Current Events in January 2019

Attorneys general from 46 states have reached a $120 million settlement with the makers of a metal-on-metal hip implant, resolving charges that the companies made misleading claims.

Johnson & Johnson and Depuy Synthes were charged with violating the states’ consumer protection laws in connection with their marketing of the ASR XL and Pinnacle Ultamet hip implants. Depuy is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Specifically, the states said the manufacturer misled patients about the length of time the implants would last before they would have to be replaced. The complaint alleged some of the patients who received the implant and had to undergo a second surgery suffered from persistent groin pain, allergic reactions, tissue necrosis, and a build-up of metal ions in the blood.

The implants are no longer being used. The ASR XL was recalled in 2010 and DePuy stopped selling the Pinnacle Ultamet in 2013.

“Misinformation about health care is especially concerning and can cause long-lasting damage to a consumer’s wellbeing,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. “It is vital that Florida consumers, especially our seniors, receive accurate information to make informed choices about their health care.”

No admission of misconduct

In a statement to the media, Mindy Tinsley, spokeswoman for DePuy, said the settlement does not carry any admission of misconduct by the companies.

"DePuy Synthes remains committed to meeting the current and future needs of orthopedic surgeons and patients," she said.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said his state’s portion of the settlement will be used to “ensure that doctors and patients have access to the full facts and information they need to make informed medical choices."

Tong said the multi-state investigation concluded that DePuy advertised the ASR XL hip implant as having a survivorship of 99.2 percent at three years. At the same time, he said investigators found that the National Joint Registry of England and Wales reported a 7 percent revision rate at three years.

Tong said DePuy marketed the Pinnacle Ultamet with a survivorship of over 99 percent at five years when the National Joint Registry of England and Wales reported a 2.2 percent 3-year-revision rate in 2009 and a 4.28 percent 5-year-revision rate in 2012.

Walgreens has agreed to settle two charges brought by the federal government and pay a total of $269 million. Both revolve around alleged improper billing procedures.

The retail pharmacy was charged with defrauding a federally-funded health care program and mischaracterizing a consumer discount program. The company agreed to resolve charges that it billed Medicare and Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of insulin pens it sent to people who didn’t need them.

In the second settlement, the company agreed to resolve claims that it failed to disclose lower drug prices to consumers who could have taken advantage of them through a discount program.

In a statement to the media, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan said the government acted because overbilling in the government’s health care programs provides an undue burden on taxpayers. He said Walgreens had "admitted and accepted responsibility for the conduct the government alleged in its complaints under the False Claims Act."

Putting the matter behind it

For its part, Walgreens said it is happy to resolve the government’s lawsuits. In a statement to the media, it said it cooperated with the government’s investigation but admitted no wrongdoing.

"We are resolving these matters because we believe it is in the best interest of our customers, patients, and other stakeholders to move forward," a Walgreens spokesman said.

The government complaint said Walgreens had set up its computer systems so that pharmacists could not provide less than a full box of five insulin pens. Justice Department lawyers further claimed the company then submitted falsified data showing the number of daily doses never exceeded limits set up for the program.

The result, the government charged, was that “substantial quantities” of the drugs were wasted while Walgreens pocketed millions of taxpayer dollars.

In the second, smaller settlement Walgreens was charged with failing to tell Medicaid that consumers who enrolled in the Prescription Savings Club paid less for drugs than what the company charged the government.

The partial government shutdown, which began December 22, has taken a financial toll on Southwest Airlines. The company revealed on Thursday that the ongoing shutdown has cost an estimated $10 million to $15 million in lost revenue during the month of January.

Southwest executives confirmed that the process of expanding service to Hawaii is on hold due to the fact that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) workers that oversee the process of approving Hawaii service expansion were furloughed during the shutdown.

The Dallas-based airline had planned to start Hawaii service early this year.

