Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Infant Sleep Guides Updated, But Key Parts Remain Same
CNN: Infant Safe Sleep Guidelines Updated, But Message Is Same: Put Baby Flat On Back, Alone
Co-sleeping under any circumstances is not safe for infant sleep, the American Academy of Pediatrics stressed Tuesday in the first update to its safe sleep guidelines for babies since 2016. "We know that many parents choose to share a bed with a child, for instance, perhaps to help with breastfeeding or because of a cultural preference or a belief that it is safe," said Dr. Rebecca Carlin, who coauthored the guidelines and technical report from the AAP Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and the AAP Committee on Fetus and Newborn, in a statement. "The evidence is clear that (co-sleeping) significantly raises the risk of a baby's injury or death," said Carlin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. "For that reason AAP cannot support bed-sharing under any circumstances." (LaMotte, 6/21)
In other pediatric news —
The Boston Globe: Shipments Of Baby Formula Arrive At Logan Airport From London
Delta Airlines on Monday flew a large shipment of baby formula from London to Logan International Airport as the US continues to grapple with a formula shortage, according to the airline. “The first flight was today, June 20,” said Delta spokesperson Catherine Morrow via email Monday. A spokesperson for Massport, which runs Logan, referred questions to Delta. In a statement released June 10, the White House said the Biden administration had arranged the sixth Operation Fly Formula flight to US, with Delta transporting Kendamil formula free of charge from London to Logan in Boston and Detroit Metro Airport between June 20 and June 24. (Andersen, 6/20)
The Washington Post: More Kids Are Ingesting Melatonin. Here’s What Parents Should Know.
When Varun Vohra, director of the Michigan Poison & Drug Information Center at Wayne State University School of Medicine, noticed more cases involving children who had ingested the sleep aid melatonin, it prompted him to join forces with other experts who had observed a similar increase, and study the issue. But even the research team, which was made up of pediatricians and toxicologists, was surprised by the results: From January 2012 through December 2021, the annual number of pediatric ingestions of melatonin reported to poison control centers across the United States rose a whopping 530 percent, with a total of 260,435 ingestions reported over that time. (Chang, 6/20)
The 19th: What Is CMV? Parents Call For More Awareness On Cytomegalovirus
For Megan H. Pesch, doing everything possible to ensure the health of her third baby became a bit of an obsession. While pregnant, Pesch exercised, avoided changing her cat’s litter and put off getting highlights in hair, just in case the chemicals could have any effects. She even washed her hair with baking soda instead of commercial shampoo during the first trimester — though she is quick to admit this is not an evidence-based recommendation. As a developmental and behavioral pediatrician with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Pesch was better positioned than most people to understand the precautions she needed to take. (Norwood, 6/17)
Side Effects Public Media: When Children With Sickle Cell Grow Up, They Face A System Not Designed For Them
One night when Paul Gakpo was 9 months old, he fell sick and wouldn’t eat. His parents grew worried and rushed him to a nearby hospital the next morning. It was 1984. The doctors figured out baby Gakpo’s red blood cells were changing from the typical doughnut shape into the shape of a half moon, and what he was experiencing was a sickle cell disease pain crisis. “I had some damage done to my feet and my legs, and could have lost my legs,” Paul said. “But luckily they were able to save… my walking ability.” (Yousry, 6/20)
More health and wellness news —
Press Association: Can You Lose Weight Sleeping? New Diabetes Treatment Tests The Theory
People with type 2 diabetes could be helped to lose weight while they sleep with a new treatment method being tested by scientists. Researchers at the University of Portsmouth are seeking volunteers to try out the new system which will see if breathing lower amounts of oxygen (hypoxia) during sleep could lead to weight loss. The aim of the study is to investigate whether sleeping in special tents creating an environment of lower oxygen in the air is effective at improving blood glucose control and has an impact of weight loss. (Mitchell, 6/20)
The New York Times: Stress Might Age The Immune System, New Study Finds
By now, most people know that stress can take a serious toll on mental and physical health. And when that stress is prolonged, studies suggest, it can increase the risk of certain health conditions like asthma, ulcers, heart attack and stroke. Now, new research suggests that certain types of stress can even age your immune system. (Seo, 6/17)
The Washington Post: After School Shootings, Teachers Struggle For Years With Trauma
One teacher from Connecticut stretches out her arms when she recalls what it was like to hold and corral her second-graders as they fled from a shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary School. A social studies teacher from Florida still remembers seeing three students’ bodies in the hallway as a SWAT team led her class out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. A principal from Ohio can still hear the high school junior who told the teen who had shot him, “You don’t have to do this; you haven’t killed anybody.” Across the country, roughly 311,000 students who have experienced gun violence at school since the Columbine High shooting in Colorado in 1999, according to a database compiled by The Washington Post, including those in Uvalde, Tex., last month. But hundreds of educators, too, have come through this catastrophe. (Asbury, 6/20)
New Hampshire Public Radio: New Survey Finds About A Third Of Latinos Have Experienced Racial Discrimination During The Pandemic
The Pew Research Center recently published the results of a survey that shows Latinos in the United States experience racial discrimination from other Latinos in various ways: from comments about the color of their skin to criticism for speaking Spanish in public. Ana González-Barrera, an expert on immigration and border deportations who was part of the team that did the study, talked with the Que Hay team about it. (Lozada, 6/20)
On transgender issues —
The Wall Street Journal: International Swimming Bars Transgender Women From Competing In Women’s Events
Swimming’s global governing body, FINA, barred almost all transgender women from competing in the women’s category in international events, departing from an approach that had previously allowed their participation if they could meet certain testosterone levels. FINA won’t allow swimmers who have gone through male puberty to participate in women’s events, regardless of their later actions to suppress testosterone. Some swimmers who have not undergone male puberty may also be required to manage testosterone levels under the policy, which takes effect Monday. (Higgins and Radnofsky, 6/20)
Reuters: Explainer: How Will Swimming's New Transgender Rules Work?
The new eligibility policy for FINA competitions states that male-to-female transgender swimmers (transgender women) are eligible to compete in women's competitions only if "they can establish to FINA's comfortable satisfaction that they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 (of puberty) or before age 12, whichever is later". Typically boys will begin puberty at ages 11-12 and complete the process by 16-17. Tanner Stage Two is the second of five stages of puberty. While puberty timetables vary according to a number of factors, boys can have completed stage 2 and entered stage 3 by the age of 12 or 13. In some cases it may be earlier or later. (6/20)
