Automated Deep-Brain Stimulation Cured Woman’s Depression

USA Today: Woman's Depression Cured By Targeted Electrical Brain Stimulation, A First, Pioneered By UCSF Researchers
Sarah, who asked to be identified by her first name, is the only person to ever be treated with electrodes implanted deep in her brain that send quick energy bursts when they detect activity in a brain circuit involved in her depression. Those 6-second zaps – as many as 300 a day – have transformed her life and provided new insights into the biological nature of depression. What she's been through is way too complicated to replicate for the millions of people who suffer from deep, unrelenting despair, but her success may suggest new ways to address one of the most hard-to-reach mental illnesses. (Weintraub, 10/4)

Stat: Jolts From Customized Brain Implant Gave Instant Relief To Depressed Patient
When Sarah, 36 years old and severely depressed, sat down in a lab with a head full of surgically implanted sensors last year, the last thing she expected was to spontaneously cackle. She hadn’t laughed like that — a real, unforced laugh — in five years. But something had happened: A subtle electrical shock deep in her brain had interfered with the dark anxious spirals her depression had sent her on since she was a child. Sarah laughed, and the whole room was taken aback, researchers recalled. (Cueto, 10/4)

In other public health news —

CBS News: Big Jump In E-Scooter, E-Bike Injuries The Last Four Years, CPSC Finds 
It's a good idea to wear a helmet when taking a spin on electric scooters, electric bikes, hoverboards and other so-called micro-mobility products. That's because injuries stemming from their use spiked 70% over the past four years, spurring nearly 200,000 emergency room visits, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Viewed as eco-friendly (studies have found that's not exactly the case) and cost-effective modes of transportation for short distances, the battery-powered products were part of the equation in more than 190,000 E.R. visits and at least 71 deaths from 2017 through 2020, according to the federal agency. (Gibson, 10/4)

The Atlantic: Why Are Americans Still Wearing Cloth Masks?
At this point, cloth masks are so ubiquitous in the United States that it can be easy to forget that they were originally supposed to be a stopgap measure. In April 2020, when surgical masks and highly coveted N95s were first in short supply, the CDC released its initial mask guidance and said cloth masks were the way to go for most people—noting that they could be sewn at home from old T-shirts. Even at that point, when the pandemic was full of unknowns, we knew that cloth masks, although far better than going maskless, weren’t as protective as other types. A growing amount of research supports the idea that our masking norms don’t make much sense. (Tayag, 10/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Is It Flu Or Covid-19? It’s Harder To Tell The Symptoms Apart This Year
Doctors expect the flu season to be rough this year, and with it comes another challenge: Figuring out whether your symptoms point to the flu, Covid-19 or something else. Many symptoms of flu and Covid-19 are similar. Fever, fatigue and achiness can occur with both. The often-milder symptoms of a Covid-19 breakthrough infection in vaccinated people—sometimes including a runny nose or sneezing—can make it even harder to distinguish between the two illnesses, or from a cold or allergies. (Dizik, 10/4)

The New York Times: Losing Your Hair? You Might Blame The Great Stem Cell Escape. 
Every person, every mouse, every dog, has one unmistakable sign of aging: hair loss. But why does that happen? Rui Yi, a professor of pathology at Northwestern University, set out to answer the question. A generally accepted hypothesis about stem cells says they replenish tissues and organs, including hair, but they will eventually be exhausted and then die in place. This process is seen as an integral part of aging. Instead Dr. Yi and his colleagues made a surprising discovery that, at least in the hair of aging animals, stem cells escape from the structures that house them. (Kolata, 10/4)

KHN: Solitary Confinement Condemns Many Prisoners To Long-Term Health Issues 
Sometimes, Pamela Winn isn’t sure how to connect with people, even those she loves, like her 9-month-old granddaughter. When the baby is in her arms, “I sit there quietly, and I don’t know what to say. What to do,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “My socializing skills are just not there anymore.” On days like these, Winn, who lives south of Atlanta, is haunted by the memory of her 6-by-9-foot prison cell, where she spent eight months in solitary confinement more than 10 years ago. She said she now feels “safest when I’m by myself.” It’s a common paradox of solitary confinement, said Craig Haney, a professor of social psychology at the University of California-Santa Cruz. Instead of craving the company of others after release from social isolation, many former prisoners want just the opposite. (Ridderbusch, 10/5)

KHN: The Pandemic Forced My Transgender Wife To Fight Our Insurer Over Hormones 
For the past eight years, my wife, Ky Hamilton, has undergone gender-affirming hormone therapy. As a transgender woman, she injects Depo-Estradiol liquid estrogen into her thigh once a week. This drug has allowed her to physically transition as a woman, and each vial, which lasts around five weeks, was completely covered by insurance. That was until she lost her job in April 2020 and we switched to a subsidized private health insurance plan in Colorado’s Affordable Care Act marketplace. We discovered that our new insurance from Anthem doesn’t cover Depo-Estradiol and it would cost $125 out-of-pocket per vial. With both of us — and our four pets — depending heavily on Ky’s weekly $649 unemployment check, such medical expenses proved difficult. And as of Sept. 6, those unemployment checks ran out. (Santoro, 10/5)

Also —

AP: US Resumes Afghan Refugee Flights After Measles Shots
Afghan refugees will soon be arriving again in the U.S. after a massive campaign to vaccinate them against measles following a small outbreak that caused a three-week pause in evacuations, officials said Monday. Authorities have administered the vaccination to about 49,000 evacuees staying temporarily on American military bases as well as to those still at transit points in Europe and the Middle East, according to the Department of Homeland Security. (Fox, 10/4)