Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Later-Life Cognitive Decline In Women Linked To Earlier Sexual Assaults
CNN: Sexual Assault Linked To Brain Damage Later In Life, Study Finds
Women who have been sexually assaulted have a higher risk of developing a type of brain damage that has been linked to cognitive decline, dementia and stroke, a new study found. "It could be either childhood sexual abuse or adult sexual assault," said study author Rebecca Thurston, a professor and director of the Women's Biobehavioral Health Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health. (LaMotte, 9/22)
In more news about women's health —
AP: Report: Births Decline In Pandemic May Have Turned Corner
While there has been a decline in births in the U.S. during the pandemic, a new report released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests the drop may have turned a corner last March as births started rebounding. The decline in births was most noticeable at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021. In December 2020, births in the U.S. were down 7.7% from the previous year, and they were down 9.4% last January compared to the previous January. (Schneider, 9/21)
KHN: Home Births Gain Popularity In ‘Baby Bust’ Decade
In a back-to-the-future twist on birth trends, California is seeing a sustained rise in the number of women choosing to deliver their babies in settings other than a hospital, a shift that accelerated as the pandemic created more risky and onerous conditions in many hospitals. About 5,600 people gave birth outside a hospital in California in 2020, up from about 4,600 in 2019 and 3,500 in 2010. The shift took place during a widespread “baby bust,” so the proportion of births outside hospitals rose from 0.68% in 2010 to 1.34% in 2020, according to a KHN analysis of provisional data from the California Department of Public Health. The proportion of births outside hospitals stayed relatively high — 1.28% — from January through July 2021. (Reese, 9/22)
Fox News: Most Women Aren't Getting Regular Tests For Cancer, Other Dangerous Diseases, Survey Shows
A new multiyear, global survey of women's health shows that most women aren't getting regular tests or screenings for cancer and other dangerous diseases that kill millions of people every year. The 2020 inaugural Hologic Global Women's Health Index listed several ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. On average 33% of women across the 116 countries and territories surveyed said they had been tested in the past 12 months for high blood pressure. Fewer than 19% of women reported being tested for diabetes in the past year, though it is the sixth-leading cause of death for women. (Musto, 9/21)
In other public health news —
Axios: Care For Kidney Disease Plummeted In The Pandemic
The number of patient visits for chronic kidney care plummeted by more than 26% in the early months of the pandemic, according to new data from the nation's largest insurer, UnitedHealth Group. Researchers are racing to understand just how much care people skipped — and whether it actually affected their health. (Reed, 9/22)
Roll Call: Report Renews Calls For Research On Social Media’s Impact On Kids
Child safety advocates say an explosive report that Facebook failed to disclose data showing its products negatively affect the mental health of teenagers should be the final straw for lawmakers worried about social media’s impact on young users. Democrats and Republicans zeroed in on child safety as a bipartisan area of concern this year, even before a Wall Street Journal article published last week detailed internal research showing that teens — especially girls — blamed Instagram, a Facebook subsidiary, for anxiety and depression. (DeChiaro, 9/21)
Fox Business: FAA Asks Airlines To 'Take More Action' In Curbing Unruly Passenger Incidents
The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday urged representatives of major U.S. airlines to come up with ways they can do more to help stop the surge of reported "unruly" passenger incidents – and asked them to lay out those plans in a matter of days. The agency sat down with industry groups including Airlines for America and the Regional Airline Association, saying in a statement following the meeting that the FAA had "asked the airlines to commit to take more action and tell the FAA in a week the additional steps they will implement during the next month to curb unruly behavior," according to Reuters. Airlines for America told FOX Business that the organization is on board with the FAA's initiatives "aimed at preventing and responding to unruly passenger incidents," and that it took issue with how the gathering was presented by some in the press. (Dumas, 9/21)
