Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Americans Are, Statistically, Older Than They've Ever Been
The New York Times: The U.S. Population Is Older Than It Has Ever Been
The median age in the United States reached a record high of 38.9 in 2022, according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau. It’s a rapid rise. In 2000, the median age was 35, and in 1980, the median was 30. While many 38-year-old millennials may still feel young, that age is an unusually high median for the country. (Goldstein, 6/22)
On cancer —
USA Today: Study: Genetics Can Explain Why Sex Matters In Some Cancer Outcomes
It's long been known men fare worse with colon cancer than women. The presumption was male smoking habits, extra meat consumption and maybe hormones made the difference. But a pair of studies out Wednesday in the journal Nature finds genetics can sometimes explain why sex matters. (Weintraub, 6/21)
Stat: New DNA Test Aims To Improve Cervical Cancer Screening
A genomic test for the human papillomavirus has shown promise in early-stage trials, raising hopes that it could bolster cervical cancer screening among women living in sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest rates of cervical cancer deaths worldwide. (Tsanni, 6/21)
Los Angeles Times: Cooking With Gas May Be As Bad As Inhaling Secondhand Smoke
Cooking with gas-fired stoves can cause unsafe levels of toxics to accumulate inside homes, exposing people to roughly the same cancer risk as breathing secondhand cigarette smoke, according to a new study. Researchers from Stanford University and nonprofit PSE Healthy Energy tested gas and propane stoves in 87 homes across California and Colorado and found that every appliance produced a detectable amount of cancer-causing benzene — a chemical with no safe level of exposure. (Briscoe, 6/21)
On nutrition —
CNN: FDA To Test Out Nutrition Labels On The Front Of Food Packaging
The United States Food and Drug Administration will test out labels on the front of food packages in the hope of giving shoppers better access to nutrition information, the agency said. The goal is to address diet-related chronic disease by “empowering consumers with nutrition information to help them more easily identify healthier choices and encouraging industry innovation to produce healthier foods,” the FDA said in a recent regulatory filing. (Holcombe, 6/21)
The New York Times: Lab-Grown Meat Approved To Sell For The First Time In The U.S.
The Agriculture Department approved the production and sale of laboratory-grown meat for the first time on Wednesday, clearing the way for two California companies to sell chicken produced from animal cells. ... Supporters of alternative proteins along with the companies that sought federal approval — Upside Foods and Good Meat — celebrated the news as pivotal for the meat industry and the broader food system at a moment of growing concern about the environmental impact of meat production and its treatment of animals. (Qiu, 6/21)
The Washington Post: Athletes Swear By Ketone Drinks. A New Study Says They Don’t Work
Many competitive athletes, especially cyclists and runners, swear by ketone drinks, a popular sports supplement that promises to improve athletic performance by packing many of the purported benefits of a low-carb, high-fat, ketogenic diet into a single beverage. ... But in a new study, the supplement didn’t amplify recreational cyclists’ racing speed and instead left them performing worse after swallowing the beverage than after a placebo. It also gave many of them gas. (Reynolds, 6/21)
