Latest news with #AmyThompson
CBS News
19-07-2025
- Health
- CBS News
IDEA World expo brings thousands to Sacramento for fitness, fun, and tech
Sacramento's effort to attract more fitness tourism is working out. The capital city is already the home to Ironman, the World's Strongest Man and the California International Marathon. A new convention — fusing fitness with fun and cutting-edge wellness technology — has come to the city for the first time, and CBS Sacramento got an inside look. Healthy lifestyle experts from around the world are attending this year's IDEA World fitness and nutrition expo at the Sacramento Convention Center. "We have thousands of pros here from 80 different countries, and they're absolutely loving Sacramento," said Amy Thompson, Idea Health and Fitness Association CEO. Event organizers say it's no stretch to see why Sacramento is the perfect place to get fit. "We've been programming classes outside for our professionals," Thompson said. "We've been using the Riverwalk, Capitol Park." The three-day event, which runs through Saturday, is free to the public and features workshops and product demos. The expo also highlights ways the industry is using technology to improve fitness, like 3-D body scanners that can pinpoint problem areas and track progress. There are motivational speakers like 99-year-old Elaine Lalanne, widow of fitness guru Jack Lalanne, with tips on living a long, healthy life. "You have to believe in you," Lalanne said. "There's only one of you." It's a push to build better bodies one step at a time. "You can't help but smile and have fun when you're here because we're all about health, wellness, and vitality," Thompson said. About 5,000 people are expected to attend this year's IDEA World fitness expo. Doors open again Saturday at 7 a.m. inside the Sacramento Convention Center.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Multiple sclerosis: 'I was told I was far too young to have MS'
Amy Thompson was only 21 years old and living her dream life working in Paris as an intern for a fashion consultancy when everything "turned upside down".She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) despite being told she was "far too young" to become one of the estimated 150,000 people in the UK living with the incurable years later and Amy, a French and business management graduate from Worsley in Salford, Greater Manchester, is determined to raise awareness of MS, which affects the brain and spinal 28-year-old, who regularly posts updates on her Instagram account But You Don't Look Ill, spoke to BBC North West Tonight as part of a six-part series about invisible disabilities and and in her own words, she shares her story. I don't look ill!I started to experience numbness in my left leg, and I ignored it for a few I went to the doctor, and he kind of dismissed it a little bit.I asked him: "Do you think it could be MS? I'm really concerned as I've now got this other symptom" and he replied: "No - you're far too young."But things progressively got I went to see a neurologist and straight away she said "you've got MS". My main symptom is fatigue - just feeling absolutely exhausted all the time, no matter how much you are other symptoms like eye problems including optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve), some numbness, and unusual sensations in difficult knowing there's no I told people about my diagnosis they said things like:But you don't look illYou look so wellYou're too young to have MSI don't understand - I thought you'd be in a wheelchair?And so I was inspired to start an Instagram account called But You Don't Look I was first diagnosed I could not find anyone that was young that was talking about having I decided to just try and be that person for someone sharing my story I realised there were so many other young people in the same boat that were just looking to find others that they could relate I decided to start looking into the process of setting up a the end of 2022 we got the official registration for MS now provide lots of different services to people and we focus on people aged 18 to 35 who are living with MS. What has been amazing through this whole thing is that I've just found such an amazing purpose that I really didn't I first got diagnosed, I was so terrified about it changing my life in a lot of negative have been a lot of bumps along the road and it hasn't always been easy, but so many amazing things have come from is quite cheesy, but it probably is a bit of a superpower. And I am really grateful for it because I now have such a passion for what I story features in a special six-part BBC North West Tonight series about invisible disabilities and conditions. You can watch it on BBC One in the Northwest of England and the Isle of Man from 18:30 BST on Friday 4 July. It will also be available on the BBC iPlayer. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Reuters
27-02-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Texas child is first reported US measles death in a decade as outbreak hits more than 130
Summary Texas outbreak, primarily among children, has spread to New Mexico Outbreak started in rural Mennonite community southwest of Lubbock Child who died was not vaccinated against measles Health officials say more cases expected Feb 26 (Reuters) - A child in West Texas has died of measles, state health officials said on Wednesday, the first reported U.S. death from the highly contagious disease in a decade, as a Texas outbreak has grown from a handful of cases to more than 130 across two states. The child, who was not vaccinated against the disease, died overnight in a children's hospital, the Texas health department said in a statement. "We have had so many kids coming in and then obviously we were not prepared, probably, so early in what we are seeing to have a death," said Amy Thompson, CEO of Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock, where the child died in what officials said was the fourth week of the measles outbreak. During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a vaccine critic who was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services earlier this month, said two people had died in the Texas outbreak. His Department of Health and Human Services later corrected Kennedy, confirming one death. At least 124 people were known to be infected in West Texas since early February, all but five of them unvaccinated and most of them children, Texas health officials said. An additional nine cases were announced on Tuesday in eastern New Mexico, near the Texas state line where the outbreak has spread to about 10 counties, Texas health officials said. Patients have displayed symptoms such as high fever, red watery eyes, nasal congestion, cough and a rash that begins on the face, said Lara Johnson, chief medical officer at the Lubbock hospital. Children have been treated with supplemental oxygen and high-flow oxygen, medication for high fever and IV fluids, she said. New Mexico's health department has warned that 'because measles is so contagious, additional cases are likely to occur.' The U.S. death rate from measles, which spreads through the air by respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing, is 1 to 3 deaths out of every 1,000 reported cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The last U.S. measles death was in 2015, according to the CDC. A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Health Services was not available to Reuters for comment, but the agency said in a press release that 18 people were hospitalized with the disease. The CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment. Item 1 of 3 Amy Thompson speaks during a press conference at Covenant Health Services after an unvaccinated child infected with measles died, in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Annie Rice [1/3] Amy Thompson speaks during a press conference at Covenant Health Services after an unvaccinated child infected with measles died, in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Annie Rice Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Kennedy was appointed to lead HHS after overcoming resistance from the medical establishment and some members of Congress, and has pledged to protect existing vaccination programs. Last week, he told agency workers he planned to investigate the childhood vaccination schedule, among other things. 'A BAD ILLNESS' Lara Anton, a Texas health department spokesperson, told a local ABC affiliate that the ongoing outbreak has hit mostly small children and teenagers, and that the cases were originally concentrated in a "close-knit, under-vaccinated" rural Mennonite community in Gaines County, where children are largely home-schooled. "It's all a personal choice, and you can do whatever you want. It's just that the community doesn't go and get regular healthcare," Anton told ABC. At this time, it is unclear how the first person was exposed, and there is no indication that any early patients traveled outside the United States, Anton told multiple media. "This will accelerate for a while," said Dr. Peter Hotez, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor University, in Waco, Texas, and a frequent target of the anti-vaccine campaign. "It's a bad illness," he said, noting that about 20 percent of cases are hospitalized. "Unfortunately, Texas is the epicenter of it because of our very aggressive anti-vaccine movement," he said. Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, meaning there was no continuous transmission of the disease for a year. In recent years, federal health officials have attributed some outbreaks to parents refusing to vaccinate their children, Reuters previously reported. In 2024, there were 285 cases of the disease in the U.S. from 16 outbreaks, up from 59 cases from four outbreaks in 2023. Texas health officials announced on Monday that more people were likely exposed to the virus after a contagious Gaines County resident traveled to several locations in and around San Antonio, nearly 400 miles (644 km) away. The city of Lubbock was promoting the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine for unvaccinated children on its website and in free clinics, which started on Tuesday. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here.
