Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HIV Infection Rate Tumbled By 20% In San Francisco Last Year
San Francisco Chronicle: New HIV Infections Fall Sharply In SF After Years Of Slowing Progress
The number of people newly diagnosed with HIV in San Francisco dropped by 20% in 2023 to 133 — the lowest in decades and a significant decline compared to an adjusted total of 167 in 2022, according to an annual HIV epidemiology report released Monday from the Department of Public Health. It marks an improvement from recent years, when new infections were flat or declined less than they had in previous years, signaling a slowdown in progress. (Ho, 9/23)
In other public health news —
CBS News: Popular Diabetes Drug Metformin May Slow Aging, Study Finds
A new study finds metformin, a popular diabetes drug that's taken by millions of Americans, may slow aging. Metformin is taken by mouth and is often the first medication chosen to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. Previous studies on "lower order" species have found that it can delay the onset of age-related diseases. Now a new study, performed on primates, reaffirms that the drug can slow organ aging, including aging of the brain. (Marshall, 9/23)
The Washington Post: Nearly 40 Percent Of Gen Z Men Don’t Have A Primary Care Provider
About 37 percent of Gen Z men in the United States do not have an established primary care provider, according to a recent survey from the Cleveland Clinic. The survey, conducted this summer, involved 1,000 American men 18 or older living in the continental United States. ... Nearly all the respondents said living a healthy lifestyle was a top priority, and 87 percent were concerned about how their current health habits would affect their future health. Millennials and adult Gen Zers were more likely to take care of their mental health (59 percent) than Gen X and boomers (53 percent), according to the survey. (Docter-Loeb, 9/23)
North Carolina Health News: Children Handle Grief Differently From Adults, And Each Other
When Max Binker was 10 years old, he woke up on a spring day in 2017 to a heartbreaking reality. His father had died suddenly, in the middle of the night. Max and his older brother Mason, who was 13 ½ at the time, went to therapy to help them deal with their grief. Their mother, Marla Binker, also sent the boys several times to Comfort Zone Camp, a weekend camp that works with children who have lost a loved one. (Fernandez, 9/24)
NPR: A Third Of Former NFL Players Surveyed Believe They Have CTE, Researchers Find
One-third of former professional football players reported in a new survey that they believe they have the degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. The research, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Neurology, represents one of the broadest surveys to date of former NFL players' perception of their cognitive health and how widely they report symptoms linked to CTE, which is thought to be caused by concussions and repeated hits to the head. (Sullivan, 9/23)
Reuters: Hottest US City Phoenix Smashes Heat Streak Record
The desert city of Phoenix, Arizona, suffered a record 113 straight days with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) this year, leading to hundreds of heat-related deaths and more acres burned by wildfire across the state, officials said. Heat has killed 256 people so far this year in Phoenix's Maricopa County and is the suspected cause of 393 other deaths, according to official data. The county had a record 645 heat deaths last year. (Salgado, 9/23)
Stat: HHS' Rachel Levine On Climate Change And Health
This summer, the American Red Cross declared an emergency blood shortage in the U.S. There’s a seasonal pattern to blood donations, which often dip over the summer and during the winter holidays. But experts also say that climate change disrupts the national blood supply, with extreme heat and worsening storms in certain regions keeping people away from blood banks. (Gaffney, 9/24)
