Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Experimental Brain Implants Helping Paralyzed People Communicate Again
NPR: New Technology Is Letting Paralyzed Patients Communicate
For Pat Bennett, 68, every spoken word is a struggle. Bennett has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative disease that has disabled the nerve cells controlling her vocal and facial muscles. As a result, her attempts to speak sound like a series of grunts. But in a lab at Stanford University, an experimental brain-computer interface is able to transform Bennett's thoughts into easily intelligible sentences, like, "I am thirsty," and "bring my glasses here." (Hamilton, 8/23)
The New York Times: A Stroke Stole Her Ability to Speak at 30. A.I. Is Helping to Restore It Years Later
At Ann Johnson’s wedding reception 20 years ago, her gift for speech was vividly evident. In an ebullient 15-minute toast, she joked that she had run down the aisle, wondered if the ceremony program should have said “flutist” or “flautist” and acknowledged that she was “hogging the mic.” Just two years later, Mrs. Johnson — then a 30-year-old teacher, volleyball coach and mother of an infant — had a cataclysmic stroke that paralyzed her and left her unable to talk. (Belluck, 8/23)
In other science news —
USA Today: Mapping The Y Chromosome, Which Makes Males Biologically Distinct
Two decades after the human genome sequence was completed, researchers have finally finished a map of the piece that makes males distinct. The Y chromosome is what distinguishes biological males from females. It determines male fertility, including sperm production, and typically is used to determine paternal lineage for tracking inheritance and ancestry. (Weintraub, 8/23)
Stat: Complete Sequence Of Y Chromosome Published For First Time
Two years ago, when an international team of scientists announced it had finally sequenced and assembled the first fully complete human genome, including previously unmappable regions, Melissa Wilson was ecstatic. She reached out to Adam Phillippy, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health and a leader of the Telomere-to-Telomere Consortium to congratulate him on the accomplishment. And to ask the question she was almost too excited to utter: “And the Y?” (Molteni, 8/23)
More health and wellness news —
NPR: New Class Of Flame Retardants Found In Breast Milk Raises Concerns
In the early 2000s, researchers tested breast milk samples from U.S. mothers and found high levels of toxic compounds used as a common flame retardant in household items. The compounds, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), were gradually phased out after a link was found with certain health risks. It sounds like a public health success story, but new research suggests it may not be quite that simple. This summer, scientists detected a new set of similar flame retardants in the breast milk of 50 U.S. women. (Roldan, 8/24)
NBC News: Federal Staffers Recommend Safety Requirements For Nursing Pillows After Dozens Of Infant Deaths
The Consumer Product Safety Commission staff on Wednesday recommended the first federal requirements to make nursing pillows safer and discourage caregivers from setting babies down on the pillows to sleep, citing dozens of deaths associated with the popular infant product. ... “Because infants frequently fall asleep during or after feeding, nursing pillows are foreseeably misused for infant sleep, which creates a potential hazard for the infant,” according to the staff’s draft proposal. (Khimm and Chuck, 8/23)
The Washington Post: Stop Kissing And Snuggling Turtles, CDC Warns Amid Salmonella Outbreak
“Don’t kiss or snuggle your turtle, and don’t eat or drink around it. This can spread Salmonella germs to your mouth and make you sick,” the CDC warned, adding that turtles with shells less than four inches long are “a known source of illness.” (Cho, 8/23)
