adicional, como su altura, peso, restricciones dietéticas y objetivos.

Askey, quien es enfermera y , advierte que las personas con enfermedades crónicas deben ser evaluadas por un profesional antes de usar un chatbot para planificar comidas.

“Las posibilidades son infinitas cuando le preguntas a esta máquina”, dijo Askey. “Pero tienes que pensar que no siempre es blanco y negro. Hay áreas grises y ahí es donde entra en juego el historial de salud. Ahí es donde entra en juego el historial de dietas”.

Los usuarios de ChatGPT están entusiasmados con las capacidades del programa y con la idea de que podría simplificar las tareas cotidianas.

Pero el chatbot no está exento de fallas. Un problema: los datos de entrenamiento de ChatGPT están actualizados hasta 2021, lo que significa que parte de la información que proporciona puede estar desactualizada. Para la planificación de comidas y la nutrición, el programa no puede obtener las últimas pautas de salud y bienestar, lo que puede ser particularmente problemático para las personas con ciertas afecciones de salud.

El modelo también puede generar información incorrecta, proporcionando respuestas incorrectas o malinterpretando lo que pregunta el usuario. Cuando Scholes le pidió al chatbot las comidas para dos semanas, el chatbot se detuvo en el día ocho.

Algunos usuarios también han expresado su preocupación por fallas y sesgos dentro de la tecnología que pueden afectar negativamente los tipos de respuestas que genera. En diciembre de 2022, Steven T. Piantadosi, profesor asociado de Psicología en la Universidad de California-Berkeley, publicó que destacaba los sesgos.

OpenAI, la empresa de investigación de inteligencia artificial detrás de ChatGPT, ha reconocido el potencial de sesgo dentro de la IA. Dijo en que muchas personas están ” preocupadas por los sesgos en el diseño y el impacto de los sistemas de IA”.

En esa publicación, la compañía también describió algunos de los pasos que está tomando para eliminarlos.

Scholes se pregunta si los prejuicios existentes contra ciertos tipos de personas podrían afectar sus resultados.

“Si ChatGPT se basa en algún tipo de material fóbico contra las personas con sobrepeso, y yo busco material dirigido a mujeres gordas que lidian con problemas de gordura y SOP, 驴qué tipo de sesgos ya están integrados en ese sistema?”

Para cualquiera que esté considerando usar ChatGPT para generar un plan de comidas con metas de salud, Askey recomendó siempre verificar. “La IA no es una persona”, dijo. “Entonces, siempre tienes que verificar”.

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After being diagnosed with PCOS about 10 years ago, Scholes managed her condition in part by trying to consume 鈥� or abstain from 鈥� certain foods and drinks. But at times, transferring her knowledge from her brain to her plate proved complicated and time-consuming.

“Just because I know that information doesn’t mean that I’m planning my meals with that information all the time,” Scholes said.

Scholes was scrolling through TikTok when she saw a video explaining how was used to build a detailed nutrition and workout plan. That video inspired Scholes to see if the chatbot, an artificial intelligence program trained to give a detailed response to a prompt, could give her meal options tailored to PCOS.

Weight and insulin management can help reduce the impact of PCOS. Because many people with PCOS experience insulin resistance, controlling insulin levels through diet is one of the best steps people can take to help manage the condition.

She started by asking ChatGPT if it knew what foods were best for people with PCOS and insulin resistance, and the chatbot provided a list of foods that met the criteria. Scholes followed up by asking if the system could provide a two-week meal plan that catered to PCOS and insulin resistance, consisting of three meals a day, two snacks a day, and desserts without artificial sweeteners. Within seconds, Scholes had a list of foods, which she then asked ChatGPT to turn into a grocery list.

Although Scholes already knew a lot of information ChatGPT gave her about PCOS and her diet, she said the chatbot transforming that information into planned-out meals would make it easier for her to purchase ingredients for a variety of meals in the future.

“For me, the big help that ChatGPT was, was not only did it take the information that I already knew; it put that information in, like, a tangible space for me,” said Scholes.

ChatGPT 鈥� developed by the company OpenAI 鈥� launched publicly in November and reached 100 million active users in January,

ChatGPT is trained on a large body of text from a variety of sources, such as Wikipedia, books, news articles, and scientific journals. The advanced AI chatbot allows users to enter a text prompt and receive an intelligently generated output that allows for back-and-forth conversations. Other chatbots, such as Google’s and , also from Microsoft, are similar to ChatGPT and can plan meals.

Some health and wellness professionals say ChatGPT’s ability to have conversations can be useful for generating meal plans and ideas for people who have specific health goals and dietary needs.

Scholes using ChatGPT in a TikTok video. That video now has more than 1.3 million views and a comment section flooded with questions about her experience.

