Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Report Shows Screening Catches Just 1 In 7 Diagnosed Cancers
CNN: Only 14% Of Diagnosed Cancers In The US Are Detected By Screening, Report Says
A small proportion – 14.1% – of all diagnosed cancers in the United States are detected by screening with a recommended screening test, according to a new report. The remaining diagnosed cancers tend to be found when someone has symptoms or seeks imaging or medical care for other reasons, suggests the report, posted online Wednesday by researchers at the nonprofit research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. (Howard, 12/14)
WSHU: Rosa DeLauro Joins Katie Couric To Introduce Breast Cancer Bill
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, joined award-winning journalist Katie Couric on Tuesday to introduce new legislation that would improve detection of breast cancer. The Find It Early Act aims to ensure all insurance providers cover mammograms, breast ultrasounds and breast MRIs without copayments or deductibles. (Warner, 12/14)
In pediatric news —
Bloomberg: CDC Expands Children’s BMI Charts To Include Levels Of Severe Obesity
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding charts that doctors use to track kids’ growth and development to include Body Mass Index as high as 60. The agency said it was making the change “to enable consistent, meaningful tracking” as severe obesity among children increases, to 6.1% of children in 2018 from about 1% in the early 1970s. (Court, 12/15)
In other health and wellness news —
The Washington Post: Blind And Disabled Veterans Can’t Access VA Websites, Report Says
Despite the fact that 27 percent of all veterans have a service-connected disability — and more than 1 million veterans are blind or have low vision — only 8 percent of VA’s public-facing websites and 6 percent of its internal sites are fully compliant with federal accessibility law, according to the report released Wednesday. (Morris, 12/14)
USA Today: Parkinson's Disease More Common Than Previously Thought, Study Shows
Parkinson's disease strikes nearly 90,000 older Americans a year, 30,000 more than was previously estimated, according to a study published Thursday. Incidence rates differed across the country. States with higher rates of older residents saw more diagnoses of the disease, whose risk typically increases with age, but so did some "Rust Belt" states in the Northeast and Midwest that have a history of heavy industry manufacturing. (Weintraub, 12/15)
Axios: HIV Treatment PrEP Drugs Get "A" Grade From U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Amid Challenges
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force on Tuesday recommended prescribing medications that prevent HIV to adolescents and adults who are at increased risk for acquiring the virus. A draft document to give pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, the task force's highest recommendation for an "A" grade comes as compulsory coverage for the treatment, as well as the task force's very existence, are both being challenged in federal court. (Dreher, 12/14)
The Washington Post: Does Exercise Really Help Aging Brains? New Study Raises Questions
Exercise and mindfulness training did not improve older people’s brain health in a surprising new study published this week in JAMA. The experiment, which enrolled more than 580 older men and women, looked into whether starting a program of exercise, mindfulness — or both — enhanced older people’s abilities to think and remember or altered the structure of their brains. (Reynolds, 12/14)
Bloomberg: Ebola Virus: Two Vaccines Show Lasting Immune Response In Study
Two shots that protect against Ebola virus yielded immune responses lasting for at least a year, according to a study suggesting they might keep the virus at bay for the long-term. (John Milton, 12/14)
