Social Media Activists’ Thought-Policing Is Having A Chilling Effect On Pursuing Cures For Diseases, Researchers Say
Advocates on social media are targeting scientists who release studies that don't fit into their views on the diseases, going so far as to wishing for the demise of their careers because of a research paper. Scientists say it can dissuade researchers for wanting to do work on certain diseases, setting off a vicious cycle where patients are the ones who suffer. In other public health news: memory, drug side effects, dieting and aging.
Reuters:
Special Report: Online Activists Are Silencing Us, Scientists Say
The emails, tweets and blog posts in the "abuse" folder that Michael Sharpe keeps on his computer continue to pile up. Eight years after he published results of a clinical trial that found some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome can get a little better with the right talking and exercise therapies, the Oxford University professor is subjected to almost daily, often anonymous, intimidation. (3/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
Unlocking Secrets Of Memory And Time In The Brain
Our bodies know when to fall asleep and when to wake up. Our brains can keep track of short bursts of time like a mental stopwatch. But in our memories, our sense of time is fuzzy. Now, research is beginning to uncover how we put our memories in order. These new insights into the workings of the brain, paired with other findings, could help in the understanding and early detection of diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, scientists say. The idea that we perceive time in our memory subjectively is well known in psychology, says Lila Davachi, a professor of psychology at Columbia University. (Abbott, 3/13)
NPR:
Drug Side Effects Can Come Form Inactive Ingredients
If you have a bad reaction to a medicine, it might not be the drug itself, but what are called "inactive ingredients" in the pill or capsule. An article published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine surveys this field and finds ingredients that are potentially troublesome for some people are ubiquitous. For example, a few years ago study co-author Giovanni Traverso, a gastroenterologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, came across a patient with a severe gluten intolerance called celiac disease. (Harris, 3/13)
The New York Times:
Coping With A Dieting Relative When You’re A Recovering Anorexic
I practice recovery by approaching my fear, modeling intuitive eating for my sister, something I couldn’t do when we were growing up. I tell her when I get peanut butter frozen yogurt at the Bigg Chill or when I have buttered popcorn for lunch (“Not lunch!” she says). When she asks what to do at the gym, I don’t give her the advice my eating disorder would have given me. When she buys chips because she’s “being bad,” I say Pringles are delicious. If she’s tired, I tell her to be kind to her body and take time off. Talking to her, I’m also talking to myself, dismantling my old negative attitudes about food. (Novak, 3/14)
Kaiser Health News:
Understanding Loneliness In Older Adults — And Tailoring A Solution
For years, Dr. Linda Fried offered older patients who complained of being lonely what seemed to be sensible guidance. “Go out and find something that matters to you,” she would say. But her well-meant advice didn’t work most of the time. What patients really wanted were close relationships with people they care about, satisfying social roles and a sense that their lives have value. And this wasn’t easy to find. We need “new societal institutions that bring meaning and purpose” to older adults’ lives, Fried recently told a committee of the National Academies of Sciences investigating loneliness and social isolation among older adults. (Graham, 3/14)
Sacramento Bee:
UC Davis Finds Ways For Blacks, Hispanics To Cut Dementia Risk
UC Davis researchers announced Tuesday that, after studying brain tissue from 423 Americans of Latino, African and non-Hispanic white descent, they have discovered startling variations in the causes of dementia among people of different races and ethnicities. In Latinos, for instance, cerebrovascular disease was much more likely to be a cause of dementia than Alzheimer’s disease. (Anderson, 3/13)
