Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
The New York Times: Obesity Is Killing American Men
Men seek weight loss treatment far less often than women. Doctors are concerned. (Bajaj, 9/18)
The Wall Street Journal: The Promise and Hurdles of the New Weight-Loss Pills
Even with their limitations, the market for GLP-1 weight-loss pills could be big. They could eventually make up about 25% of the total market, estimates David Risinger, an analyst at Leerink Partners, which focuses on healthcare investment banking. “They still have the potential to generate mega-blockbuster sales because consumer demand for oral obesity pills will be tremendous,” Risinger said. (Loftus, 9/18)
Undark: Can Ultra-Processed Foods Be Made Healthier?
In 2019, nutrition scientist Kevin Hall and his colleagues published eye-popping results from a unique experiment. For four weeks, study participants stayed in a hospital ward at the National Institutes of Health, splitting their time on two different diets: one high in minimally processed foods, the other high in ultra-processed foods, products that contain factory-made ingredients and additives not found in a typical home kitchen. On the ultra-processed diet, individuals ate a whopping 500 calories more per day. Although small and time-limited, this was the first experimental study to link UPFs to human obesity. (Talpos, 9/19)
CBS News: How A Young Mom Is "Living, Not Just Surviving" After Incurable Cancer Diagnosis
Elissa Kalver was 34 when she found a lump in her breast. She had no family history of cancer and had just welcomed her first child. She assumed the lump was a cyst. But when she went to get it checked out, doctors found another lump in her armpit. Biopsies found that both lumps were malignant. More tests found the situation was worse than she could have imagined: a PET scan found cancer in her lower spine and liver. (Breen, 9/13)
The New York Times: Could A Pill Fix The Brain?
The first thing Debra McVean did when she woke up at the hospital in March 2024 was try to get to the bathroom. But her left arm wouldn’t move; neither would her left leg. She was paralyzed all along her left side. She had suffered a stroke, her doctor soon explained. A few nights before, a blood clot had lodged in an artery in her neck, choking off oxygen to her brain cells. Now an M.R.I. showed a dark spot in her brain, an eerie absence directly behind her right eye. (Gross, 9/4)
The New York Times: Michel Odent, Pioneer Of Natural Childbirth Techniques, Dies At 95
Michel Odent, a French obstetrician whose natural childbirth innovations, including homelike delivery rooms and birthing pools, aimed to make new mothers feel calm and secure, died on Aug. 19 in London. He was 95. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by his companion and medical partner, Liliana Lammers, a doula. (Nossiter, 9/12)
