Longer Looks: How Alcoholism Ruins Lives; ‘Living Drugs’ To Beat Cancer; And Stress From Climate Change
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
The New York Times:
For Years, Alcohol Was My Only Comfort. Then It Nearly Killed Me.
On Sept. 29, 2016, I was at a private book signing in Williamson County, Tenn., for Alberto Gonzales, the former United States attorney general. As the chairwoman for the Montgomery County Young Republicans, I spent a lot of time sharing drinks with Tennessee’s political class. At the end of the evening, I decided to drive home, even though I knew I had drunk too much. I had taken these back roads so many times, I told myself; I could make it home. Twenty minutes into my hourlong trek, I passed out. When I regained consciousness, I was upside down in a ditch. A stranger stopped to pull me out of my car. The police arrived and arrested me immediately. The next morning, reality set in. I had done so much damage in my life that my son, Taj, who was 16 at the time, refused to talk to me. That was the last night I drank. (King, 7/24)
Wired:
How Scientists Built A ‘Living Drug’ To Beat Cancer
In 2010 Emily Whitehead was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a cancer of certain cells in the immune system. This is the most common form of childhood cancer, her parents were told, and Emily had a good chance to beat it with chemotherapy. Remission rates for the most common variety were around 85 percent.It would be 20 months before they’d understand the shadow behind that sunny statistic, and the chilling prospect of volunteering their daughter as patient zero for the world’s first living drug. Emily started on the 26-month chemo regimen. She lost her hair and most of her kid energy, but the curative poison seemed to be doing its job, sickening her body as it killed the disease. Still her cancer, like all cancers, was alive, a constellation of mutant cells that continued to mutate into new variations. Some of these new mutants were immune to the chemotherapy and continued to thrive. (Graeber, 7/25)
FiveThirtyEight:
We Don’t Really Know How Stressed Americans Are About Climate
After three summers in a row of major natural disaster headlines, there’s a good chance that if you aren’t currently experiencing a disaster, you’re bracing for one, wondering whether (or how) summer will strike. Public health organizations and media talk a lot about the “new normal” — the idea that, as climate changes, disasters that were once rare events are increasingly common. That could also translate to a new normal for mental health. What does it mean for our emotions when summer is spent waiting for something bad to happen? There’s a short answer and a long answer to this question. The short version is, basically, we don’t know yet — but scientists are really interested in finding out. (Koerth-Baker, 7/25)
Previous KHN coverage: ‘Climate Grief’: Fears About The Planet’s Future Weigh On Americans’ Mental Health
The Atlantic:
A 'Cure' For Baldness Could Be Around The Corner
In the tunnels under New York, commuters squeeze into lumbering trains and try not to make eye contact with the people whose sweaty bodies are pressed against theirs. As they surrender to the will of the transit authority, their eyes wander upward to find an unlikely promise of control: Many cars are plastered with ads that say “Balding is now optional.” These ads feature men in various states of elation. The men all have hair—and not simply the errant tufts that have appeared for years in infomercials for “hair restoration.” No, this hair comes in the form of thick, leonine coiffures. (Hamblin, 7/25)
The New York Times:
When You Wear Sunscreen, You’re Taking Part In A Safety Study
The Food and Drug Administration almost never tests products itself. But in May, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a randomized trial, conducted by F.D.A. researchers, to determine whether the chemicals in four commercially available sunscreens are absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. Four times daily, subjects were coated in one of the formulas in an amount determined to be the maximum a person might use: two milligrams per square centimeter of skin over 75 percent of the body. Later, blood samples were drawn and analyzed. All of the sunscreen chemicals were detected in concentrations that exceeded an F.D.A. threshold past which manufacturers are required to do further toxicology tests. “People who use sunscreens very reasonably presume they have been tested and are safe and effective,” says Kanade Shinkai, a dermatologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and an author of an editorial accompanying the JAMA study. “And we don’t really have that evidence.” (Tingley, 7/23)
Politico Pulse Check:
Neera Tanden On Medicare Extra, The Democratic Primary And Trump's Legacy
Neera Tanden is one of the most prominent voices in the Democratic party — and her organization, the Center for American Progress, has been pumping out policy ideas ahead of the 2020 election, helping shape the Democratic primary. Neera sits down with POLITICO's Dan Diamond to discuss CAP's signature Medicare Extra proposal and Democrats' debate over Medicare for All, what she makes of the Democratic primary, President Donald Trump's influence on politics and why Neera blames Trump for the "warfare" gripping America, and if the Democratic party has a leadership gap. (7/26)