“Our remaining work is currently suspended until the government reopens and the FAA is allowed to resume normal certification activities,” Southwest said in its earnings release. "We are anxious for the government to resolve this shutdown so we can bring low fares and a boost to Hawaii's travel and tourism industry.”

Impact on airline industry

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said the rate of worker absences hit 10 percent on Sunday. On the same Sunday last year, the rate was just 3.1 percent.

"Many employees are reporting that they are not able to report to work due to financial limitations,” the TSA stated. In a CNBC interview, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly warned that the shutdown is having a big impact on aviation workers.

"In our business, at least, we deal with the government in a very intimate way... my hat is off to all the federal workers that are showing up. They are heroic. They shouldn't have to put up with this," Kelly said.

Southwest’s estimated revenue loss is lower than estimates put out by Delta Air Lines. Last week, Delta said it has likely lost about $25 million during the month of January.

On average, truck drivers take home a nice check. In 2017, truck drivers in the United States earned 56 cents a mile, $21.97 an hour, or $44,500 a year, significantly better than recent minimum wage initiatives.

If a truck driver is lucky enough to be one of the 8,000 that carry loads for Walmart, they’re taking home a wow-worthy $86,000 in his or her first year. Now, Walmart’s truckers’ deal is about to get a lot sweeter.

On Wednesday, Walmart announced that its fleet drivers will get a penny more a mile plus an extra $1 each time they drop off their trailer at a designated location. Drivers in the Northeast are on tap to get a 5 percent raise on both mileage and other trucking activities.

If you’re scoffing at that penny raise, don’t; that’s because it adds up to about an extra $1,500 a year. And, while you’re at it, tack on perks of 21 days of paid time off and quarterly bonuses.

Walmart can afford this

One thing you have to keep in mind is that Walmart is upping its investment in self-driving trucks which, if successful, could save the company millions. CleanTechnica reported that fuel savings for Walmart’s self-driving trucks could be as much as $200,000 for every million miles traveled.

With the company enjoying its biggest sales results in a decade, Walmart is putting the hammer down to fill hundreds of job openings fueled by that growth.

“These hiring events are both improving the skill level of our candidates and enriching their onboarding experience,” said Lori Furnell, Walmart’s director of driver talent acquisition. “We’re leaning heavily on the expertise of our Walmart road team and our certified driver trainers to grow our skilled fleet of professional drivers.”

Fancy yourself a truck driver?

To qualify for Walmart’s onboarding, drivers have to have 30 months of experience in the past three years under their belt and a clean safety record to boot.

“Walmart’s fleet has a reputation for high standards and that can be intimidating,” Faller said. “But you see people getting emotional after the process they go through here, and I think that’s largely because they can sense that we’re here in it with them and we’re committed to their success. I don’t think you get that elsewhere in the industry.”

On Wednesday, Amazon deployed six of its self-driving package delivery robots in a neighborhood of Snohomish County, Washington.

The e-commerce giant said the six-wheeled device, dubbed Amazon Scout, was developed at its research and development lab in Seattle. The autonomous package delivery vehicles are roughly “the size of a small cooler, and roll along sidewalks at a walking pace,” Sean Scott, an Amazon executive in charge of Scout, said in a blog post.

The Seattle-based online retailer said each Scout device has the ability to “safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path.”

During the trial, however, each device will be accompanied by an Amazon employee, even though Scouts have the ability to navigate by themselves. Scouts will also only run Monday through Friday during daylight hours during the trial.

“Customers in Snohomish County order just as they normally would and their Amazon packages will be delivered either by one of our trusted partner carriers or by Amazon Scout,” Scott said.

Wired pointed out that the autonomous package delivery devices could face certain challenges.

“A delivery robot can’t open gates without hands, and it can’t climb steps to get right to your door,” Wired noted. “And if the robot requires the customer to enter a PIN to get the package out, how can the robot leave the package if you’re not home?”

The trial in Washington will determine whether Amazon Scouts will be deployed in other areas.

