Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Advocates See Recent Sweep Of Soda Taxes As Watershed Moment
The New York Times: As Soda Taxes Gain Wider Acceptance, Your Bottle May Be Next
For more than a decade, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other beverage companies have fought mightily against efforts to tax sugary sodas, defeating more than three dozen such proposals around the country. But this month, voters in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany, Calif., as well as Boulder, Colo., stunned the industry by approving ballot measures in favor of soda taxes. Cook County, Ill., followed a few days later, bringing a soft-drink tax to Chicago and surrounding areas. They are joining Berkeley, Calif., which passed a tax two years ago, and Philadelphia, which passed one in June, bringing to seven the number of American communities with soda taxes. With that public momentum, a soda tax may be coming to a city near you. (O'Connor and Sanger-Katz, 11/26)
The New York Times: In A California Valley, Healthy Food Everywhere But On The Table
As Americans gather around Thanksgiving tables, chances are that the healthier parts of their menus — the tossed salads, broccoli casseroles or steaming bowls of roasted brussels sprouts — were grown here in the Salinas Valley. ... Yet one place the valley’s bounty of antioxidants does not often appear is on the tables of the migrant workers who harvest it. Public health officials here describe a crisis of poverty and malnutrition among the tens of thousands of farmworkers and their families who tend to the fields of lettuce, broccoli, celery, cauliflower and spinach, among many other crops, in an area called the salad bowl of the nation. (Fuller, 11/23)
The Washington Post: As The Aedes Aegypti Mosquito Spreads Globally, So Does The Risk Of Epidemics
Of all the mosquito species that populate the planet, few have proved themselves more resilient or more deadly to humans than the Aedes aegypti. The epidemics fueled by this tiny mosquito stretch across hundreds of years and include millions of victims. Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya. And now Zika, which has spread to more than 50 countries and can cause an array of severe birth defects. ... Writing Thursday in the journal Science, Yale University’s Jeffrey R. Powell, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, detailed how this species now breeds year-round in locations where it once didn’t exist — including in the District and California. (Dennis, 11/24)
The Washington Post: Major HIV Vaccine Trial In South Africa Stokes Hope
After decades of shadowboxing with the human immunodeficiency virus, researchers were encouraged four years ago when a test of a vaccine on 16,000 people in Thailand turned up a previously unknown vulnerability in the resilient pathogen. The vaccine was only 31 percent effective and wore off over time, so it could not be approved for use in a general population. But the study’s results allowed scientists to exploit the chink in HIV’s armor, reformulate the drug and bring it back for another clinical trial. (Brown and Bernstein, 11/25)
The Washington Post: New Tricks In Canine Cancer Research May Improve Treatments For Humans, Too
Flyer is part of a burgeoning field called “comparative oncology.” It focuses on finding new ways to treat cancer in pets, mostly dogs, in an effort to develop innovative treatments for people and animals. The growing interest in dogs reflects researchers’ frustration with the standard approach to developing cancer treatments: testing them in lab animals, especially mice. Mice don’t normally get cancer — it must be induced — and the immune systems in many strains of lab mice have been altered. That makes them especially poor models for immunotherapy, a rapidly growing field of medicine that directs patients’ own immune systems to fight their cancer. (McGinley, 11/26)
NPR: Patients Increasingly Influence Medical Research
Patients and their advocates are getting an ever-larger voice in how medical research is carried out. They participate in the design of experiments and have a greater say in what outcomes they care about most — and it's not always simply living longer. Sharon Terry has lived through a couple of decades during which patients went from being complete outsiders to participants. She worries now that they risk being co-opted by the medical research juggernaut. (Harris, 11/28)
Austin Statesman: Hispanics At High Risk Of Vision Loss Due To Diabetes
Hispanics are almost twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be diagnosed with diabetes, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data. But for November, National Diabetes Month, the National Eye Health Education Program and the National Institutes of Health have come together to shed light on a lesser known issue: the prevalence of diabetic eye disease among Hispanics and what diabetics can do to prevent the loss of their vision. (Benavides, 11/26)
Georgia Health News: Do-It-Yourself What?! More Kidney Patients Learning In-Home Dialysis
The best-known type of dialysis requires patients to visit a specialized center for treatment. But two forms of at-home dialysis are gaining popularity. Peritoneal dialysis uses the stomach membrane as a filter to remove fluids and wastes; home hemodialysis is essentially the same as the procedure used in clinics, but the equipment is more compact. (Beeson, 11/27)
Columbus Dispatch: How To Survive The Cold And Flu Season
Flu is more serious, causing sore throat, congestion, cough, headaches, body aches, fatigue and often chills and high fever. In 2014, it killed more than 4,600 Americans. So just what should you do to prevent the crud? And, if it hits, what are the best ways to manage symptoms? (Viviano, 11/27)
