Opioid exposure in the womb could raise the risk of heart disease later in life

A new study sheds light on an understudied aspect of today’s opioid crisis: What happens to the cardiovascular health of babies exposed to opioids in the womb. The outcomes of the study suggest that children born to mothers who use opioids during pregnancy may be more likely to develop chronic diseases as adults, including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Researchers will present their work this week at the American Physiology Summit, the flagship annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS), in Long Beach, California.

Take interest in FIC report, TIZ urges ACC, DEC Police

By NATION REPORTER
TRANSPARENCY International Zambia (TIZ) has challenged the investigative agencies to quickly move and thoroughly investigate the illicit financial transactions revealed in the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) annual report for the year 2022.
TIZ executive director, Maurice Nyambe said the 39 percent increase in suspicious financial transactions compared to 2021 was too significant to be ignored by the law enforcement agencies. The 2022 Financial Intelligence Centre report has revealed that about K6.1 billion worth of illicit financial transactions, recording a increase of almost 39 percent as compared to 2021.

Mr Nyambe has called on the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) and the Zambia Police to immediately begin to pursue the revealed financial scandals most of which the FIC said were being perpetrated by Prominent Influential Persons (PIP).
Mr Nyambe said it was worrying that the situation did not seem to be getting much better and the need to put a stop to these anomalies could not be overemphasized.
The FIC annual report for the year 2022 revealed that it had analysed 155 suspicious transactions worth K6.1 billion, out of which 129 cases worth K5.8 billion was disseminated to law enforcement agencies. Mr Nyambe urged the ACC, DEC and the Zambia Police to thoroughly investigate the issues that were raised.
“We will obviously analyse the report and give a more detailed position later, but suffice to say that the continued illicit financial transactions that get revealed in FIC reports is a source of very great concern,” Mr Nyambe said. The report has also revealed that the centre had frozen three bank accounts containing K31.1 million on suspicions of theft and money laundering. The report further revealed that involvement of prominent influential persons in financial crimes such as procurement corruption has continued in the year 2022. “The almost 39 percent increase mentioned in this report is too significant an increase to be treated with kid gloves, and we urge the law enforcement agencies such as the ACC, DEC and Zambia Police to move in and thoroughly investigate these issues. It is worrying that the situation does not seem to be getting much better and the need to put a stop to these anomalies cannot be overemphasised,” Mr Nyambe said.

Mind-body connection is built into brain, study suggests

Calm body, calm mind, say the practitioners of mindfulness. A new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that the idea that the body and mind are inextricably intertwined is more than just an abstraction. The study shows that parts of the brain area that control movement are plugged into networks involved in thinking and planning, and in control of involuntary bodily functions such as blood pressure and heartbeat. The findings represent a literal linkage of body and mind in the very structure of the brain.