Just one week after Netflix raised monthly subscription prices, Hulu has announced that it will be dropping the price of its basic plan to $5.99 per month starting February 26. Hulu’s most popular, ad-supported plan previously cost $7.99 per month.

In its announcement, Hulu also revealed that it will be raising the price of its Live TV plan to $45 per month -- an increase of $5. The streaming service’s on-demand plan without ads will remain unchanged at $12 per month.

Staying competitive in the streaming game

With new streaming services being launched all the time, Hulu is aiming to stay competitive in the video streaming sector.

Netflix announced last week that its most popular plan will now cost $9 per month, up from $8. Netflix said it occasionally raises prices to help offset content costs. At the start of last year, the company said it planned to spend around $8 billion on original TV shows and movies in an effort to boost its subscriber numbers.

While Hulu’s price drop won’t equate to an increase in its revenue, the move “could lock in customers ahead of key streaming launches from media giants,” CNBC noted.

AT&T is set to launch a three-tiered streaming service in late 2019. NBCUniversal also revealed recently that it will be launching its own streaming service for those who pay for traditional TV, and Disney is also gearing up to launch two of its own streaming services.

Hulu announced earlier this year that it added eight million new subscribers in 2018, bringing its total to 25 million. The streamer still has some catching up to do with Netflix, which had about 58 million subscribers as of last fall.

When women reach a certain age, they constantly hear and think about the ever-present ticking of their biological clocks. As frustrating and anxiety-provoking as this can be, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California could have cancer sufferers counting down the seconds of their disease’s biological clock.

Researchers have discovered and tested a new cancer drug that attacks cancer cells’ metabolism and biological clocks, working to effectively stop the spread of the disease with the protein GO289.

“In some cancers, the disease takes over the circadian clock mechanism and uses it for the evil purpose of helping itself grow,” said researcher Steve Kay. “With GO289, we can interfere with those processes and stop the cancer from growing.”

Benefits of disrupting cell sleep

While most consumers rely on their natural rhythms to fall asleep and wake up each day, the researchers based their study off the idea that disrupting the body’s natural rhythm can have detrimental health consequences.

However, they narrowed their focus into individual cells’ circadian clocks, hoping that knocking them out of whack would hurt the cancerous cells. The researchers put their hypothesis to the test by examining mice cells affected by acute myeloid leukemia and human cells affected by kidney and bone cancer.

The protein GO289 was found to go after cancerous enzymes; when paired with the drug, the researchers found they could slow down the growth and spread of cancer cells. The drug went right into each cell’s circadian clock, effectively blocking any functions that would allow it to replicate.

In their trials with both humans and mice, the drug halted all circadian activity in the cancerous cells, which is typically how the cells stay alive and continue to grow and spread throughout the body. The researchers also found that this process was beneficial because it didn’t harm any healthy cells, but rather went right to the cancerous cells.

“This could become an effective new weapon that kills cancer,” Kay said.

For consumers struggling to maintain healthy weights and body mass indices (BMIs), the focus is typically centered around eating healthy foods and exercising often.

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio found that a lack of access to foods -- also known as food deserts -- contribute to consumers’ likelihood of developing obesity.

“The lack of access to food can be a major stressor on individuals, and our study finds that experiencing food hardships is particularly consequential for the health of women,” said researcher Dylan Jackson.

Effects of food insecurity

The researchers sought to discover a correlation between obesity and consumers’ proximity to a food desert or experience with food insecurity.

Those who live in food deserts have limited access to food that is affordable and nutritious; similarly, food insecurity occurs when residents are unable to acquire healthy food because of money or other resources. In both cases, cost affects people’s access to nutritious food. The researchers found that over 15.5 million families experienced food insecurity in 2016.

To see how this affects obesity, the researchers used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health.

The researchers found that both living in a food desert and food insecurity are risk factors for developing obesity, as residents are unable to obtain healthy, low-cost food.

