Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Kennedy Plans To Change Dietary Guidelines To Increase Saturated Fats
The Hill: RFK Jr. To Unveil New Guidance Encouraging More Saturated Fats
U.S. dietary guidelines could soon undergo another overhaul under the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, and the proposal has already drawn criticism. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to unveil new guidance encouraging the consumption of more foods previously considered unhealthy, including those high in saturated fats. (Smith, 10/20)
CNN: Diet Trends And Food Fads: Why American Values Are Changing When It Comes To Our Health
Americans’ steadfast dedication to their beliefs can be a good thing, but it can also go too far, Dr. Jessica Steier says – like when adults yell at Girl Scouts that the cookies they’re selling are “poison.” Steier, a science misinformation expert, says a mom recently told her that her daughter was berated by natural-foods fanatics while selling Toffee-tastics and Thin Mints outside a local grocery store. (Christensen, 10/20)
More health and wellness news —
The New York Times: Vision Restored Using Prosthetic Retinal Implant
For the first time, researchers restored some vision to people with a common type of eye disease by using a prosthetic retinal implant. If approved for broader use in the future, the treatment could improve the lives of an estimated one million, mostly older, people in the United States who lose their vision to the condition. The patients’ blindness occurs when cells in the center of the retina start to die, what is known as geographic atrophy resulting from age-related macular degeneration. (Kolata, 10/20)
Rewire News Group: More People Are Freezing Their Eggs — But Most Will Never Use Them
The largest known study on elective fertility preservation has found that more women in the United States are freezing their eggs than ever before. However, only a small proportion of patients return to thaw those eggs in hopes of getting pregnant. (Narang, 10/20)
MedPage Today: Global Study Reports Rise In Several Cancers Among Adults Of All Ages
Incidence of several cancers increased among adults of all ages in the past two decades, a global surveillance study found. From 2003-2017, incidence rates for six of 13 cancers assessed rose among younger adults (ages 20-49) in over 75% of the countries studied, reported Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, DPhil, of the Institute of Cancer in Sutton, England, and colleagues in Annals of Internal Medicine. (Monaco, 10/20)
CBS News: Nearly 90% Of Adults Are At Risk For This Condition, But Most Have Never Heard Of It, Survey Finds
About 9 in 10 adults in the United States have not heard of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome despite nearly 90% of adults being at risk for the condition, according to a recent survey from the American Heart Association. Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, or CKM syndrome, is a disorder caused by the connections between heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and obesity. The syndrome, which was defined by the AHA for the first time in October 2023, reflects how these conditions can influence or worsen each other. (Moniuszko, 10/20)
CIDRAP: Shingles Vaccine Tied To Significant Reductions In Risk Of Dementia, Heart Disease, And Death
Vaccination against herpes zoster (shingles) may reduce the risk of heart disease, dementia, and death in adults aged 50 and older, according to Case Western University research presented yesterday at IDWeek 2025 in Atlanta. (Van Beusekom, 10/20)
