Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Doctor's Struggles Show How Promising Research Ideas Can Founder In Obscurity
Stat: Harvard Doctor Pursues A Long-Ignored Treatment For Strokes, Heart Attacks
He’s a professor at Harvard Medical School, but in many ways, Dr. Victor Gurewich is an outsider. ... So it’s perhaps not surprising that, more than 20 years after figuring out a combination therapy that he believes is a safer, more effective way to treat heart attacks and strokes, he’s had little success getting anyone to listen. (Weintraub, 4/6)
Los Angeles Times: Surprise! Scientists Find Signs Of New Brain Cells In Adults As Old As 79
Do we continue to add new neurons to our brain circuitry throughout our lives? Or does our neuron count remain fixed once we reach adulthood? The scientific debate rages on. In a report published Thursday in Cell Stem Cell, scientists from Columbia University present new evidence that our brains continue to make hundreds of new neurons a day, even after we reach our 70s, in a process known as neurogenesis. (Netburn, 4/5)
CQ: Trump's FDA Looks Anew At Banning Menthol Cigarettes
President Barack Obama signed legislation in 2010 giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate cigarettes and banning the flavored varieties known to hook young people. That is, except for menthol, the minty choice that is particularly popular among black smokers and is a cash cow for Altria, the cigarette maker whose support enabled passage of the 2010 law. Now, ironically, it’s Donald Trump’s FDA that says it is seriously looking at banning menthol. The 2010 law gave the FDA authority to do so and three years later the agency said it had determined that menthol did cause more people to start smoking and made it harder for them to later stop. But it never did anything about it. (Zeller, 4/9)
The New York Times: A Perplexing Marijuana Side Effect Relieved By Hot Showers
By the time Thomas Hodorowski made the connection between his marijuana habit and the bouts of pain and vomiting that left him incapacitated every few weeks, he had been to the emergency room dozens of times, tried anti-nausea drugs, anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants, endured an upper endoscopy procedure and two colonoscopies, seen a psychiatrist and had his appendix and gallbladder removed. The only way to get relief for the nausea and pain was to take a hot shower. (Rabin, 4/5)
Los Angeles Times: In L.A. Today, Fitness Can Mean IV Drips, Vitamin Shots And A Daily Freeze At -292 Degrees
When Amber Dodson needs a break from her rigorous workout regimen, she steps nearly naked into a high-tech machine that looks like a giant energy drink can. Only her head is visible as the temperature in the chamber plummets to minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit for three minutes, liquid nitrogen vapor billowing down the sides. "I tend to get extremely inflamed and I don't like taking days off," said Dodson, 36, who pays $299 a month for up to 30 sessions at Coast Cryo in Marina del Rey. "It's been a lifesaver because I can't deal with sore muscles and bad sleep." (White, 4/5)
Kaiser Health News: To Treat Pain, PTSD And Other Ills, Tennessee Vets Try Tai Chi
Every week in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Zibin Guo guides veterans in wheelchairs through slow-motion tai chi poses as a Bluetooth speaker plays soothing instrumental music. “Cloudy hands to the right, cloudy hands to the left,” he tells them, referring to the move traditionally known as “cloud hands.” “Now we’re going to open your arms, grab the wheels and 180-degree turn.” (Farmer, 4/6)
WBUR: Ineffective Treatment Often Prescribed For Lower Back Pain, Report Says
Disability from chronic back pain can hurt a person's ability to earn a living. One of the Lancet studies found that among rural Nigerian farmers, half reduced their workload because of back pain — an example of how the disability could contribute to the cycle of poverty in countries that lack benefits such as sick days or a social safety net. (Shaikh-Lesko, 4/5)