Moreover, women were found to be at a greater risk than men to develop obesity, which the researchers attribute to many mothers providing their children with nutritional items over themselves.

“Our study highlights the importance of adequate nutrition for health,” said researcher Alexander Testa. “Millions of Americans do not have enough food to eat and live in communities where affordable healthy food options are not available. To combat obesity, it is important to ensure that people have consistent access to nutritious food.”

Moving forward, the researchers hope to continue researching in this field to see if there are any other associated health risks. They also plan to make proposals focused on what lawmakers can do to help Americans struggling with access to healthy food.

Beyond obesity

Much research has been done on the countless negative health risks associated with obesity, which makes this study even more important. The lack of access to healthy food and not having enough food can lead consumers to make unhealthy choices, but it can be even more costly to their health over time.

Previous studies have shown how troublesome obesity is for children, as diseases many times don’t manifest until adulthood. Obesity in childhood was linked to an increased risk in pancreatic cancer in adulthood, while young asthma sufferers are at a greater risk for obesity. One study did find that moms have the ability to help reduce their children’s risk of developing obesity, as children were found to adopt the eating and exercising habits of their mothers.

For both children and adults, obesity increases the overall risk of mortality, as it’s been linked to increased numbers of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

“The findings highlight the need for a global effort to reduce the surging levels of obesity within society and suggest that in most cases, any reduction in body mass index to a normal, healthy level is likely to be beneficial,” said researcher Dr. Kaitlin Wade.

Veg-Pak is recalling its own brand of Hot Peppers Red Thai and Longo's brand Hot Red Thai Chili Peppers.

The products may be contaminated with Salmonella.

No illnesses are reported associated with the consumption of these products.

The following products, sold in Ontario, Canada, are being recalled:

Veg-Pak

• Common Name: Hot Peppers
  Red Thai
• Size: 75 g
• SizeCode(s) on Product:
  • B2401801 015
  • C2401801 016
  • D2407801 017
  • D2401801 017
  • E2407801 018
  • E2401801 018
• UPC: 0 59559 00021 4

Longo's

• Common Name: Hot Red Thai Chili Peppers
• Size: Variable
• Code(s) on Product:
  • 017 2401801
  • 017 2407801
• UPC: Starts with 0200175 60

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard them or return them to the store where purchased.

Consumers with questions may contact Mustafa M. Ali at , (416) 255-7400 Ext. 331, or by email at qa@vegpakproduce.com, and Dan Carnevale at (416) 255-7400 Ext. 321 or by email at danny@vegpakproduce.com.

General Mills is recalling five-pound bags of Gold Medal Unbleached Flour with a better if used by date of April 20, 2020.

The product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

There have been no direct consumer reports of confirmed illnesses related to this product.

The following product, sold in grocery stores nationwide, is being recalled:

Gold Medal Unbleached All Purpose 5LB Flour

Package UPC: 000-16000-19610-0

Recalled Better if Used by Date: 20APR2020KC

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should dispose of it and contact General Mills consumer relations at (800) 230-8103 or online at www.generalmills.com/flour.

The dance the Trump administration has been doing with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees may have blown up in its face.

Despite the White House calling 30,000 furloughed IRS employees back into work to process tax refunds, many of those who were recalled are reportedly skipping work, which could exasperate things even further.

The Washington Post’s account of the situation says that hundreds of IRS employees have asked for -- and have been granted -- time off from work thanks to the financial hardship the shutdown is having on them. Add to that the backing of their union, which sounded a warning that an organized protest could result in even more workers staying away from work.

President Tony Reardon of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) -- which represents 150,000 employees at 33 federal agencies and departments --  called out the the government to find a way out of the mess.

“We’ve said all along that it is grossly unfair that federal employees are the pawns in someone else’s fight, and now the situation is dire,” Reardon said in a statement. “Take our nation’s civil servants out of the crossfire and pay them, period.”

