Poor Sleep Appears To Raise Risk Of Dementia, Sexual Dysfunction
People who consistently reported sleeping six hours or fewer were about 30% more likely than people who got seven hours of sleep to be diagnosed with dementia three decades later. A separate study found that women who slept poorly were nearly twice as likely to report a lack of interest in sex.
The New York Times:
Dementia Risk After Age 50 Increases With Less Sleep, Study Says
Could getting too little sleep increase your chances of developing dementia? For years, researchers have pondered this and other questions about how sleep relates to cognitive decline. Answers have been elusive because it is hard to know if insufficient sleep is a symptom of the brain changes that underlie dementia — or if it can actually help cause those changes. (Belluck, 4/20)
CNN:
Poor Sleep Nearly Doubles Risk Of Sexual Dysfunction In Women, Study Says
Consistently getting a bad night's sleep may lead to an unsatisfactory sex life for many older women, a new study finds. In fact, women who slept poorly were nearly twice as likely to report issues such as lack of sexual interest or pleasure than women who got plenty of shut-eye, according to the study published Wednesday in Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society. (LaMotte, 4/21)
And the "pink tax" is about to get higher —
The Hill:
P&G Is Raising Prices On Feminine-Care Brands This Fall
If you menstruate, you already know how costly tampons and pads can be — not to mention the Advil for your cramps and skincare for those pesky zits. This fall, the price tag is about to get even higher. Thanks COVID. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain and driven up demand for many care products, including toilet paper and diapers, while others, including razors (looking at you with the overgrown beard), have dropped. Feminine care sales dropped in European markets last year, according to the P&G third quarter report, but were partially offset by "premium innovation growth in North America." (Srikanth, 4/20)
CBS News:
Procter & Gamble Says It'll Raise Prices In September. Is Inflation Set To Surge?
Procter & Gamble is giving fair warning to consumers: Expect higher prices this fall for some of its products, ranging from baby supplies like Pampers to feminine hygiene products such as Tampax. That in itself wouldn't cause alarm, except that P&G follows several other consumer-goods companies that have told shoppers to brace for higher costs. Such announcements are fueling concerns that inflation may be set to rise, an issue that had already been on economists' minds given the trillions that have been pumped into the economy through several stimulus packages. (Picchi, 4/20)
In other public health news —
Roll Call:
Veterans Hit By Huge Pandemic-Related Records Backlog
After Navy veteran Jack Ray Hoaglan died from the coronavirus in December, his family tried to arrange a military funeral for the 73-year-old. They needed paper records from the National Personnel Records Center to prove the Ohio native’s service aboard the USS Enterprise decades ago. The phones at the St. Louis center, however, went unanswered. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the NPRC has sat empty, with employees working remotely. And records requests, most of which require someone to physically search for documents within the building, have been piling up. (Satter, 4/20)
Modern Healthcare:
Chronic Disease Wave Looms Post-Pandemic
Currently, 6 in 10 adults in the U.S. have at least one chronic disease, while 4 in 10 have two or more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The safety protocols instituted to slow the spread of COVID-19 also disrupted access to many non-emergency, routine care services for months. That's led to a reported rise in patients showing signs of more advanced preventable chronic diseases because they were not managed or controlled at earlier stages. (Ross Johnson, 4/20)
The Augusta Chronicle:
Augusta University Project Seeks Clues For Healthy Aging, Inflammation
A far-reaching and ambitious new research initiative at Augusta University looking at chronic inflammation and age-related diseases could not only provide new insights but timely answers for a graying population in Georgia and across the country, officials said. AU President Brooks Keel announced the Inflamm-Aging and Brain Aging cross-disciplne project as a three-year, $15 million investment focused on recruiting researchers investigating the role of chronic inflammation pathways and common ailments such as bone loss and Alzheimer's disease. The 15-20 recruits would be not only for Medical College of Georgia but other schools such as Dental College of Georgia and the College of Science and Mathematics. (Corwin, 4/20)
Salt Lake Tribune:
Barring Women As Leaders In Church May Be Bad For Their Health, New Study Finds
Going to church is generally touted as good for the soul.
But there is also evidence church attendance can be good for your health — unless, that is, you are a woman at a church that bars women from preaching or other leadership roles. A new study published in the American Sociological Review has found that women who attend churches with such restrictions report worse health than those who attend churches with women in leadership roles. The study suggests sexism can counter some of the health benefits associated with religion, said co-author Patricia Homan, an associate professor of sociology at Florida State University. (Smietana, 4/20)
KHN:
Strides Against HIV/AIDS Falter, Especially In The South, As Nation Battles Covid
Facing a yearlong siege from the coronavirus, the defenses in another, older war are faltering. For the last two decades, HIV/AIDS has been held at bay by potent antiviral drugs, aggressive testing and inventive public education campaigns. But the COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound disruptions in almost every aspect of that battle, grounding outreach teams, sharply curtailing testing and diverting critical staff away from laboratories and medical centers. (Varney, 4/21)
KHN:
Another Soda Tax Bill Dies. Another Win For Big Soda.
A rogue industry. A gun to our head. Extortion. That’s how infuriated lawmakers described soft drink companies — and what they pulled off in 2018 when they scored a legislative deal that bars California’s cities and counties from imposing taxes on sugary drinks. (Young, 4/21)
