Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Blood Test Can Alert Older Adults To Possibility Of Developing Alzheimer's In 5-10 Years
AP: A Blood Test May Predict The Start Of Alzheimer's Symptoms Years In Advance
A blood test may predict if apparently healthy older adults are likely to develop Alzheimer’s symptoms in the next five or 10 years, researchers reported Wednesday. That information could be reassuring or terrifying, but for now it’s a potential tool to speed drug development by helping to identify and enroll high-risk people into studies of possible Alzheimer’s treatments or preventive strategies. Already large clinical trials are testing if certain drugs could prevent or at least delay the disease — and if any of those pan out, doctors will need an easy way to tell who should try them. (Neergaard, 7/15)
The New York Times: ‘Sully,’ ‘Miracle On The Hudson’ Pilot, Announces Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
Chesley B. Sullenberger III, the pilot known as Sully who guided a passenger jet to a water landing in 2009 in what became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” after he saved 155 lives, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, he said in a statement on Tuesday. The diagnosis is “early stage,” he said, adding: “I am in the beginning of this long journey.” (Cerro, 7/14)
More health and wellness news —
Stat: A New Biotech Startup Tries To Tackle Obesity, But Not In The Way You Might Expect
A new startup is making a bold move in the world of obesity drug development: It’s not working with the GLP-1 target that has taken the world by storm. (DeAngelis, 7/15)
Stat: America's Alcohol Epidemic: Experts Offer 12 Ways To Mitigate Harm
Alcohol kills more than 178,000 Americans each year. It doesn’t have to. Drinking’s deadly toll in the U.S. is the result of decades of policy decisions, industry influence, and cultural inertia, as STAT shows in its investigative series, The Deadliest Drug. The U.S. has not made a concerted effort to reduce heavy drinking since Prohibition ended nearly a century ago. (Cueto and Facher, 7/14)
The New York Times: There’s An Injury Epidemic In Pro Sports. There’s Also A Recovery Revolution
Pitching injuries have soared over the last decade in parallel with a rise in average velocity, which seems intuitive: The harder you throw, the more likely you are to get hurt. The same seems true for swinging: According to The Athletic, the league’s hardest swingers have missed more than twice as many days because of injury since 2023 as players who swing 10 miles per hour slower. Within baseball, the rise in injuries is often described in bleak terms like “epidemic” and “crisis,” but the same conversation is happening across sports. (Gordon, 7/13)
Also —
AP: Astronomers Find Evidence Of Sugar In Interstellar Space
The space between stars just got a little sweeter. Astronomers have detected a type of sugar in space that’s also found in raspberries and self-tanners. The sugar, called erythrulose, lurks in what’s called the interstellar medium: thin clouds of gas and dust littered between stars. Sugar does more than sweeten tea and powder doughnuts. Different varieties fuel our cells and even make up DNA. Scientists are itching to know how sugars form because they’re a key ingredient for life as we know it. (Ramakrishnan, 7/13)
