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    Komen Columbus looks beyond breast cancer to solve racial divides

    The equation is simple: the more money and education you have, the more likely you are to be in good health. The equation for reversing this trend, however, is a bit more complex. Impoverished and minority populations have long suffered the burdens that stem from health inequity, such as higher rates of infant mortality, diabetes and heart disease and lower total life expectancy. The story of breast cancer has been no different. Over the past five years in the U.S., the breast cancer mortality rate has gone down among white women, yet remained relatively stable among African-American women, according to a recent report from by Susan G. Komen Columbus on…

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    Smart Columbus: Oh, the places we’ll go

    In small government offices and crowded boardrooms, the future of urban transportation is transpiring right here in Columbus — the U.S. Department of Transportation’s first Smart City. The wheels started turning for Smart Columbus last summer, when the city won the USDOT’s Smart City challenge over cities such as Austin, Portland and San Francisco. The roughly $415-million venture, supported by federal and private funds, has several focus areas, including transportation access, smart logistics and sustainable transportation. From real-time traffic/parking data to charging stations for electric cars to driverless shuttles around Easton, the city hopes to become a model for communities around the nation, said Brandi Braun, assistant director for the Columbus…

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    As addiction rises, so does need for specialized doctors

    Opioid overdose claimed the lives of more than 33,000 people in the U.S. in 2015, according to a report released by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. That’s more than double the fatal opioid overdoses that occurred in 2005, found the report, which analyzed and compiled data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics System. Over that same time period in Ohio, opioid-related deaths — including deaths from prescription opioids (such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl) and heroin — rose 430 percent, from 489 in 2005 to 2,590 in 2015, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The nation has taken multiple steps to curb opioid…

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    Keeping women’s health at heart: Closing gender gap in heart-disease awareness, health care

    Cardiovascular disease has long been the No. 1 killer of both men and women older than 20, claiming more lives per year than all forms of cancer combined, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Yet decades of gender disparity in research, prevention and health care have left women at a disadvantage. Compared to men, women are less likely to recognize cardiovascular disease as their leading cause of death, know the symptoms of a heart attack or receive aggressive diagnosis and treatment, according to the American Heart Association. Heart disease and stroke took the lives of nearly 400,000 U.S. women in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control…

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    Architects, design students team up to showcase leading home trends

    A campfire crackles underneath a glowing crescent moon — or right in the middle of your living room. While more and more homeowners have been extending their living space by covering and/or furnishing their porches, patios, decks and backyards, there is a new trend to look ‘out’ for in 2017, said Earl Lee, director of environmental design at Columbus-based architecture firm Moody Nolan. That trend is to mix outdoor elements directly into the home— a concept that lies at the heart of an exhibit created by designers from Moody Nolan, as well as students from The Ohio State University and Columbus College of Art and Design. “So you may find…

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    Ohio’s growing web of entrepreneurs

    Small businesses supporting hundreds of local artisans Some small businesses have taken entrepreneurship a step further by sourcing all of their products from local artisans, creating a robust network that celebrates local commerce. With their diverse array of handmade and novelty items, these stores are essentially a one-stop shop for holiday gift buying and for supporting dozens of local merchants on Small Business Saturday, which is on Nov. 26. One such retailer is Glean, a tiny, basement-level shop that’s flourishing with one-of-a-kind trinkets made from recycled and repurposed materials, all fashioned by local handcrafters, including jewelry, decor, trinkets and small furniture. Dawn McCombs opened Glean on the corner of West…

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    Hundreds of experts team up to improve early detection of breast cancer

    As part of Vice President Joe Biden’s $1 billion Cancer Moonshot initiative, hundreds of scientists and coders are attempting to improve the ability of mammograms to detect breast cancer. About 100 out of every 1,000 women to get a mammogram will be recalled for further testing, but only five will be diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. This is largely due to issues in technology and image readability, especially as breast density increases. “The breast is a three-dimensional structure, and standard mammograms take a two-dimensional picture of it,” said Dr. Jeff Hawley, breast radiologist at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital…