Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
End-Of-Life Guidance For Heart Disease Stuck In The Past When It Used To Kill Quickly
The New York Times: For Patients With Heart Failure, Little Guidance As Death Nears
Ricky Hurst’s doctors told him last year that there was nothing more they could do. His heart was failing and he should get his affairs in order. The end was coming. His family gathered. He spoke to his pastor and resigned himself to death. “If it was meant to be, it was meant to be,” he said. (Kolata, 11/6)
Stat: Bipartisan Bill Pushes For The ‘Next Step’ In Solving Alzheimer's
A bipartisan group of four senators on Monday introduced a bill they say would better align Alzheimer’s treatment and prevention strategies with public health approaches for other chronic health conditions, allowing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to “create a modern infrastructure for the prevention, treatment, and care of Alzheimer’s and related dementias.” The legislation, authored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), focuses on improving early detection mechanisms, local health program coordination, and data-gathering operations. (Facher, 11/6)
NPR: A Quest: Insulin-Releasing Implant For Type-1 Diabetes
Scientists in California think they may have found a way to transplant insulin-producing cells into diabetic patients who lack those cells — and protect the little insulin-producers from immune rejection. Their system, one of several promising approaches under development, hasn't yet been tested in people. But if it works, it could make living with diabetes much less of a burden. For now, patients with Type-1 diabetes have to regularly test their blood sugar levels, and inject themselves with insulin when it's needed. (Palca, 11/6)
NPR: Sleepless Night Leaves Some Brain Cells As Sluggish As You Feel
When people don't get enough sleep, certain brain cells literally slow down. A study that recorded directly from neurons in the brains of 12 people found that sleep deprivation causes the bursts of electrical activity that brain cells use to communicate to become slower and weaker, a team reports online Monday in Nature Medicine. (Hamilton, 11/6)
The Denver Post: Connecting Moms-To-Be And Doctors Online Can Boost Vaccination Rates, Study Says
Being able to connect with doctors online during pregnancy about vaccine concerns may encourage new mothers to make sure their babies get all the recommended shots, according to a new study in Colorado. Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Institute for Health Research found that, when moms-to-be were able to ask questions of doctors and other experts through a specially made website, their children were significantly more likely to be fully vaccinated after six months than if the moms weren’t given the option of online interaction. (Ingold, 11/6)
Stat: FDA Clears The Way For More Consumer Genetic Health Tests To Hit The Market
The floodgates for direct-to-consumer genetic tests are swinging wide open. The Food and Drug Administration plans on loosening many of the regulations surrounding genetic health risk tests, or GHRs, according to a statement Monday from Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. It’s a change of course for the agency, which in 2013 put a freeze on direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic tests for health conditions. Since then, the FDA has generally been approving tests one by one before they hit the market. (Keshavan, 11/6)
Stat: Tiny Human Brain Organoids Implanted Into Rodents, Triggering Ethical Concerns
Minuscule blobs of human brain tissue have come a long way in the four years since scientists in Vienna discovered how to create them from stem cells. The most advanced of these human brain organoids — no bigger than a lentil and, until now, existing only in test tubes — pulse with the kind of electrical activity that animates actual brains. They give birth to new neurons, much like full-blown brains. And they develop the six layers of the human cortex, the region responsible for thought, speech, judgment, and other advanced cognitive functions. (Begley, 11/6)
Kaiser Health News: Beyond Stigma And Bias, Many Transgender People Struggle With Mental Health
Diana Feliz Oliva, a 45-year-old transgender woman who grew up outside Fresno, Calif., remembers being bullied when she was younger and feeling confused about her gender identity. She was depressed and fearful about being found out, and she prayed every night for God to take her while she slept. “I was living in turmoil,” said Oliva, who now works as health program manager in a clinic for transgender people at St. John’s Well Child & Family Center in Los Angeles. “Every morning, I would wake up and I knew I would have to endure another day.” (Gorman, 11/7)
