Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Challenges Idea Of Metabolism Slowing As You Age
NBC News: Metabolism In Adulthood Does Not Slow As Commonly Believed, Study Finds
Blaming those extra pounds on a slowing metabolism as you age? Not so fast. A new international study counters the common belief that our metabolism inevitably declines during our adult lives. Well, not until we’re in our 60s, anyway. Researchers found that metabolism peaks around age 1, when babies burn calories 50 percent faster than adults, and then gradually declines roughly 3 percent a year until around age 20. From there, metabolism plateaus until about age 60, when it starts to slowly decline again, by less than 1 percent annually, according to findings published Thursday in the journal Science. (Stenson, 8/12)
The New York Times: What We Think We Know About Metabolism May Be Wrong
Everyone knows conventional wisdom about metabolism: People put pounds on year after year from their 20s onward because their metabolisms slow down, especially around middle age. Women have slower metabolisms than men. That’s why they have a harder time controlling their weight. Menopause only makes things worse, slowing women’s metabolisms even more. All wrong, according to a paper published Thursday in Science. Using data from nearly 6,500 people, ranging in age from 8 days to 95 years, researchers discovered that there are four distinct periods of life, as far as metabolism goes. They also found that there are no real differences between the metabolic rates of men and women after controlling for other factors. (Kolata, 8/12)
In related news about your diet —
The Washington Post: Plant-Based Diet Is Best Way To Avoid Heart Disease: Report
There is constant squabbling over the virtues of various diets, but a new report published in Cardiovascular Research makes one thing clear: The best way to avoid heart disease is to eat whole and plant-based foods. This is important because people are eating themselves to death: According to the 2017 Global Burden of Disease study, poor food choices account for almost 50 percent of all cardiovascular disease fatalities. (Rosenbloom, 8/12)
And millions of Americans are suffering from heat and poor air quality —
NBC News: Nearly 200 Million People In The U.S. Are Under Some Form Of Heat Advisory
Extreme heat continued to grip much of the U.S. on Thursday, with parts of the country facing the prospect of triple-digit temperatures and nearly 200 million people across 34 states under some kind of heat-related advisory. In the mid-Atlantic, the Northeast and New England, baking temperatures and exceptionally high humidity Thursday are forecast to make temperatures in the 90s feel upward of 100 degrees in major cities like Washington, New York, Philadelphia and Boston. (Wong and Prociv, 8/12)
AP: Northwest Heat Wave: Volunteers Get Water To The Vulnerable
Volunteers scrambled to hand out water, portable fans, popsicles and information about cooling shelters Thursday to homeless people living in isolated encampments on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, as the Pacific Northwest sweated through a heat wave gripping the normally temperate region. Authorities trying to provide relief to the vulnerable, including low-income older people and those living outdoors, are mindful of a record-shattering heat wave in late June that killed hundreds in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia when the thermometer went as high as 116 degrees Fahrenheit (47 C). (Flaccus, 8/13)
The Washington Post: Dixie Fire Leaves Greenville, Calif., Evacuees In Limbo
More than a week later, Greenville residents remain in a state of suspended animation. As the Dixie Fire has exploded into the largest single wildfire in California history — consuming more than 500,000 acres in a wildfire season that’s on track to shatter last year’s records — Greenville residents are forbidden to return home. (Iati, 8/12)
KQED: Free Air Filters For Lower-Income People With Asthma: How Bay Area Homes Can Sign Up
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, through a partnership with Regional Asthma Management and Prevention, or RAMP, will provide home air purifiers to 2,000 lower-income residents in six Bay Area counties who have been diagnosed with asthma. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, speaking Wednesday at the Roots Community Health Center in East Oakland, said the program will help lower-income communities and communities of color. "These air filters will not only address air quality, which is being challenged by the wildfire season, but also will lessen the spread of COVID-19, a double benefit for those who have been most impacted," Schaaf said. (Fitzgerald Rodriguez, 8/12)