In February, Jamie Askey of Lufkin, Texas, made a explaining how to use ChatGPT to generate free meal plans and grocery lists that meet goals for calories and macronutrients, which are the nutrients the body needs in large amounts, like fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. She’s made lots of videos since the beginning of 2021 giving health advice, from easy meal-prep recipes to tips for how to stop binge-eating. And as someone who helps people create meals that contain without cutting out foods people enjoy eating, she was excited about how ChatGPT could potentially ease the process of meal planning.

Her video now has more than 13,000 views on TikTok and people have thanked her in the comments for sharing the tip.

“A great thing about this website is that it’s very conversational,” Askey said of ChatGPT. “So, if you are asking it for a specific type of diet, it can give you that.”

Unlike with Google and other search engines, users do not have to search topics one at a time. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to follow an instruction in a prompt, provide a detailed response, and answer follow-up questions.

Users interested in generating meal options might tell ChatGPT “I want you to act as a dietitian” or “I want you to make me a healthy nutrition plan.” The chatbot will then respond with clarifying questions to help it generate an appropriate meal plan. The user may need to provide additional information such as their height, weight, any dietary restrictions, and goals.

Askey, a registered nurse who now works as a , warns that people with chronic illness should be evaluated by a professional before using a chatbot for meal planning.

“The possibilities are endless when you ask this machine what you’re wanting to know from a knowledge standpoint,” Askey said. “But another thing you have to think about is this is not black and white always. There are gray areas and that’s where health history comes into play. That’s where dieting history comes into play.”

ChatGPT users have boasted about the program’s capabilities and are enthused by the idea it could simplify everyday tasks. But the chatbot is not without flaws. One hitch: ChatGPT’s training data cuts off in 2021, meaning some information it provides may be outdated. For meal planning and nutrition, the program not being able to pull the latest health and wellness guidelines can be particularly troublesome for people with certain health conditions.

The model can also generate incorrect information, providing wrong answers or misunderstanding what the user is asking. When Scholes asked the chatbot for two weeks’ worth of meals, the chatbot stopped at day eight.

Some users have also expressed concerns about glitches and bias within the technology that can negatively affect the types of responses it generates. In December 2022, Steven T. Piantadosi, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California-Berkeley, posted a highlighting biases.

OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research company behind ChatGPT, has acknowledged the potential for bias within AI. It said in a that many people are “rightly worried about biases in the design and impact of AI systems.” In that post, the company also outlined some of the steps it is taking to eliminate biases.

Scholes wonders if existing biases against certain types of people could affect her results.

“If ChatGPT is built on any sort of fatphobic stuff, me looking for stuff that is geared towards women who are fat and deal with issues of fatness and PCOS and stuff, what kind of biases are built into that system already?”

For anyone considering using ChatGPT to help generate a meal plan to reach fitness and health goals, Askey said to double-check the program’s work. “AI, it’s not a person,” she said. “So, you always want to double-check.”

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Sadé Lewis of Queens, New York, has suffered migraines since she was a kid, and as she started college, they got worse. A recent change in her insurance left the 27-year-old looking for a new neurologist. That’s when she found in New York.

MedicalArts recommended that she get an electroencephalogram (EEG) and an MRI to make sure her brain was functioning properly.

An EEG is a test to measure the electrical activity of the brain. It can find changes in brain activity that can help in diagnosing conditions including epilepsy, sleep disorders, and brain tumors. During the procedure, electrodes consisting of small metal discs with attached wires are pasted onto the scalp using adhesive, or attached to an electrode cap that you wear on your head.

A little over a week before her EEG, Lewis was given instructions that she didn’t remember getting before a previous EEG appointment.

To Lewis’ surprise, patients were told to remove all hair extensions, braids, cornrows, wigs, etc. Also, she was to wash her hair with a mild shampoo the night before the appointment and not use any conditioners, hair creams, sprays, oils, or styling gels.

“The first thing I literally did was text it to my best friend, and I was, like, this is kind of anti-Black,” Lewis said. “I just feel like it creates a bunch of confusion, and it alienates patients who obviously need these procedures done.”

The restrictions could discourage people with thick, curly, and textured hair from going forward with their care. People with more permanent styles like locs 鈥� a hairstyle in which hair strands are coiled, braided, twisted, or palm-rolled to create a rope-like appearance 鈥� might be barred from getting the test done.

Kinky or curly hair textures are and susceptible to damage. As a result, people with curlier hair textures often wear protective hairstyles, such as weaves, braids, and twists, which help maintain hair length and health by keeping the ends of the hair tucked away and minimizing manipulation.

After receiving the instructions, Lewis scoured the internet and social media channels to see if she could find more information on best practices. But she noticed that for people with thick and textured hair, there were few tips on best hairstyles for an EEG.

