Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Exoskeleton Allows Disabled Doctor To Perform Surgery While Standing
Newsweek: 'Medical History': Disabled Doctor Uses Exoskeleton To Perform Surgery
A disabled doctor in Spain has performed surgery standing up for the first time ever thanks to innovative exoskeleton technology. Faustino Afonso—a doctor, paralympic athlete and founder of Athletes Without Borders Association—was able to remain on his feet throughout the entire operation. (Dewan, 7/14)
In other research news —
NPR: Startup Aims To Make Lab-Grown Human Eggs From Anyone's Cells Using IVG
On a cloudy day on a gritty side street near the shore of San Francisco Bay, a young man answers the door at a low concrete building. "I'm Matt Krisiloff. Nice to meet you," says one of the founders of Conception, a biotech startup that is trying to do something audacious: revolutionize the way humans reproduce. "So let me find them real quick," says Krisiloff as he turns to look for his co-founders, Pablo Hurtado and Bianka Seres, so they can explain Conception's mission. (Stein, 7/15)
Fox News: 'Dentist's Dream' Of Regrowing Teeth Advances To Clinical Trials In Japan, Says Report
A shark’s menacing teeth can scare anyone out of the water — but one aspect of some sharks' existence may be worth emulating: their ability to regrow teeth. An experimental medicine in Japan that could revolutionize the field of dentistry is now moving to clinical trials to create, potentially, the world’s first medicine to regrow teeth, according to a recent report in the country’s national news site, the Mainichi. (Sudhakar, 7/15)
Fox News: Vision Problems Could Mean Higher Dementia Risk, Study Finds: 'Eye Health And Brain Health Are Closely Linked'
Older adults with vision problems may be more likely to develop dementia, a new study published in JAMA Ophthalmology has found. Researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor analyzed data from the 2021 National Health and Aging Trends Study, which showed a link between all types of vision problems — distance acuity, near acuity and contrast sensitivity — and a higher prevalence of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. (Rudy, 7/16)
CIDRAP: Flu Vaccine Linked To Reduced Antibiotic Use
A systematic review and meta-analysis shows that influenza vaccination is associated with significantly reduced antibiotic use, while the effect of pneumococcal vaccination is less pronounced, Dutch researchers reported today in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control. (Dall, 7/14)
Stat: Celiac Disease Study Examines Precisely How Gluten Triggers Injury
For a person with celiac disease, eating a bagel goes something like this: chewing and savoring, the flavor of the high-gluten bread made ever more delicious by its forbidden nature, by knowing there will be hell to pay. Then, the bagel is broken down, separated into the digestible and the not: Parts of gliadin, a protein found in gluten, stay in the gut. And that’s where things start to go awry. Immune cells detect the presence of gliadin and freak out, activating a full-blown inflammatory response that leads to pain and intestinal damage. (Cueto, 7/14)
CIDRAP: A Fourth Of Kansas City School Nasal Swabs Test Positive For Respiratory Viruses, Study Finds
Surveillance at a large school district in Kansas City, Missouri, found that 25% of nasal swabs from students and staff tested positive for common non-COVID respiratory viruses, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. To determine the prevalence of respiratory viruses in school students and staff members, researchers tested samples from a large school district in Kansas City that includes 33 pre-kindergarten (pre-K) through grade 12 schools during the 2022-23 school year. (Wappes, 7/14)
