Public Health Roundup: Ordering STD Tests Online; Baseball Players And Brain Cancer
News outlets explore these and a range of other public health developments, including ongoing efforts to improve battle plans against vector-borne diseases such as Zika and Lyme; human-genome editing; end-of-life advice on Medicare's dime; and more.
NPR:
You Can Order A Dozen STD Tests Online — But Should You?
Cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis all hit record-high numbers in 2015. Tens of thousands contract HIV every year in the U.S., and oral cancers caused by human papillomavirus are increasing.
So startups are popping up online to help serve what they see as unmet demand for STD testing. ... The question is whether those companies can survive — at least one left the market before its product even launched — and whether the services they offer get the right tests to the right people. (Haelle, 8/13)
The New York Times:
The Brain Cancer That Keeps Killing Baseball Players
Since Darren Daulton succumbed to brain cancer on Aug. 6, heartfelt tributes have honored the way he led a raucous Phillies team to the World Series in 1993.
And unanswered questions have surfaced about the way he died. Daulton and several prominent contemporaries in baseball — including at least three other Phillies who played at Veterans Stadium, the team’s home from 1971 to 2003 — have died of glioblastoma, according to news media accounts. It is considered the most aggressive and frequently diagnosed form of malignant brain tumor. Researchers who have examined the baseball cases for years say there is insufficient evidence to determine whether they represent anything more than coincidence. Possible cancer clusters are notoriously hard to prove. (Longman, 8/14)
St. Louis Public Radio:
Taking A Test For Zika Could Someday Be As Easy As Taking A Pregnancy Test
Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis are developing a test for the Zika virus that produces results quickly and don't require refrigeration. ...The test is a piece of paper coated with tiny gold particles that are covered with a protein that reacts to substances in an infected person's blood. (Chen, 8/11)
WBUR:
What We Can Learn From The French About Fighting Lyme Disease
There are some hopeful signs of support for our fight against Lyme disease: The U.S. federal government has recently committed $40 million to create four regional centers of excellence for vector-borne diseases — which include Lyme — as part of its efforts to control the Zika virus. But most of that money is expected to go toward fighting Zika, so it will likely do little to help fill the public health funding gaps that are leaving us far behind France in the fight against Lyme. (Scales, 8/11)
East Bay Times:
Stanford: Scientist Searches For Answer To His Son’s Devastating Condition
As a renowned Stanford scientist, Ron Davis has a deep appreciation for the power of modern medicine. And yet an explanation for the disease afflicting his own beloved son eludes him. Son Whitney, 33, suffers from such severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that he is bedridden, unable to eat or speak. The handsome man was once a photographer and adventurer. He traveled through the United States, studied Buddhism in India and Nepal, lived in an Ecuadorian rainforest and ran a campaign office for former president Barack Obama. Now he’s returned home to Palo Alto for 24-hour care. (Krieger, 8/12)
Politico:
The Doctor Will Analyze You Now
In part because of their Alaska Native heritage, which puts a high value on spiritual health, the leaders of Southcentral recognized decades ago that behavioral health is tightly linked with bodily health. So they became one of the early adopters of integrated care. They embedded treatment for mental and emotional ills in their primary care practices, and found that patient satisfaction rates skyrocketed and usage of medical care went down, saving millions of dollars while improving patient outcomes. In the nearly 30 years since Southcentral hired its first psychologist, pretty much every study has shown that integrating mental health care into medical care results in better patient outcomes and lower costs. (Silberner, 8/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Americans Want A Say In Human Genome Editing, Survey Shows
Just last week, scientists reported a new first in the journal Nature: They edited heritable cells in human embryos to treat an inherited form of heart disease. The day after the research was published, a group of genetics experts published a statement calling for further debate before applications of the technology are taken any further in humans. According to a new survey of 1,600 adults published in the journal Science today, much of the American public shares this desire for engagement in decision-making. (Abed, 8/11)
The Washington Post:
Babies With A Rare, Severe Form Of Epilepsy Depend On This Drug. The Maker Stopped Selling It.
The medicine has had a powerful effect. Seizures that once struck multiple times an hour now come once every five or six days. But the drug came with a deadline: At the end of June, GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug company that sells Potiga, pulled it off the market because of declining sales, forcing families to stockpile supplies or wean their children off a drug that dramatically improved their quality of life. The dilemma faced by parents whose children benefited from Potiga — and future families who potentially may never have access to the drug — highlights the limitations of drug companies’ business model. (Johnson, 8/11)
Kaiser Health News:
End-Of-Life Advice: More Than 500,000 Chat On Medicare’s Dime
The 90-year-old woman in the San Diego-area nursing home was quite clear, said Dr. Karl Steinberg. She didn’t want aggressive measures to prolong her life. If her heart stopped, she didn’t want CPR. But when Steinberg, a palliative care physician, relayed those wishes to the woman’s daughter, the younger woman would have none of it. ... Steinberg used an increasingly popular tool to resolve the impasse last month. He brought mother and daughter together for an advance-care planning session, an end-of-life consultation that’s now being paid for by Medicare. In 2016, the first year health care providers were allowed to bill for the service, nearly 575,000 Medicare beneficiaries took part in the conversations, new federal data obtained by Kaiser Health News show. (Aleccia, 8/14)