Lewis has thick, curly hair and believed that explicitly following the instructions on the preparation worksheet would make it harder, not easier, for the technician to reach her scalp. Lewis decided that her mini-twists 鈥� a protective style in which the hair is parted into small sections and twisted 鈥� would be the best way for her to show up to the appointment with clean and product-free hair that still allowed for easy access to her scalp.

Lewis felt comfortable with her plan and did not think about it again until she received a reminder email the day before her EEG and MRI appointment that restated the restrictive instructions and added a warning: Failure to comply would result in the appointment being rescheduled and a $50 same-day cancellation fee.

To avoid the penalty, Lewis emailed the facility with her concerns and attached photos.

“I got kind of worried, and I sent them pictures of my hair thinking that it would go well, and they would be, like, 鈥極h yeah, that’s fine. We see what you see,’” said Lewis.

Soon after, she received a call from the facility and was told she would not be able to get the procedure done with her hair in the twists. After the call, Lewis posted a detailing the conversation. She expressed her frustration and felt that the person on the phone was “close-minded.”

“As a Black woman, that is so exclusionary for coarse and thick hair. To literally have no product in your hair and show up with it loose, you’re not even reaching my scalp with that,” Lewis said in her video.

The comments section on Lewis’ TikTok video is full of people sharing in her frustration and confusion or recounting similar experiences with EEG scheduling.

West 14 Street MedicalArts declined to comment for this article.

The New York medical center is not the only facility with similar EEG prep instructions. , which has several locations in the Washington, D.C., area, provides EEG for patients reading, “Please remove any hair extensions or additions. Do not use hair treatment products such as hair spray, conditioners, or hair dressing, nor should you fix your hair in tight braids or corn rows.”

Marc Hanna, the neurophysiology supervisor at the center’s White Oak location in Silver Spring, Maryland, has more than 30 years of experience performing EEGs. He oversees 10-12 EEG technicians at the facility.

Hanna said the hair rules are meant to help a technician get an accurate reading from the test. “The electrodes need to sit flat on the scalp, and they need to be in precise spots on the scalp that are equally apart from each other,” Hanna said.

For people with thick and curly hair, this can be a challenge.

A from Science News detailed a study that measured how much coarse, curly hair could interfere with measuring brain signals. A good EEG signal is considered to have less than 50 kilo-Ohms of impedance, but the researchers found unbraided, curly hair with standard electrodes yielded 615 kilo-Ohms.

Researchers are working to better capture brain waves of people with naturally thick and curly hair. , a biomedical engineering major at the University of Miami, developed a clip-like device that can help electrodes better adhere to the scalp.

Experimentation with different braiding patterns and flexible electrode clips shaped like dragonfly wings, designed to push under the braids, has had promising results. A study, published by bioRxiv, found this method resulted in a reading well measurement.

But more research has to be done before products like these are widely used by medical facilities.

Hanna said the facility where he works does not automatically ask patients to remove their protective styles because sometimes the technician can complete the test without them doing so.

“Each one of those cases are an individual case,” Hanna said. “So, at our facility, we don’t ask the patient to take all their braids out. We just ask them to come in. Sometimes, if one of the technicians are available when the patient is scheduling, they’ll just look at the hair and say, 鈥極K, we can do it’ or 鈥榃e don’t think we can do it.’ And we even might say, 鈥榃e don’t think we can do it but come in and we’ll try.’”

In practice, Hanna said, it’s not common for hair to be an issue. But for patients whose hairstyle might make the test inaccurate, he said, it becomes a conversation between the doctor and the patient.

When Lewis arrived the following day for her MRI and EEG appointment, she was told her EEG had been canceled.

“It was just kind of baffling a little bit because, literally, as soon as I walk in, I saw about four different Black women who all had either twists, locs, braids, or something,” she said. “And on the call, the woman was saying if you come in and my hair is not loose, we’re going to charge you. And she did recommend to cancel my appointment. But I never approved that.”

After Lewis explained what happened during the phone call, she said, the receptionist was very apologetic and said the information Lewis was given was not true. Lewis said she spoke with one of the EEG technicians at the facility to confirm that her mini-twists would work for the test 鈥� and felt a sigh of relief when she saw the technician was also a Black woman.

“The technician, I think overall, they just made me feel safe,” Lewis said. “Because I felt like they could identify with me just from a cultural standpoint, a racial standpoint. So, it did make me feel a little bit more valid in my feelings.”

Lewis later returned to the facility to get the procedure done while still wearing mini-twists. This time, the process was seamless.

Her advice for other patients? “When you feel something, definitely speak out, ask questions.”

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As promising news about the development, efficacy and distribution of covid-19 vaccines spread across the United States, questions about the shots were even more viral. In this edition of “Explained by KHN” we will answer common consumer questions about the covid vaccines.

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That call would be the beginning of a 12-day journey that would end in tragedy.

