Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
America Has A Long And Complicated Relationship With Infant Feeding And Formula
The New York Times: Breast-Feeding Or Formula? For Americans, It’s Complicated
For as long as there have been babies, there have been debates over how to feed them. Wet nursing, which began as early as 2000 B.C., was once a widely accepted option for mothers who could not or did not want to breast-feed, but it faced criticism during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The profession eventually declined with the introduction of the infant feeding bottle in the 19th century. (Caron, 7/14)
Stateline: Mobile Food Banks Roll To Isolated, Rural Poor
On a recent sultry summer afternoon, 81-year-old widow Nellie Allen sat on the porch of her one-story brick home, one in a strip of government-subsidized houses surrounded by fields and country roads. Allen makes do on $900 a month from Social Security. She raised four kids and never worked outside the home. She doesn’t drive, so she can’t get to the nearest grocery store, which is several miles away. Even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to afford to buy what she needs. The big truck heading her way pulls to the side of a one-lane road to let oncoming cars pass by before it can reach her. (Povich, 7/16)
NPR: Mining Electronic Medical Records To Enhance Use Of Approved Drugs
When you go to your doctor's office, sometimes it seems the caregivers spend more time gathering data about you than treating you as a patient. Electronic medical records are everywhere – annoying to doctors and intrusive to patients. But now researchers are looking to see if they can plow through the vast amount of data that's gathered in those records, along with insurance billing information, to tease out the bits that could be useful in refining treatments and identifying new uses for drugs. (Harris, 7/15)
NPR: Summer Heat Waves Can Slow Our Thinking
Can't cool off this summer? Heat waves can slow us down in ways we may not realize. New research suggests heat stress can muddle our thinking, making simple math a little harder to do. "There's evidence that our brains are susceptible to temperature abnormalities," says Joe Allen, co-director of the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at Harvard University. And as the climate changes, temperatures spike and heat waves are more frequent. (Aubrey, 7/16)
PBS NewsHour: Disability Rights Groups Voice Issues With Starbucks’ Plastic Straw Ban As Company Responds
An official from Starbucks reached out to disability rights activists on Saturday, the day before a planned protest against its recent ban on plastic straws, in what several disability rights groups said was the start of a direct conversation about the ban. After Starbucks announced on July 9 it would phase out plastic straws from its stores by 2020, disability rights activists were concerned the policy would exclude some people with disabilities. (Enking, 7/15)
Stat: Sonic Hedgehog, Beethoven: An Oral History Of How Genes Got Their Names
Scientists are systematic and meticulous when it comes to naming genes.They use computer programs to identify new ones and follow standardized guidelines to give them names like TP53, APOE, BRCA1. That, however, has not always been the case. During the late 1970s to 1990s, the heyday for newly identified genes, scientists selected names based on emotion and free association. The results were public displays of scientific wit, whimsy, and irreverence. (Chen, 7/16)
NPR: Keeping Blood Pressure Down Can Help Lower Dementia Risk
Every day, Dr. Walter Koroshetz, 65, takes a pill as part of his effort to help keep his brain healthy and sharp. The pill is his blood pressure medication. And Koroshetz, who directs the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, says controlling high blood pressure helps him reduce his risk of dementia. He also keeps his blood pressure down by exercising, and paying attention to his weight and diet. "I'm a believer," he says. (Hamilton, 7/16)
The New York Times: When To Get Your Bone Density Tested
Newly updated guidelines can help women decide when to have their bone density tested to determine their risk of fracture and perhaps get treatment that can lessen it. But the new guidelines may further discourage already reluctant men from doing the same. The guidelines, issued by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, suggest that all women 65 and older undergo bone density screening, a brief, noninvasive, safe and inexpensive test covered by Medicare. It is called a DEXA scan. For women past menopause who are younger than 65, the guidelines say a scan may be appropriate depending on their risk factors for osteoporosis. (Brody, 7/16)
Arizona Republic: How Do You Talk To A Parent About Going To An Assisted-Living Home?
Talking to a parent or spouse about assisted-living and senior-housing options can be fraught for all involved. The prospect turned deadly in a recent incident in Fountain Hills. The case begged the question: How might adult children discuss moving aging parents into a care facility or assisted-living community, and when should that happen? (Mo, 7/13)
Stat: If You're Neuroscientist Brenda Milner, This Is How You Turn 100
On Sunday, neuroscientist Brenda Milner turns 100, and she plans to celebrate in two ways: the World Cup finals, followed by a party. “I tipped France from the beginning of the tournament to win, but I must say that Croatia has really impressed me,” she told STAT recently. (Sheridan, 7/16)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: These Healers Want To Ensure Trauma Victims Aren't Treated Like 'Just Another Black Kid In A Hospital'
The nine men sat in a Drexel University conference room, soon-to-be-graduates of a program that teaches young black men, all victims of trauma, to work through their own experience and to treat it in others. (Newall, 7/13)
CNN: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: The Deadliest Tick-Borne Disease
An uncommon but potentially deadly disease is on the rise in the United States. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is the deadliest tick-borne illness in the world, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though access to antibiotics has lowered fatality rates from 28% in 1944 to less than 0.5% today. (Bender, 7/13)