Don’t hold your breath

If you use the 2013 government shutdown as a measuring stick in regards to tax refunds, 2019 is not a pretty picture. The 2013 shutdown lasted 16 days and resulted in delays of more than $2 billion in tax refunds, which means that we’re well over the $4 billion mark already for this year’s shutdown.

If your tax return has already been filed, the IRS is tied to the hip to the shutdown and doesn’t have a good idea of when those refunds might get processed. With IRS employees demonstrating some defiance on top of the agency being closed, it may be a while -- much longer than the typical 21 days -- before those refunds are distributed.

If you haven’t done your taxes yet, don’t think you’ll get a break however. The IRS reminds taxpayers that the underlying tax laws remain in effect during the shutdown, so all taxpayers should continue to meet their tax obligations as they normally would.

With no end in sight to the longest government shutdown in history, the Senate is preparing to step into the fray.

Senators will vote on two measures Thursday to fund the U.S. government and end the partial shutdown. The measure offered by Senate Republicans provides $5.7 billion to begin construction of a wall between the U.S. border with Mexico, a key Trump campaign issue in 2016.

The Democrats have offered a proposal to fund the government through February 8. That measure doesn’t contain a dime for a border wall. Though Thursday’s action is centered in the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been adamant that Democrats will not support any funding for wall construction.

Because any measure in the Senate will require 60 votes for approval, hardly anyone expects either of the measures to prevail.

Blame game

Meanwhile, as the toll of a month without pay begins to weigh on 800,000 federal employees, Democrats and the White House are blaming each other for the stalemate. Trump has said he is willing to negotiate but claims the Democrats aren’t interested. For her part, Pelosi has begun referring to the shutdown as the “Trump shutdown.”

To date, there hasn’t been much polling to reveal who the public holds responsible. From a historical perspective, it is interesting to note that the 1995 government shutdown occurred when President Clinton refused to sign a spending bill that that not meet his spending request for education, the environment, and Medicare.

It is generally believed that the public eventually held Congress, then controlled by Republicans, to blame and the GOP eventually caved, giving Clinton his requested funds.

Partisan rancor

Adding to the partisan rancor, Pelosi has informed Trump that the government shutdown has impacted Capitol Hill security and that she does not think it wise for him to deliver his scheduled State of the Union message next week.

Not long afterward, the White House informed Pelosi that an Air Force jet was not available for her planned visit to the troops overseas and that she should plan to fly commercial.

Amid this poisonous atmosphere, the New York Times speculates that the expected failure of both Senate bills to reopen the government, even if they fail to pass, might lead to serious bipartisan negotiations.

Uber has launched a new rewards program that offers perks based on customers’ total spending on its rideshare service and the Uber Eats food delivery service.

Perks include $5.00 Uber cash, flexible cancellations, priority pickups at airports, and more. Riders eligible for the rewards program will have their last six months of Uber activity counted right away.

Riders will earn one point for every eligible dollar they spend on rides and Uber Eats and earn $5 Uber Cash for every 500 points they accrue, regardless of their tier level. Riders can also get 2x points on UberX, and 3x points for Black rides. Users can see how close they are to earning rewards by viewing a progress wheel at the bottom of the app’s home screen.

“Our customers have told us they want to see a return on their everyday spend, and care about price consistency, being on time, and the quality of their experience. So we kept this feedback top of mind as we designed the benefits,” Uber said in a statement.

Those eligible to start earning rewards will see the feature in the Uber app. Those not automatically invited can join the waitlist. Uber said in November that it plans to apply its rewards program to its scooter and bike platforms soon.

Expanded availability

Uber Rewards is now available in Boston, Dallas, Orange County, Houston, New Orleans, Kansas City, Indianapolis, LA, SF, Fort Collins, Rockies, Pittsburgh, Lehigh Valley, Gettysburg, Erie, and Western Massachusetts.

The service initially launched in Miami, Denver, Tampa, New York, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Diego, and the state of New Jersey back in November. Uber says it plans to launch its rewards program internationally at a later date.