“I can’t tell you how a perfectly healthy 16-year-old boy can be making his own peanut butter sandwich late Wednesday night, getting his own tea out the fridge, and head up to bed like any other teenager in the state or in the country is doing. And then within 24 hours is fighting for his life,” Dawn said.

Andre, an easygoing sophomore at Lawrence North High School, loved YouTube and knew everything about video games; for his birthday in April, he asked for a game that wasn’t set to be released until December, and his parents planned on getting it for him when it was released. He also loved photography and annoying his siblings and excelled at basketball and bowling.

Born prematurely at 25 weeks, he and twin sister Abby spent months in the hospital before they were brought home and later adopted by Dawn and her husband, Johnny. Though Andre was diagnosed with moderate autism, his parents were fierce advocates and he thrived with a positive attitude and a smile on his face. “He always just flew through,” said Dawn.

Because Dawn is a nurse in the nursing home at a continuing care community, the family took more than the usual precautions when the coronavirus started to spread around the United States. After each shift, she’d take off her shoes at the door 鈥� where Johnny would disinfect them 鈥� and she’d head upstairs to shower. The family cleaned surfaces with disinfectant wipes, wore masks when they had to leave the house and practiced social distancing as much as possible. In fact, Andre was the only family member who did not leave the house at all. But the virus has proven to be a wily foe, circulating in some communities before public health officials realized it was there. It found vulnerable people like Andre Guest despite all recommended precautions.

After Dawn left for work that morning, Andre 鈥� normally self-sufficient 鈥� asked his dad for help getting a drink. Odd. At 1:30 p.m., when Johnny went to check on Andre, the teen said he was tired, but, Johnny said, “his speech was really slurred. He could still understand me and answer me.” A short time later, when Andre fell down in the bathroom, Johnny called his wife.

By the time Dawn got home, Andre had lost the ability to grip objects, he had trouble standing, his head and eyes were rolling, he could not hold his body weight up, and he appeared confused. She called an ambulance, which rushed Andre to the nearest emergency room, which transferred the critically ill teen to Riley Hospital for Children.

Although Andre had no underlying medical conditions, the first thing doctors discovered was that he had developed Type 1 diabetes 鈥� his blood sugar was a dangerous 1,500 milligrams per deciliter, more than 10 times normal. Type 1 diabetes frequently comes to light for the first time in the setting of an infection.

Because he had a fever and cough and was breathing hard, he was tested for COVID-19. Negative. But the doctors were having trouble controlling the teen’s blood sugar 鈥� usually fairly straightforward with an insulin infusion in a first episode of diabetes. At the same time, his temperature kept rising and his breathing deteriorated even with increasing supplements of oxygen. A second COVID test came back positive and he was moved to a COVID unit.

Johnny and Andre’s two sisters were subsequently swabbed, and they, too, were positive, though they had only mild fevers and fatigue. Dawn, who was at the hospital with Andre, decided not to get tested because, according to Riley’s policy, if she tested positive she would not be allowed back into the hospital until she tested negative twice.

A few days later, Andre was on a ventilator, and doctors, trying to understand and treat his quickly changing illness, even tried “proning” 鈥� placing him on his stomach to improve lung capacity.

In his 12 days at the hospital, Andre experienced issues with his brain, heart, lungs, kidneys and more. “Everything that they would fight to try to correct, the coronavirus would find something else to attack,” said Johnny. Though the staff had gotten the experimental drug remdesivir for Andre, his kidney and liver function were too poor to safely administer it. Many of Andre’s symptoms resembled what has since been dubbed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children 鈥� a rare but extremely serious COVID-associated immune reaction that was not described until mid-May. Andre was never diagnosed with the syndrome.

Still, his mother thought he’d survive. He was getting superb care, and his blood sugar was finally at normal levels 鈥� suggesting the worst of the infection had passed. He was young and had always been resilient.

On the morning of April 27, that hope quickly evaporated. His blood sugar spiked. His arterial line began to clot, suggesting coagulation problems that have been a hallmark of the disease. He went into cardiac arrest and, despite chest compressions, succumbed.

Andre is among the small number of children who have died of COVID-19 and Indiana’s first recorded victim under age 18.

”They were wonderful there,” Dawn said. “Every nurse and every doctor. I can’t complain. We just didn’t get the results that we wanted.”

Despite stay-at-home restrictions, Andre’s death resulted in an outpouring of support from the community. Letters and cards arrived from teachers recollecting their favorite encounters with the teen.

More than 70 cars drove by the Guests’ house to express their condolences in a memorial organized by Lawrence Township 鈥� where Andre attended school.

Marion County Northeast Special Olympics retired Andre’s team basketball jersey 鈥� No. 54 鈥� and sent it to the family’s home.

With this virus, “you are taking care of your community, as much as you’re taking care of yourself. You have no idea if you’re a carrier or if you’ve touched something that has it on there,” said Dawn.

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