Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
Each week, KHN finds longer stories for you to enjoy. This week's selections include stories on covid, meditation, bone density, senior health, skin tags, and more.
Reuters:
Wanted: Volunteers To Catch COVID In The Name Of Science
The world's first medical trial authorised to deliberately expose participants to the coronavirus is seeking more volunteers as it steps up efforts to help develop better vaccines. The Oxford University trial was launched last April, three months after Britain became the first country to approve what are known as challenge trials for humans involving COVID-19. (1/26)
The Atlantic:
Where Are All The COVID-Booster Incentives?
So what about carrots? During the initial vaccine rollout, incentives were hot: Two dozen states were sweetening the immunization pot with million-dollar lotteries, a chance to drive your car on the Talladega Superspeedway, TikTok contests for $250 gift cards, tickets to baseball games, $100,000 scholarships, hunting and fishing licenses, a pontoon boat, a free beer at a local brewery, or just $100 to spend however you wanted. But even as booster shots could help lessen the burden of Omicron and future variants, governments have largely abandoned these ambitious incentive programs. I reached out to the 24 states that offered incentives last year, and of the 15 that responded, 13 aren’t offering financial incentives for boosters. Arkansas still hands out a $20 lottery ticket to anyone who gets a shot—including a booster—while New York is offering the unboosted a chance to win free ski passes. (Requarth, 1/24)
The Washington Post:
Meditation And Biofeedback Are The New Trend In ‘Anxiety Tech’
Usually “mental-health tech” means an app with some screen-based features such as messaging, games or journaling. Now a new batch of products is focusing on something different: your body. Take the Orb, a $229 grapefruit-size ball from Israeli start-up Reflect Innovation, which sits in your hands and measures your heart rate and finger sweat while you try to relax. Then there’s the $79 Zen, from French company Morphée, which looks exactly like a rock but is actually an audio device that plays the company’s proprietary meditation content. And Dutch company Alphabeats built a $28.99-a-year stress-reduction app that combines music and “biofeedback,” which occurs when you practice controlling your body’s functions such as breath or heart rate. (Hunter, 1/26)
The Washington Post:
Here Are Some Ways To Keep Your Bones In The Best Possible Shape
In the past 18 months, some of your medical care — including supporting your bone health — may have fallen by the wayside. In the first few months of the pandemic, for example, about a third of health-care providers in one survey said they had pushed off bone density screenings. Even before the pandemic, an estimated 10 million Americans older than 50 had osteoporosis, a disease in which bone loss can hike fracture risk, according to some data. An additional 43 million people in the United States, including 16 million men, had low bone mass (osteopenia), putting them at increased risk for osteoporosis. (Levine, 1/24)
The Washington Post:
How To Prevent Falls And Provide Comfort In A New Home For Seniors
For the millions of seniors in the United States (predicted to grow from around 58 million to around 88 million by 2050), life transitions such as experiencing widowhood, having a partner with dementia or downsizing after decades in the same home can be a huge challenge. One way to ease the adjustment is to ensure that any new home is comfortable, safe and adaptable to physical limitations. (Erasmus, 1/25)
The Washington Post:
What To Do About Skin Tags, Moles And Other Bumps
While you’ve been spending more time with yourself during the pandemic, you may have noticed a new lump or bump (or two or three) on your skin. Meanwhile, you may have seen ads on social media for devices or products that claim to help you get rid of skin tags, warts or moles on your own — and wondered if you should try the DIY approach. The answer is: It depends on what and where the growth is. (Colino, 1/26)
The Washington Post:
A Newborn Lost Large Parts Of His Brain. Today, He’s An Athletic College Grad
Kellie Carr and her 13-year-old son, Daniel, sat in the waiting room of a pediatric neurology clinic for yet another doctor’s appointment in 2012. For years, she struggled to find out what was causing his weakened right side. It wasn’t an obvious deficit, by any means, and anyone not paying close attention would see a normal, healthy teenage boy. At that point, no one had any idea that Daniel had suffered a massive stroke as a newborn and lost large parts of his brain as a result. “It was the largest stroke I’d ever seen in a child who hadn’t died or suffered extreme physical and mental disability,” said Nico Dosenbach, the pediatric neurologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who finally diagnosed him using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. (Kim, 1/22)
