Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pollen Season Starts Earlier, Experts Say, Just In Time For Valentine's Day
AP: Pollen Season Is Starting 20 Days Earlier This Year
When Dr. Stanley Fineman started as an allergist in Atlanta, he told patients they should start taking their medications and prepare for the drippy, sneezy onslaught of pollen season around St. Patrick’s Day. That was about 40 years ago. Now he tells them to start around St. Valentine’s Day. Across the United States and Canada, pollen season is starting 20 days earlier and pollen loads are 21% higher since 1990 and a huge chunk of that is because of global warming, a new study found in Monday’s journal the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. (Borenstein, 2/8)
Boston Globe: Burning Fossil Fuels Kills An Estimated 350,000 Americans A Year, Including 7,600 In Massachusetts, Study Finds
Nearly 9 million people a year are dying as a result of the burning of fossil fuels, a study has found, roughly twice the previous estimate by the World Health Organization. In the United States, ingesting the fine particulate matter produced by burning fossil fuels kills an estimated 350,000 people a year, including more than 7,600 people in Massachusetts, according to the study by researchers at Harvard and other universities. Researchers linked the pollution to 18 percent of worldwide deaths in 2018, down from 21 percent in 2012. They attributed the decline to improved air-quality policies in China that reduced the use of fossil fuels by more than 40 percent. (Abel, 2/9)
The Washington Post: The Big Number: During Pandemic, Heart Surgeries Plummeted By 53 Percent
Heart surgeries among U.S. adults dropped by a dramatic 53 percent in the past year, a reduction that cardiac surgeons say was caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The number comes from an analysis of national data through the end of 2020 and included information on 717,103 heart surgery patients and more than 20 million covid-19 patients. The finding was presented at a January meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. (Searing, 2/8)
CNN: Black Coffee Can Be Good For Your Heart, Studies Show
It's another home run for coffee consumption -- as long as it's black and caffeinated, that is. Drinking one or more cups of plain, leaded coffee a day was associated with a long-term reduced risk of heart failure, according to a review of diet data from three major studies using analytic tools from the American Heart Association. (LaMotte, 2/9)
KHN: Gene Screenings Hold Disease Clues, But Unexplained Anomalies Often Raise Fears
When her gynecologist recommended genetic testing, Mai Tran was reluctant. “I didn’t really want to do it,” recalled Tran, who had just turned 21 and was living in New York City, “but she kept on emailing me about it and was really adamant that I do it.” Tran knew she had an elevated risk of developing breast cancer because of her family history — her mother died of the disease and a maternal aunt was diagnosed and survived. Given this, she planned to follow the standard recommendations to begin breast cancer screenings at an early age. (Bennett, 2/9)
KHN: Native Americans Use Technology To Keep Traditions, Language Alive During Pandemic
Lawrence Wetsit misses the days when his people would gather by the hundreds and sing the songs that all Assiniboine children are expected to learn by age 15. “We can’t have ceremony without memorizing all of the songs, songs galore,” he said. “We’re not supposed to record them: We have to be there. And when that doesn’t happen in my grandchildren’s life, they may never catch up.” (Reardon, 2/9)
