Longer Looks: Inequality; Paying For Alzheimer’s; The Case For Melancholy
Each week, KHN's Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Vox:
Inequality Isn’t Just Unfair – It’s Making People Sick
Inequality has become a popular topic over the past decade. In books like Capital in the Twenty-First Century and Inequality and Instability, economists have warned that the growing income gap is spinning us back to strict 19th-century-style social hierarchies, where elites dominate everybody else, usually on the basis of inherited wealth. What's usually overlooked in the conversation is how rising inequality can erode our health. This is a subject that Michael Marmot, a British physician and epidemiologist, knows a lot about. He's spent the past 40 years amassing a body of research that shows how inequality can be intrinsically bad for health outcomes — work he's collected in his new book, The Health Gap. (Julia Belluz, 11/5)
The New Yorker:
The Gene Hackers
A few well-known disorders, such as Huntington’s disease and sickle-cell anemia, are caused by defects in a single gene. But most devastating illnesses, among them diabetes, autism, Alzheimer’s, and cancer, are almost always the result of a constantly shifting dynamic that can include hundreds of genes. The best way to understand those connections has been to test them in animal models, a process of trial and error that can take years. CRISPR promises to make that process easier, more accurate, and exponentially faster. (Michael Specter, 11/11)
CNBC:
A Disease On Track To Bankrupt Medicare
To truly understand just how catastrophic an illness Alzheimer's is, consider that it is the only cause of death among the top 10 in the U.S. that can't yet be prevented, cured or even slowed. Someone diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or even HIV/AIDS has a better chance of surviving — and having a better quality of life while battling the disease — than a person diagnosed with Alzheimer's. According to the Alzheimer's Association, there are now 5.3 million Americans age 65 and older living with the disease. The total direct cost to the U.S. economy of caring for those with Alzheimer's: a staggering $226 billion, with half being borne by Medicare. (Caminiti, 11/10)
PBS NewsHour:
Mexico’s Sugar Clinics Help Patients Gain Control Over Diabetes
In Mexico, over 70 percent of citizens are overweight or obese and 14 percent of Mexican adults now suffer from diabetes, though half of those affected aren't even aware they have the disease. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on the struggle to bring the disease under control. (11/9)
The Atlantic:
The Indian Program Training ‘Quacks’ To Stand In For Doctors
The idea of training rural medical practitioners ignites acrimonious debate in India. On one side are the Indian doctors, and more importantly the associations that represent them, such as the Indian Medical Association. The Association’s official stand is that training such “quacks” is tantamount to legitimizing them. It says rural practitioners and their half-baked medical training have caused enormous harm to patients and public health as a whole. … But others believe that training these rural practitioners is the only way out of India’s health-care woes. (Priyanka Pulla, 11/6)
The New York Times:
The Case for Melancholy
Melancholy, distinguished from grief, is not caused by events, like losing your job, the passing of beloved pets, your miscarriages or health problems. Nor does it vanish when you receive excellent news, like a big film star optioning your novel, or being invited to an all-expenses-paid trip to Venice for the Biennale. Melancholy is more … ephemeral. It visits you like a mist, a vapor, a fog. It is generally uninvited. And as some people are born into royalty, wealth and prestige, others inherit a disposition for sadness. (Laren Stover, 11/7)
STAT:
Popular Heart Surgery Carried Hidden Danger
The story of how the Lariat won FDA clearance and how quickly cardiologists began to use it to treat atrial fibrillation, despite the lack of evidence that the procedure was safe and effective, is a study in the weaknesses of the regulatory process for medical devices, according to legal experts, doctors, and even the FDA itself. (Kaplan, 11/10)
And video and audio clips worth your time -
The Daily Show:
Trevor Recaps His Emergency Appendectomy
Trevor gets his first taste of the American health care system while in an emergency room with appendicitis. Video. (11/5)
FiveThirtyEight:
Doctors Without Borders Fights Outbreaks With New Tech And Old-Fashioned Paper
Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, is also one of the most vulnerable to disease. And responding to disease outbreaks is anything but simple for organizations that do so, such as Doctors Without Borders (aka Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF). … On this week’s episode of our podcast What’s The Point, Rebecca Grais of MSF’s Epicentre discusses how data is used on the front lines and how it can help areas facing disease- and poverty-related challenges. (Jody Avirgan, 11/5)