In 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge swept the internet, raising over $115 million for ALS research and transforming how the world engaged with health-focused crowdfunding. A decade later, the viral phenomenon is making a comeback — but with a poignant new purpose: mental health awareness. In 2025, a group of passionate students at the University of South Carolina (USC) have reimagined the concept into a movement called #SpeakYourMIND, an initiative that’s already raising both funds and conversations for the nonprofit Active Minds.

What began as a tribute to ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a debilitating neurological condition, has evolved into a broader commentary on an equally urgent but often less visible public health crisis — mental health. This revival isn’t just about viral stunts; it’s about starting real, transformative dialogue.

Spearheaded by Wade Jefferson, a USC junior and mental health advocate, the new challenge is the centerpiece of the Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) club’s campaign. Jefferson, who founded the club after the tragic loss of two close friends to suicide, envisioned a way to break down stigma and make mental health discussions more accessible, especially among youth. “We wanted to create something visual, visceral, and participatory — a challenge that could remind people how necessary it is to speak up,” Jefferson said.

How the New Ice Bucket Challenge Works?

Much like the original Ice Bucket Challenge, #SpeakYourMIND involves participants filming themselves pouring buckets of ice water over their heads, then nominating others to do the same. But this time, the emphasis lies in sharing personal stories or supportive messages around mental health, tagging friends, and donating to Active Minds.

Launched on Instagram in March 2025, the campaign’s momentum has exceeded all expectations. Initially hoping to raise $500, Jefferson and his team watched donations quickly soar past the $100,000 mark — and counting. High-profile supporters, including former NFL stars Peyton Manning and Emmanuel Sanders, have amplified its visibility.

Mental health conditions frequently emerge during adolescence and early adulthood — yet support systems, conversations, and awareness remain woefully underdeveloped in schools and colleges. According to Brett Curtis, Director of Community Fundraising at Active Minds, the campaign couldn’t have come at a more important time.

“Seventy percent of youth and young adults don’t know how to talk to a friend about mental health,” Curtis explains. “That’s a huge barrier. But when students lead these kinds of initiatives, it becomes more relatable, and people start opening up.”

Data from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) shows that one in five adults in the United States lives with a mental health condition. Among teens and young adults, the rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation have sharply increased in recent years, intensified by the pandemic, social media pressures, and societal instability.

By giving youth a platform to lead the conversation — instead of just being the focus of it — the #SpeakYourMIND challenge is helping shift the culture of silence to one of empathy and openness.

The campaign’s virality is evident in its geographic spread. From South Carolina to Maryland to Denmark, participants are posting their videos with the hashtag #uscmind. Interestingly, the acronym “USC” has caused some amusing confusion online, with many assuming the campaign originated at the University of Southern California. In reality, it is Columbia, South Carolina, where this student-led movement first took shape.

This international visibility mirrors the widespread attention that the original Ice Bucket Challenge received in 2014. That version saw everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Bill Gates to President George W. Bush taking part, with the funds benefiting the ALS Association.

The ALS Association has now extended its support to the mental health initiative, acknowledging the power of viral philanthropy to mobilize change, regardless of the cause. “The format worked once to bring awareness to a little-known disease,” said a representative from ALSA. “There’s no reason it can’t work again — this time for mental health.”

While the icy splash garners attention, organizers like Curtis stress that the heart of the campaign goes deeper than donations. “This isn’t about how much money you can give or how many likes your video gets,” he says. “It’s about making mental health a normal part of everyday conversations just like physical health.”

Measles, a virus that was once officially eradicated in the United States in 2000, is making a shocking comeback — this time with more sinister layers than ever before. In the latest news, Austin, Texas, health officials announced that an individual with measles traveled to the city between April 25–27. The patron, who lives in El Paso, ate at Terry Black's Barbecue on Barton Springs Road on April 26 between 8–11 p.m. The news has prompted immediate warnings from Austin Public Health, advising anyone who was at the restaurant during that time to watch for symptoms up to May 17.

This exposure is in the midst of a spreading national outbreak that is quickly becoming the worst measles epidemic in the United States in decades. And what's worse is that all of this is happening in the wake of a CDC projection — one that was allegedly buried rather than publicly released — that warned of just this type of risk in low-vaccination areas.

