It Used To Be Easy To Cure Urinary Tract Infections. But Now They’re Becoming Increasingly Resistant To Antibiotics.

The New York Times: Urinary Tract Infections Affect Millions. The Cures Are Faltering.
For generations, urinary tract infections, one of the world’s most common ailments, have been easily and quickly cured with a simple course of antibiotics. But there is growing evidence that the infections, which afflict millions of Americans a year, mostly women, are increasingly resistant to these medicines, turning a once-routine diagnosis into one that is leading to more hospitalizations, graver illnesses and prolonged discomfort from the excruciating burning sensation that the infection brings. (Richtel, 7/13)

The New York Times: What You Need To Know About Resistant Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections, or U.T.I.s, are one of the world’s most common infections. Increasingly, they also are resistant to major drug treatments. Here’s what you should know. (Richtel, 7/13)

Stat: To Make Better Therapy Apps, Developers Take A Page From Pixar
Making medicines isn’t about aesthetics. Your pill doesn’t need to be pretty to work. But with mental health apps, good design is half the battle. App makers have to be able to translate traditional therapy techniques into easy exercises that people can flip through on their phones. They have to make it responsive and, in theory, they have to make it effective. They also have to convince people the app is something they can trust — and can turn to when they’re feeling anxious. (Thielking, 7/15)

The Washington Post: This Show Is Really ‘Sick.’ If You’re Concerned About Your Health, That’s Why You Should Watch It.
From malaria to measles to the common cold, disease can do a number on the human body. But how? “Sick,” a YouTube show from Seeker, a digital publisher devoted to science, answers that question in gripping, often gross detail. The first season of the series is online now. (Blakemore, 7/13)

NPR: Sleep Training Truths: What Science Can (And Can't) Tell Us About Crying It Out
Welcome to parenthood! For many of us, parenthood is like being air-dropped into a foreign land, where protohumans rule and communication is performed through cryptic screams and colorful fluids. And to top it off, in this new world, sleep is like gold: precious and rare. (Oh, so precious.) Throughout human history, children were typically raised in large, extended families, filled with aunts, uncles, grannies, grandpas and siblings. Adding another baby to the mix didn't really make a big dent. (Doucleff, 7/15)

The Associated Press: Agencies Boost Efforts To Stop Wildland Firefighter Suicides
Shane Del Grosso spent some 30 summers crossing smoke-shrouded mountains and forests to fight increasingly devastating wildfires in the U.S. West. Toward the end, his skills and experience propelled him to lead a federal multi-agency team that responded to large-scale national disasters. On some days he directed a thousand firefighters and helped coordinate aircraft attacks on massive blazes. (Ridler, 7/14)

Kansas City Star: GE Infant Warmers Recalled After 2 Babies Fracture Skulls
Parents-to-be may want to ask their childbirth medical facility about the infant warmers in use. GE Healthcare recalled over 11 years of infant warmers after hundreds of complaints and two babies fractured their skulls in falls from the warmers. (Neal, 7/12)

NPR: Doctors Begin To Raise Climate Change's Health Effects With Patients
When Michael Howard arrives for a checkup with his lung specialist, he's worried about how his body will cope with the heat and humidity of a Boston summer. "I lived in Florida for 14 years and I moved back because the humidity was just too much," Howard tells pulmonologist Mary Rice, as he settles into an exam room chair at a Beth Israel Deaconess HealthCare clinic. Howard, who is 57, has COPD, a progressive lung disease that can be exacerbated by heat and humidity. (Bebinger, 7/13)

PBS NewsHour: Is CBD Legal? Here’s What You Need To Know, According To Science 
Yet here’s a strange fact about the overnight ubiquity of these products: Selling them is illegal. That’s true even though the 2018 Farm Bill removed legal restrictions on CBD if it’s derived from hemp plants. What’s equally strange: Buying CBD products is legal…at least sometimes.This paradox is one of many in America’s long history of both utilizing and criminalizing cannabis. (Akpan and Leventhal, 7/12)

Austin American-Statesman: Blood Donation Centers Are Out For Young Blood
Facing an aging donor base that could lead to an inadequate supply, blood banks across the country are ramping up efforts to woo younger generations to donate regularly. Without more regular millennial donors, the health care consequences could be severe. (Sudborough, 7/14)

NPR: More Tai Chi, Fewer Meds: Simple Steps To Help Seniors Avoid Falling
As we age, the risk of falling increases and becomes increasingly perilous. A fall can be a real health setback for a frail, elderly person. And, more older adults are dying from falls today than 20 years ago. A recent study showed that more than 25,000 U.S. adults age 75 or above died from a fall in 2016, up from more than 8,600 deaths in 2000, and the rate of fatal falls for this age group roughly doubled. But the risk of falling can be minimized, says Dr. Elizabeth Eckstrom, professor and chief of geriatrics at Oregon Health & Science University. "A lot of older adults and a lot of physicians think that falling is inevitable as you age, but in reality it's not." (Torres, 7/14)

NPR: Caregiving For A Loved One? How To Get The Help You Need
This year I joined the ranks of 40 million Americans who are family caregivers as I began to care for my 81-year-old father. As a physician, taking on this role has given me the chance to experience what so many of my patients and their families encounter. As I've learned, no one is prepared to become a caregiver. It just happens. (Henning Schumann, 7/14)

NPR: A Call For More Research On Cancer's Environmental Triggers
We already know how to stop many cancers before they start, scientists say. But there's a lot more work to be done. "Around half of cancers could be prevented," said Christopher Wild in the opening session of an international scientific meeting on cancer's environmental causes held in June. Wild is the former director of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer. (Schattner, 7/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Schools Relax Dress Codes In Bid To End Body Shaming
The old fingertip test to measure length of shorts and skirts is out in a growing number of school districts, while short shorts, tube tops, pajamas and attire showing cleavage are in. Clothing once considered taboo is now permitted as more districts across the U.S. relax student dress code policies, deemed disproportionately targeted at females, and move to gender-neutral or equitable dress codes. The districts also want to end body shaming, causing humiliation by criticizing a person’s body shape or size. (Hobbs, 7/13)

The New York Times: Shielding Kids From The Sun Isn’t Just About Sunscreen
We have come to the time of year when everyone needs to be reminded about the daily duty of considering the sun. “We don’t want people to just stay inside,” said Dr. Lawrence F. Eichenfield, a professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital. “We know that sun can have harmful effects including increasing the risk of skin cancer, sunburn, aging of skin — sun protection makes sense.” (Klass, 7/15)