Hospitals Just Don’t Seem To Want To Budge From Those Standard Uncomfortable Gowns

Stat: Why Do Hospitals Bare Butts When There Are Better Gowns Around?
But if everyone agrees that the old garments are horrible, and if fashion designers — working with doctors and nurses, no less — have created better gowns, why are we still having this conversation? The higher cost of new gowns is a big reason why many hospitals still use traditional tie-in-the-back johnnies. In addition, some fans of the old design think the new versions aren’t patient-friendly enough, and the standard ones are just fine; they’re convenient and functional, giving easy access to parts of the body clinicians need to poke and prod (Tedeschi, 1/25)

Stat: What Can We Learn From The Latest Alzheimer’s Drug Failure?
The corpse was already cold, but now it is well and truly buried: Researchers finally published the final results of the final clinical trial of Eli Lilly’s (LLY) experimental Alzheimer’s drug solanezumab. The bottom line — failure — has been known since Dr. Lawrence Honig of Columbia University unveiled the sad details at the 2016 Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference. But the reaction of outside experts, plus little asides in the New England Journal of Medicine paper, offer an intriguing glimpse into the sorry state of Alzheimer’s drug development. (Begley, 1/24)

The New York Times: The Mysterious Interior World Of Exercise
When we exercise, far-flung parts of our bodies apparently communicate with one another, thanks to tiny, particle-filled balloons that move purposefully through the bloodstream from one cell to another, carrying pressing biochemical messages, according to an important new study of the biology of exercise. The study helps to clarify some of the body-wide health effects of working out and also underscores just how physiologically complex exercise is. (Reynolds, 1/24)

NPR: Will States Continue To Fund Stem Cell Research?
The year was 2004, and according to certain TV ads in California, great medical breakthroughs might be just around the corner. In these political ads, celebrities Michael J. Fox and Christopher Reeve, both facing serious, chronic conditions, touted the promise of stem cell research, which they believed could lead to a plethora of cures for life-threatening diseases. (Gorn, 1/25)

The Wall Street Journal: In California, Where Cancer Warnings Abound, Coffee Is Next In Line
A California court case could turn every cup of coffee here into a jolt of reality on the risks of cancer. Under a state law, cancer warnings already follow Californians when they enter the lobby of apartment buildings, drive into parking garages and sit down at restaurants. They also pop up on products including kitty litter, ceramic plates and black licorice. (Randazzo, 1/24)

The Washington Post: Marijuana-Based Anti-Seizure Drug Could Hit U.S. Market In 2018 After Strong Study Results
A new class of epilepsy medications based on an ingredient derived from marijuana could be available as soon as the second half of 2018 in the United States, pending Food and Drug Administration approval. Officials from GW Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the drug, on Wednesday announced promising results from a study on 171 patients randomized into treatment and placebo groups. (Cha, 1/24)

Kaiser Health News: A Push To Get Older Adults In Better Shape For Surgery
Surgery can be hard on older adults, resulting in serious complications and death far more often than in younger patients. But many seniors aren’t adequately prepared for the risks they might face. Innovative hospitals such as Duke University Medical Center, the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center and Michigan Medicine are working to change that. In the week leading up to surgery, they prescribe exercise to seniors, make sure they’re eating healthy foods and try to minimize anxiety and stress, among other initiatives. (Graham, 1/25)