Viewpoints: Forget Fads, Stick To These Basics To Stay Healthy; Maybe You Ought To Think Twice Before Uploading Family DNA Data?

The New York Times: How To Be Healthy, In Just 48 Words
Daytime television talk shows, popular podcasts and diet books on the New York Times best-seller list would have you believe that being healthy is complicated. You need to eat the latest superfood, buy the perfect supplements or join the hippest fitness cult. These theories are particularly popular right now, as people commit to New Year’s resolutions. (Yoni Freedhoff, 1/3)

The New York Times: Why Are You Publicly Sharing Your Child’s DNA Information?
A few years ago, Angela Evans decided she wanted to test the DNA of her 10-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. She was interested in knowing whether they had a mutation of the MTHFR gene, as she does. The mutation is linked to a number of disorders — women with the mutation may have a higher risk of having babies with defects like spina bifida — and Ms. Evans wanted to make life changes for her children based on the results.When doctors told her they didn’t think there was a medical need to test her children, she decided to use 23andMe, the direct-to-customer genetic testing company. (Nila Bala, 1/2)

Stat: CRISPR Babies Scientist He Jiankui Should Not Be Villainized 
To me, no matter how abhorrent one views the research, it represents a substantial step forward in human embryo editing. Now there is a clear path forward that anyone can follow when before it had been only a dream. He Jiankui’s work has been subjected to strong and sometimes vicious criticism. The big unknown is whether the children born from it will experience any harmful effects, though there is no evidence to lead us to suspect that they will. Even after He’s work was made public, the U.S. did not create any laws directly outlawing human embryo editing and implantation. The only thing standing in the way of doing this is gaining FDA approval for an investigational new drug application. Current federal funding guidelines prevent the FDA from approving such experimentation, but how long will it be until that changes? Most certainly less than 100 years. (Josiah Zayner, 1/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Warren Has A Plan For Your Drinking Water—But It’s Risky
Tap water may not appear on most politicians’ priority lists, but as you’ve probably heard by now, Elizabeth Warren has a plan for everything. Her campaign site describes her wish to “take action to protect our drinking water”—a praiseworthy commitment to a resource that is essential to America’s economy, health and everyday life. As usual, the devil’s in the details. Ms. Warren vows to prohibit the privatization of infrastructure for water treatment and delivery. (Seth M. Siegel, 1/2)

The Washington Post: How To Avoid The Traps That Produce Loneliness And Isolation
“Hell is other people,” wrote the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre in his 1944 play “No Exit.” Sartre was wrong. Hell is the lack of other people, and according to the health-insurance company Cigna, loneliness and social isolation are rampant in the United States today. About half of Americans report sometimes or always feeling alone, Cigna found in a 2018 study of more than 20,000 U.S. adults. Barely more than half say they have meaningful daily in-person social interactions. Studies by the Kaiser Family Foundation and AARP have also reported widespread American loneliness. (Arthur C. Brooks, 1/2)

Nashville Tennessean: Gun Violence Reaches Public Health Crisis Level In Tennessee
Gun violence in Tennessee is a public health crisis. Based on the most recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, we are 11th for firearm mortality, seventh for firearm homicide, and fourth for both youth gun death and gun homicides. According to data reported by The Tennessean, Tennessee is currently fifth in the nation for women murdered by men, most often with a firearm and almost always by a man they know. Tennessee has ranked in the top 10 states for women murdered by men for the last decade. (Beth Joslin Roth, 1/3)

Louisville Courier Journal: Census 2020: Urge Kentucky Lawmakers To Fund A Complete Count
Every 10 years, the census counts every person living in the United States, regardless of age, race, geographic location or citizenship status. Data from the census determines how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding are distributed throughout the country. Census data also helps state and local officials, community leaders and nonprofits identify needs for healthcare, education, housing, food security and other services.In Kentucky, an accurate census count doesn’t just determine how many federal dollars we bring back to the state, it has an enormous impact on the health of our commonwealth. (Emily Beauregard, 1/3)

Sacramento Bee: CA Doctors Should Treat Opioid Addiction Like A Disease 
Recognizing addiction as a disease that can be treated with medication and therapy would save lives, especially now that a potent and deadly opiate, fentanyl, is increasingly making its way into the illegal drug trade in California and the Western United States.Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. It is phenomenally inexpensive, making it a drug of choice for dealers seeking to boost potency and reduce the cost of the illegal substances they are selling.Initially found on the East Coast, experts say a rise in overdoses in the Los Angeles region can be related to the increase in fentanyl in the illicit drugs used by a wide range of people, from those experiencing homelessness to students at the private University of Southern California. (Gilmore Chung, 12/26)

Seattle Times: Washington State Lawmakers Must Pass Assault-Weapons Ban
A disappointingly familiar routine has played out in Olympia three years running: Attorney General Bob Ferguson proposes an assault-weapons ban, for which bills are filed in the Senate and House. Then, after moving discussion of America’s horrifying series of mass shootings, the bills quietly disappear without a floor vote in either chamber. Enough is enough. (1/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: PG&E’s Wildfire Victims, Not Government Agencies, Should Be First In Line For Claims 
More than a year after the devastating Camp Fire, thousands of victims are still burned out of house and home. So why on earth are government agencies trying to take what’s been put aside for them to rebuild?Pacific Gas & Electric Company, the utility that’s been named responsible for igniting historically calamitous wildfires in 2017 and 2018, declared bankruptcy nearly a year ago. The process has been tumultuous, and one of the reasons why is the unusually large number of creditors seeking to be made whole in any company settlement. (1/3)