Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
How Lifting Weights May Actually Improve Your Ability To Think
The New York Times: How Weight Training Changes The Brain
Weight training may have benefits for brain health, at least in rats. When rats lift weights, they gain strength and also change the cellular environment inside their brains, improving their ability to think, according to a notable new study of resistance training, rodents and the workings of their minds. The study finds that weight training, accomplished in rodents with ladders and tiny, taped-on weights, can reduce or even reverse aspects of age-related memory loss. The finding may have important brain-health implications for those of us who are not literal gym rats. (Reynolds, 7/24)
NPR: Neurologist Unlocks A 'Secret World' Of Sleep — And Sleep Disorders
We tend to think of being asleep or awake as an either-or prospect: If you're not asleep, then you must be awake. But sleep disorder specialist and neurologist Guy Leschziner says it's not that simple. "If one looks at the brain during sleep, we now know that actually sleep is not a static state," Leschziner says. "There are a number of different brain states that occur while we sleep." As head of the sleep disorders center at Guy's Hospital in London, Leschziner has treated patients with a host of nocturnal problems, including insomnia, night terrors, narcolepsy, sleep walking, sleep eating and sexsomnia, a condition in which a person pursues sexual acts while asleep. (Davies, 7/23)
NPR: How To Help Your Anxious Partner — And Yourself
Living with anxiety can be tough — your thoughts might race, you might dread tasks others find simple (like driving to work) and your worries might feel inescapable. But loving someone with anxiety can be hard too. You might feel powerless to help or overwhelmed by how your partner's feelings affect your daily life. If so, you're not alone: Multiple studies have shown that anxiety disorders may contribute to marital dissatisfaction. (Neilson, 7/24)
Kaiser Health News: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: Real Lessons Doctors Can Learn From Fake Patients
Sometimes doctors get the “medical stuff” right while patients still get the wrong care. That’s one finding from a study that sent fake patients — actors wired with recording devices — into real doctors’ offices. When the “patients” walked into the doctor’s office to tell their story, physicians were often laser-focused on biomedical issues. But the physicians often missed the psychosocial problems that can be a barrier to good health. (Weissmann, 7/24)
CNN: More People Try Drugs In Summer, Study Says
Summer brings heat waves, trips to the beach and sometimes painful sunburns. But according to a new study, the season may also usher in the use of cocaine, ecstasy and molly. People are more likely to try those three party drugs and marijuana during the summer, researchers found, with over a third of LSD use and around 30% of ecstasy and marijuana use starting in the season. Around 28% of cocaine use also began in the summer. (Azad, 7/23)
The Washington Post: Deadly Fungal Disease May Be Linked To Climate Change, Study Suggests
Three years ago, U.S. health officials warned hundreds of thousands of clinicians in hospitals around the country to be on the lookout for a new, quickly spreading and highly drug-resistant type of yeast that was causing potentially fatal infections in hospitalized patients around the world. Candida auris has become a serious global health threat since it was identified a decade ago, especially for patients with compromised immune systems. (Sun, 7/23)
The Wall Street Journal: Are Oreos Part Of A Mindful Diet? Snack Makers Promote Chewing Thoughtfully
Earlier this month, about two dozen employees from Mondelez International ’s headquarters sat facing a wall emblazoned with the company’s snack brands including Oreo cookies, Triscuit crackers, Swedish Fish candy, Cadbury chocolate and Nilla wafers. They gathered to learn how to eat these foods in a new way. After breathing and meditation exercises, the group was told to slowly reach for a cracker, take one bite, and then set it down. “Close your eyes and chew slowly,” said Claire Mark, a local meditation instructor who led the class. “Try to bring in a deeper level of awareness to the muscles that it takes to chew, to the physical experience of having food in your mouth, to recognize how it feels to swallow.” After a pause, the group repeated the process for each of the remaining bites needed to eat two crackers. (Byron, 7/23)