Late last year, Uber’s primary competitor Lyft launched a rewards program of its own. The company said in a blog post at the time that riders eligible to start earning rewards would receive an email or notification from Lyft.

“We plan to keep adding more and more to the program over time, so stay tuned for new updates in 2019,” Lyft said.

As of today, YouTube TV is available to consumers nationwide. On Wednesday, Google said that its TV streaming service will reach 98 percent of U.S. households; the remaining two percent will be reached “shortly thereafter.”

Prior to today’s announcement, YouTube TV was available in the “top 100” markets in the U.S. The service has now been launched in another 95 markets.

“Just in time for the Big Game, you can now bring together some tasty game day snacks with the full experience of YouTube TV,” the company said in a blog post. “That’s exciting news for living rooms, cord-cutters, and cord-nevers in neighborhoods far and wide, from Bozeman to Gainesville, Anchorage to Yuma, and Erie to Topeka.”

More than 60 live channels

The $40-a-month service, which launched in 2017, includes live-streaming from over 60 networks like CNN, ABC and FOX. It also includes local affiliate coverage, premium networks like STARZ for an additional monthly charge, and cloud DVR recording with no storage space limits. To see what channels are available in your area, simply enter your zip code on the company’s website.

YouTube TV saw its subscriber count grow between January 2018 and July 2018, from 300,000 at the start of the year to 800,000 by mid-summer. The company has not shared an update on how many YouTube TV subscribers there currently are.

The expansion puts the service in a position to compete with live-TV streaming rivals such as Sling TV and AT&T’s DirecTV Now, which now have 2.5 million and 1.8 million subscribers, respectively.

Waymo, Google’s self-driving car division, announced Tuesday that it has received approval to build a factory in which to manufacture its driverless vehicle technology.

The facility will be built in southeastern Michigan. Over the next five years, Waymo may hire up to 400 employees to work at the new plant. The company said it would look to hire engineers, operations experts, and fleet coordinators.

“Today, Waymo is excited to announce that we’ll grow our business in Michigan, as the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) voted to approve our effort to establish our manufacturing presence to build our self-driving vehicles in the state, creating hundreds of jobs along the way,” Waymo said in a blog post on Medium.

“This will be the world’s first factory 100%-dedicated to the mass production of [Level 4] autonomous vehicles,” the company said.

Waymo is scouting potential locations in Michigan for a factory that will be 200,000 square feet; however, the company hasn’t yet signed a lease. The MEDC approved an $8 million incentive to allow Waymo to build its manufacturing plant in the state, The Detroit News reported.

The upcoming factory “must be in operation by the end of 2021 with at least 100 new employees. Waymo could create up to 400 jobs in the region by 2025,” the publication added.

Waymo is currently testing its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans in Detroit and has a few hundred additional driverless vehicles operating in several US cities. In December, the company launched a fleet of self-driving taxis in Phoenix.

You check your phone for the weather forecast. You search for a good Thai restaurant. When you do, you give up small pieces of data about your location. It’s data that helps the apps give you the requested information, but it is also collected by the apps and sold to marketers.

Consumers who make repeated use of apps are giving up a lot of information warns Ying Cai, an associate professor of computer science at Iowa State University. He’s been thinking about the issue for years, noting that it’s only gotten worse with time.

Many of these apps are useful tools, but is the price of using them giving up even more of our privacy? Cai doesn’t think so; he has developed a cloaking technology that he says will allow consumers to continue using these popular apps without providing so much data.

Working through his university, Cai has received two patents for his location-cloaking technology. He says the technology will let consumers use mobile apps and stay relatively anonymous.

Not yet available to consumers

So far, cellular providers haven’t offered the technology to their customers, but Cai is hoping consumer demand will lead to his first sale as privacy becomes a growing concern.