The present outbreak, which started in a small religious group in West Texas earlier this year, has already reached four states in the Southwest. It has so far caused more than 1,000 reported cases, with public health officials estimating the actual numbers could be much higher because of underreporting. Unfortunately, the virus has already killed two school-age children and an adult.

Measles is one of the most contagious illnesses that science has known. A single infected person can spread the virus to as many as 90% of unvaccinated contacts. And in communities where vaccination rates are weak, the virus has rich soil in which to germinate. That makes the CDC's refusal to release its internal risk assessment especially troubling. In internal memos leaked to ProPublica, the agency had drafted a statement highlighting the urgent necessity for vaccination but refused to release it, arguing that it "doesn't say anything that the public doesn't already know."

Traditionally, the CDC has taken a clear and confident position on immunizations. Its messaging was explicit, forward-leaning, and informed by decades of evidence-based public health science. But now, the agency's most recent pronouncement is this: "The decision to vaccinate is a personal one." It's language that mirrors recent opinion piece from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new US Health and Human Services Department leader and longtime critic of vaccines.

Kennedy's leadership represents a dramatic turn. Once a marginal player in public health circles, his appointment has been accompanied by a weakening of federal vaccine promotion. Rather than emphasizing the well-documented effectiveness of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine — 97% effective — Kennedy has brought attention to exploring other measles treatments, many of which are untested or not yet supported by robust clinical evidence.

Declining Public Confidence in Child Vaccines Sounding Alarm

In 2000, when the United States formally announced that measles was eliminated, there was broad public backing for routine childhood vaccinations. Most Americans concurred that vaccinating children against infectious diseases such as measles was not only crucial—it was vital to public health.

Today, that virtual unanimity has frayed. Confidence in vaccines during childhood has taken a significant dent, spurred by an increasingly tidal wave of disinformation. Leading this turn is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., currently in charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For more than two decades, Kennedy has advanced discredited arguments connecting childhood vaccines to autism—a story systematically debunked by science.

What was once a fringe perspective has now gained traction within federal health leadership. Kennedy's ascension to power not only indicates a wider skepticism among Americans but also represents a troubling shift in the national strategy for vaccination policy and public health messaging.

Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, expressed concern over the CDC’s decision to withhold data. “We’ve already had more measles cases in 2025 than in all of 2024,” she said. “It’s not a coin toss — the data clearly shows we’re in a worsening crisis.” Nuzzo emphasized the need for more transparency, not less, especially as the outbreak spreads to at least 19 states.

Symptoms to Watch for Following Austin Outbreak

The Austin case highlights the actual-world effect of federal indecision. Anyone who attended Terry Black's Barbecue during the period indicated is being encouraged to look out for symptoms, which are:

• Fever
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Red, watery eyes
• A rash that typically starts on the face and extends
• White spots within the mouth

Unvaccinated, immunocompromised, and pregnant individuals are particularly susceptible and may need preventitive treatment. Public health practitioners have again emphasized staying home and calling a healthcare provider at once if symptoms develop.

Adding to the issue is the recent move by federal officials to eliminate $11 billion in pandemic-related grants, leaving state and local health departments without the funding necessary to respond effectively to outbreaks. In Texas alone, officials have 702 confirmed measles cases as of May 6, up 19 from the previous week — and the cases keep rising.

At the same time, the CDC is disrupted internally as the agency readies to cut 2,400 jobs, further weakening its capacity to launch effective public health responses. With Kennedy's attention drawn away from vaccinations and towards experimental alternatives, public health infrastructure is stretched thinner at a critical juncture.

The most frustrating reality of this crisis is that it is entirely preventable. The measles vaccine has long been one of the most effective tools in modern medicine, and widespread immunization campaigns had nearly eradicated the disease just two decades ago. Yet, amid a landscape shaped by misinformation, underfunding, and wavering leadership, the U.S. is now facing an avoidable public health emergency.

As scientists caution, now is not the moment for passive messaging and loose reassurances. With the virus spreading still and lives hanging in the balance, public health authorities need to step back into the science, rebuild trust, and reestablish the life-saving potential of vaccines beginning with measles.

Ozempic has been making headlines ever since its launch. Its popularity snowballed after celebrities credited it with their weight loss. Soon, there were reports of it treating alcoholism, joint pain, and many other illnesses. Now, scientists have claimed that it can also be beneficial for your liver.

