Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ferguson's Children: How A Legacy Of Racial Tensions Is Shaping A Generation
The New York Times: He’s A Veteran Of Upheaval, Molded By Ferguson’s Traumas. He’s 7.
David Morrison carries the scars of Ferguson’s upheaval. A veteran protester, he has fled gunshots and tear gas, marched, waved signs and played dead on the asphalt in years of activism that unspooled after a white police officer killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. “I’m so angry!” he shouts. He is 7 years old. (Healy and Besman, 8/8)
WBUR: Where Racial Gaps In American Health Care Melt Away: Military Insurance
Past research has found a consistent pattern of racial inequality in American health care. Now, new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital finds an island of racial equality — among patients in the military health care system. The research, published in the journal Health Affairs, looked at a common heart disease procedure among more than 8,000 patients insured by TRICARE, the military insurance for active-duty and retired personnel and their families. (Goldberg, 8/8)
Reuters: Study Shows Apple Devices In Combo With Apps Could Identify Dementia
Drugmaker Eli Lilly said on Thursday early results from a study suggest that Apple Inc devices, including the iPhone, in combination with digital apps could differentiate people with mild Alzheimer's disease dementia and those without symptoms. The study, tested in 113 participants over the age of 60, was conducted by Apple along with Eli Lilly and Evidation Health. (8/8)
The New York Times: In The Ethiopian Mountains, Ancient Humans Were Living The High Life
Scientists have discovered what is by far the oldest evidence of human occupation at extreme altitudes: a rock shelter strewn with bones, tools and hearths 11,000 feet above sea level. People lived at the site, in the mountains of Ethiopia, as long as 47,000 years ago. The research, reported on Thursday in the journal Science, contradicts the long-held view that high elevations were the last places on Earth settled by humans. (Zimmer, 8/8)
Modern Healthcare: Radiation May Be Better Than Anti-Hormonal Therapy For Breast Cancer
Researchers may have identified a treatment alternative for older women with low-risk forms of breast cancer. It could offer fewer adverse side effects than anti-hormonal drug therapies. The study found slightly higher survival rates for women over 70 with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer and took anti-estrogen medications than those who were treated with a short dose of radiation. All of the patients had undergone a lumpectomy before these treatments, according to a new report published Monday in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology. (Johnson, 8/8)
