Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
If Placebos Have No Pharmaceutical Effect, Why Do They Still Deliver Health Benefits?
The Wall Street Journal: Why Placebos Really Work: The Latest Science
Scientists are finding a growing number of ways placebos appear to bring about real health benefits in patients. The research could someday lead to increased use of placebos—substances that have no apparent pharmaceutical effect—in treatments for common diseases. (Reddy, 7/18)
The Washington Post: How Alzheimer’s Turned A Daughter Into Her Mom’s Mom
As her mother’s memories began to fade, [Loretta] Veney fashioned a new role for herself as a memory-keeper, leading her to write and self-publish “Being My Mom’s Mom: A Journey Through Dementia From a Daughter’s Perspective.” ... “When I started looking for information to help me understand more about dementia,” she says, “I found that there weren’t a lot of books that were written from an adult child’s perspective, and there were definitely not any written by African Americans. So I thought maybe I could write down my experience, the things I’d learned, the things that I did wrong, and make it a little easier for someone else.” (Hartke, 7/18)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Despite Promising Treatments, Hepatitis C Continues To Rise
About twice the number of Wisconsinites are living with hepatitis C than have been diagnosed. About 38,000 Wisconsinites have confirmed cases of the virus, according to the state Department of Health Services' most recent figures from December 2013, though an estimated 74,000 Wisconsin residents are projected to be infected. And that number is going up, fueled by drug users who contract the virus by sharing infected needles, according to preliminary figures to be released by the Department of Health Services later this month. (Bekker, 7/18)
Consumer Reports: Sun And Heat Can Make Some Drugs Dangerous While Making Others Less Potent
Some widely used medications can make you far more sensitive to summer’s sunlight and heat than you’d usually be. For example: Certain over-the-counter and prescription antihistamines and common antidepressants reduce your ability to sweat, which makes it difficult for your body to regulate its temperature properly. That makes you more prone to muscle cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which can rapidly escalate into an emergency. (7/18)
And in more news on the Pregnancy Study Online, Paralympics and WWE —
WBUR: Caffeine? Boxers Or Briefs? Laptop Use? Study Seeks Clues To Fertility, Including Men's
Hundreds of men are offering up intimate details of their lives — from sex to food to their underwear preferences — as part of a major study on fertility led by researchers at Boston University. It's called PRESTO, for Pregnancy Study Online, and it's the largest preconception study in North America. When it comes to male participation, it's the largest study of its kind in the world: Nearly 3,500 women and 945 men from the U.S. and Canada have enrolled in the web-based study, and all of the participants are just starting to try to conceive. (Zimmerman, 7/18)
Stat: A Star Athlete Heads To Rio To Keep Paralympians Healthy — And To Watch For ‘Boosting’
When Paralympic athletes hit the swimming pool and race tracks in Rio de Janeiro, Dr. Cheri Blauwet will be there — this time, not as a competitor, but as a medical advisor tracking concussions, infections, and blindfolded collisions. Blauwet, who’s 36, rose to fame as a wheelchair racer, scoring two Boston Marathon victories and seven Paralympic medals. Paralyzed from the waist down after a childhood farming accident, she is now an instructor at Harvard Medical School, a researcher, and a sports medicine doctor at two Boston hospitals, Brigham and Women’s and Spaulding Rehabilitation. Blauwet plans to head to Rio in late August in a new role: heading up the medical committee that advises the Paralympic Games. (Bailey, 7/19)
The Boston Globe: Ex-Wrestlers File Suit Against WWE For Concealing Concussion Dangers
More than 50 former professional wrestlers filed a lawsuit Monday against World Wrestling Entertainment, alleging the company concealed the dangers of repetitive head injuries that caused them debilitating neurological damage. The suit, which was filed in US District Court in WWE’s home state of Connecticut, details the experiences of 53 ex-performers who allege a possible link between their head injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative brain disease that has been diagnosed in many deceased athletes and at least two professional wrestlers. (Hohler, 7/18)
