Can Online Services Aid Type-2 Diabetes Patients? Digital Health Providers Say Yes, But Medicare Says No For Now
The digital health care industry has the backing of the American Medical Association when claiming it can help millions of people who are at risk of developing the disease and don't have ready access to doctors to make important lifestyle changes. Medicare is less sure, it says, until the online services are fully validated. Public health news includes reports on ''predatory'' journals, a former Obama administrator's new role, breastfeeding, sunscreen, metastatic cancer research, dengue fever and healthy eating.
Stat:
Digital Health Start-Ups Want To Help Medicare Prevent Diabetes
In rolling out a first-of-its-kind program to prevent diabetes, Medicare officials dashed the hopes of many start-ups in 2017 by deciding to exclude online health companies from participation. Since the program’s launch, however, large cracks have formed in Medicare’s service network. The program, which offers classes to improve diet and exercise habits, has no providers in Alabama or Mississippi — states in the heart of the so-called diabetes belt — and only one in Georgia, according to a federal database of more than 460 participants. (Ross, 4/4)
The New York Times:
‘Predatory’ Scientific Publisher Is Hit With A $50 Million Judgment
In the world of scientific research, they are pernicious impostors. So-called predatory journals, online publications with official-sounding names, publish virtually anything, even gibberish, that an academic researcher submits — for a fee. Critics have long maintained that these journals are eroding scientific credibility and wasting grant money. But academics must publish research to further their careers, and the number of questionable outlets has exploded. (Kolata, 4/3)
Bloomberg:
Ex-Obama White House Adviser Will Lead Cancer Treatment Centers
Cancer Treatment Centers of America Global Inc. named Pat Basu, a former Obama administration adviser and Stanford University Medical Center doctor, as its chief executive officer. He is replacing Rajesh K. Garg, who stepped down in July. Basu, 40, brings a diverse background to the role of running the company’s network of hospitals and outpatient centers across the U.S. (Koons, 4/3)
Stat:
Experts Call For More Research About Taking Medicine While Breastfeeding
A growing number of babies born in the U.S. are breastfed, and health officials are pushing to make it easier for even more new mothers to nurse their babies. But experts say there still isn’t enough research about one of the most common experiences among lactating women: taking medication. Scientific studies frequently exclude pregnant and lactating women, which means there’s little information about whether drugs are safe to use while pregnant or breastfeeding, how well they work, or the best doses to take. And in a new perspective paper published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, OB-GYNs say there is still a slew of unanswered questions about drug use while breastfeeding. (Thielking, 4/3)
NPR:
Many Miss Sunscreen Around Eyes And Other Spots Vulnerable To Skin Cancer
You may not be thin-skinned, but your eyelids certainly are. The fragile tissue is the thinnest on the body, less than 1 millimeter thick. While crepe-thin skin is great for blinking, it makes the area especially vulnerable to the sun's UV rays. Five to 10 percent of skin cancers occur on the eyelid. Unfortunately, that same patch of sensitive skin is the area where we're most likely to skimp on sun protection, according to a study published Wednesday in PLOS One. (Ellis, 4/3)
The Associated Press:
People Living With Incurable Cancers Urge More Research
Tom Smith hesitated to buy light bulbs guaranteed for up to 10 years, thinking they'd outlast him. Terry Langbaum debated filling a prescription for a $13,000-a-month drug that keeps cancer from worsening for three months on average and carries six pages of warnings. "There are so many of us living with cancers that can't be cured," Langbaum said. "We study the treatments but we don't study what it's like to be the person going through treatment." (4/3)
The New York Times:
The Boy Was Feverish, With A Swollen Testicle. What Could He Possibly Have?
I can’t eat,” the 16-year-old boy announced sadly. He and his brother, along with their parents, were in London on vacation. The boy arrived a few days earlier, but he’d felt awful for the two weeks before that. Sitting at the restaurant, the boy looked sick — he was pale and clearly uncomfortable. “I have to go back to the room,” he said. His mother handed him the key, and he limped slowly to the elevators to go back to bed. That summer had started normally enough. The boy and his family spent two weeks in Hawaii, where they had a vacation home. Then they went back to their year-round home in Seattle to prepare for the rest of what was going to be a busy summer. (Sanders, 4/4)
The New York Times:
Eat Your Veggies: Study Finds Poor Diets Linked To One In Five Deaths
Mom is right when she says to eat your peas. In one of the largest surveys of data on global dietary habits and longevity, researchers found that consuming vegetables, fruits, fish and whole grains was strongly associated with a longer life — and that people who skimped on such healthy foods were more likely to die before their time. (Jacobs, 4/3)
