Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
The Washington Post: This Is What ‘Aging Well’ Is All About
When we asked what “aging well” looks like, more than 500 readers responded. But one idea came up again and again — aging is a lifelong process, so start thinking about aging well when you’re young. The following is a sample of what readers told us. (10/24)
ProPublica: Lawsuits: A Factory Blew Asbestos Into a Neighborhood; Decades Later, Residents Are Getting Sick and Dying
Residents of a New York neighborhood recall asbestos raining from the sky. It fell on windowsills, on a Little League field and atop fresh snow. They are suing OxyChem, saying its poor pollution control at a plastics plant caused illness and death. (McGrory and Bedi, 10/25)
Scientific American: How To Stop Unwanted Thoughts
In the mid-1980s scientists conducted a famous experiment in which they asked participants to try to avoid thinking of a white bear. Over the course of five minutes, the experimental subjects were to ring a bell if a white bear came to mind. (Wickelgren, 10/19)
The Washington Post: An Edible For Hot Flashes? Some Women Use Cannabis To Manage Menopause
To relieve hot flashes, sleep problems and low libido, some menopausal women are choosing to seek relief with cannabis, usually in the form of a joint or an edible, new research shows. (Kim, 10/21)
Columbus Dispatch: ‘They’re Not Gonna Quit’: How Ohio’s Fringe Abortion Law Set The Stage For Post-Roe America
When Janet Folger Porter moved back to Ohio in December 2010, she invited some of her closest friends to her new home in suburban Cleveland. Her guests sipped coffee, made small talk and shared a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Meanwhile, Porter set up a white board in front of the fireplace. On it, the hostess wrote two words: “Heartbeat Bill.” (Horn and BeMiller, 10/27)
On racism and health care —
Harvard Public Health: What Science Tells Us About Structural Racism’s Health Impact
A growing body of research is pinpointing how structural racism—the ongoing impact of discriminatory practices—affects the health of people of color, especially Black people, from infancy to old age. (McCullom, 10/3)
Harvard Public Health: Taking Steps Toward Anti-Racist Healthcare
There’s growing recognition of the health inequities people of color experience because of racism, implicit bias, and systemic marginalization. But efforts to tackle the root causes of such inequities and ease their impact on the nation’s collective health lag behind. There is momentum to move from awareness to action, in private and public hospitals, in academic medicine, and in public health departments. (Newsome, 10/3)
On long covid —
The Guardian: Over 2,000 Guardian Readers Told Us About Their Long Covid Fight. Here Are Their Stories
Many respondents described their struggle to have their condition taken seriously by doctors, family and friends. ... Here, seven people from around the world share their experiences of living with long Covid, and the impact it has had on their physical and mental health, ability to work and relationships. (Skopeliti, 10/25)
The Guardian: ‘They Can’t Ignore Us Any More’: Five Women On Long Covid And Medical Misogyny
Medical misogyny doesn’t come as a surprise to the many patients who have been disbelieved in the past. Medicine has long treated women as second-class citizens. ... The long-term impacts of Covid-19 have familiar parallels. (Lu, 10/18)
And just for fun —
The Washington Post: How Nutritious Are Brains? Scientific Answers On How Zombies Operate
Their insatiable appetite is a clue that the hypothalamus has gone haywire and is overproducing the hunger-stimulating hormone ghrelin, dooming them to be perpetually hangry. (Berkowitz and Tan, 10/25)