A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine has demonstrated that semaglutide, a medication traditionally used for type 2 diabetes, shows significant promise in treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), previously known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

The study enrolled 800 participants across 37 countries between 2021 and 2023, most of whom were obese or had type 2 diabetes. Participants received weekly injections of semaglutide or a placebo over 72 weeks. Results revealed that 62.9% of semaglutide recipients experienced reduced liver inflammation and fat accumulation, compared to 34.3% in the placebo group. Additionally, 36.8% showed improvements in liver fibrosis, versus 22.4% in the placebo group. Participants also experienced improved liver enzyme levels and an average weight loss of 10.5%.

Dr. Arun Sanyal, a leading hepatologist, who was involved in the study, emphasised the importance of these results, noting that semaglutide could provide patients with additional treatment options for fatty liver disease. The research team plans to conduct further studies involving over 1,200 participants to assess the long-term effects of semaglutide on liver health.

How Does Ozempic Function?

The first thing to remember here is that Ozempic is a brand-name medicine that contains semaglutide as its active ingredient. Semglutide is the synthetic version of GLP-1, a natural hormone produced in the intestines that regulates blood sugar, appetite, and digestion. Now, every time you eat, your body produces various hormones, including GLP-1. These are called post-nutrition hormones and help you absorb the energy you just consumed. GLP-1 travels to your pancreas, prompting it to produce insulin. It also travels to the hypothalamus in your brain, which gives you the feeling of being full or satiated. Ozempic imitates this hormone, thereby silencing the food chatter in the brain. Interestingly, for some people, this food chatter is really quiet ( people with low appetite), and for others it is an outburst (people who generally binge eat). So with Ozempic, silencing this self-talk in the brain, people tend to lose their appetite and eventually weight.

However, it is important to note that losing weight includes not just fat but muscle as well. Losing too much muscle can lead to reduced strength and a shorter life span. Notably, records show that most people who start taking them stop at 12 weeks; therefore, it is important for some but not for others. The drug also has many side effects, like nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and abnormal discomfort.

Marijuana have long been controversial, as it has been used for its recreational and sometimes medicinal purposes, however, it has its own health impact, including addiction. According to a new meta-analysis, it was found that using marijuana during pregnancy also increases risk of several health complications for both the baby and the mother.

Higher Risk of Premature Death

One of the most alarming discoveries from the analysis is the increased risk of perinatal mortality, or death occurring during or shortly after pregnancy. As per Dr Jamie Lo, an obstetrician, who is also the lead author of the study, which is published in JAMA Pediatrics, marijuana use also contributes to reduced fetal lung development, decreased oxygen flow through the placenta, and ultimately, poor growth outcomes for the baby.

How Was The Study Conducted?

The study reviewed 51 research papers which had covered over 21 million pregnancies. It also found that marijuana use was associated with a 52% higher risk of preterm birth and a 75% higher risk of low birth weight, which is less than 5.5 pounds. The study also found as it looked among few studies that examined infant mortality, that marijuana use was linked to a 29% higher risk of death.

Placenta Matters

The placenta plays a critical role in delivering oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the fetus. When marijuana restricts blood flow to this organ, both mother and child are at risk. Reduced oxygen availability may explain the lower lung volume and poor fetal development reported in cannabis-exposed pregnancies.

The Misperception

Despite these risks, cannabis use during pregnancy has been rising. A 2019 analysis found usage more than doubled between 2002 and 2017, especially in the first trimester, and most cases were recreational.

“There is a false sense of safety because marijuana is ‘natural,’” Dr. Lo said. But she warns that substances like opium, heroin, and tobacco are also plant-based and still harmful.

Other drugs known to harm fetal health—alcohol, opioids, and tobacco—cause birth defects, developmental delays, and even sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Cannabis may not be as well studied due to ethical concerns around experimenting with pregnant women, but the observed outcomes are worrying.

Earlier studies were often limited by small sample sizes or combined cannabis with other substances, making it hard to isolate its effects. The new review focused only on marijuana use, and the quality of evidence is now rated as low to moderate certainty, up from very low just a year ago.

With increasing legalization and normalization of marijuana, many expectant parents receive conflicting information. Dr. Lo believes there’s an urgent need for clearer public health guidance.

“Healthcare providers often struggle to give advice because the evidence has been unclear,” she said. “We’re working to change that.”

Dr. Lo’s final advice is clear: “Ideally, it’s best not to be exposed to THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, during pregnancy—regardless of the form.”