“Privacy is a big issue. We can all agree on this,” Cai said. “If customers ask about cloaking technology and service providers realize location privacy is critical to customers, providers may see the value and offer this service.”

Here’s how it works: the technology walks that fine line between providing a location to the app that is as precise as possible, but just short of being too precise. For example, the app won’t know you are at the intersection of 3rd and Main Street, only that you’re in a big box store in the 300 block of Main.

Cai says the size or traffic of a particular revealed location will vary based on the user’s comfort level. He compares it to being treated by a doctor and selecting a pain threshold on a scale of one to five.

Making it difficult to track you

The big box store has a certain traffic volume that makes it difficult to track a single individual at any given time. Whenever a user wants to report their location, their service provider will select  an appropriate region to report.

“That way, every time you report your location, you make sure it cannot be linked to people who were there at the time when the location was reported,” Cai said. “This gives you protection from the time dimension, which is important.”

It’s not as cloak-and-dagger as it sounds. When you repeatedly use current location-tracking apps, you’re giving the apps a trajectory that makes it possible to identify you as an individual.

That’s a problem, Cai says, because it allows people you don’t know to learn too much about you -- not just your location, but what your location says about you.

Though concussions range in severity, and some consumers walk away relatively unscathed after one, the list of side effects that come after a head injury can be lengthy. 

Now, researchers from the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech found that epilepsy is common after a brain injury, and it occurs because of the scars that form from brain cells known as astrocytes.

According to the researchers, astrocytes are affected differently depending on the severity of the brain injury, which also affects patients’ likelihood of developing epilepsy.

“Our experiments show a strong relationship between changes in astrocytes and the eventual occurrence of a seizure,” said researcher Stefanie Robel. “The findings point to a unique population of astrocytes that respond within 30 minutes of an injury being at the root of a problem where seizures may occur after a latency period of weeks or months, suggesting a therapeutic window to prevent seizure disorders after concussive injuries.”

Discovering the development of epilepsy

Following a brain injury, the researchers found that some astrocytes didn’t behave like they expected. However, this turned out to be normal; the cells were found to react differently depending on the severity of the injury.

To see this in action, the researchers conducted their experiment on mice, comparing those that never had seizures with those that eventually developed epilepsy.

Throughout their research, the group found that some of the mice experienced recurring seizures weeks after a brain injury, similar to human patients who develop epilepsy following a brain trauma, whereas some of the mice’s astrocytes were altered in different ways immediately after injury.

One of the biggest takeaways was that the researchers discovered the mice were most likely to become epileptic when clusters of astrocytes stopped functioning.

“Each of these astrocytes is connected to multiple neurons, which makes hundreds of thousands of connections, which means the loss of function of even of a few astrocytes can be devastating to other cells in the brain,” said researcher Oleksii Shandra.

“Not only have these astrocytes lost their function, but due to these altered connections, the effects can be widespread to brain cells far away. The degree of this astrocyte dysfunction might be something that defines whether epilepsy develops,” she said.

The researchers are hopeful that these findings can help physicians and researchers better understand epilepsy as it’s related to brain injury.

Things to be aware of

Both seizures and concussions come with associated health risks, and it’s important for consumers to be aware of any potential negative health effects.

A recent study found that epilepsy is on the rise, and experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are unsure why. The agency said that it is the fourth most common neurological disorder, with it affecting at least three million adults and nearly 500,000 children.

“Millions of Americans are affected by epilepsy, and unfortunately, this study shows cases are on the rise,” said then-CDC Director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald. “Proper diagnosis is key to finding an effective treatment -- and at CDC we are committed to researching, testing, and sharing strategies that will improve the lives of people with epilepsy.”

Additionally, researchers found that children feel the effects of a concussion three times longer than teens or adults.

To help children who could be suffering with symptoms like dizziness, nausea, or fatigue, researchers suggest following the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) concussion recommendations for children, which urge physicians to treat every case individually, as the best treatments vary from child-to-child.