Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Researchers Discover Common Patterns In Brain Activity Between Five Major Psychiatric Diseases
The Washington Post: Five Major Psychiatric Diseases Have Overlapping Patterns Of Genetic Activity, New Study Shows
Certain patterns of genetic activity appear to be common among five distinct psychiatric disorders — autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and alcoholism — according to a new study. The paper, appearing in the journal Science, was released Thursday. Scientists analyzed data from 700 human brains, all donated either from patients who suffered one of these major psychiatric disorders or from people who had not been diagnosed with mental illness. The scientists found similar levels of particular molecules in the brains of people with autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; other commonalities between bipolar and major depression; and other matches between major depression and alcoholism. (Nutt, 2/8)
The Washington Post: Sex Harassment Can Make Victims Physically Sick, Studies Reveal
When Rebecca Thurston read the accounts of 150 women and girls sexually abused by a Michigan athletic doctor, one of the first things she worried about was their health — not the psychological effect of the abuse, but the long-term physical toll it could take on their bodies. An epidemiologist, Thurston has spent the past four years studying women who have suffered sexual abuse and harassment. Over time, she discovered, sexual harassment can work like a poison, stiffening women’s blood vessels, worsening blood flow and harming the inner lining of their hearts. (Wan, 2/8)
Stat: Mouse Footprints Could Help Scientists Develop New Pain Drugs. Here's How
Neurobiologist David Roberson fancies himself a palm reader. Or rather, a paw reader. Roberson, an investigator at Boston Children’s Hospital, is trying to create a sharper way to measure pain and test pain drugs by measuring the fancy footwork of rodents. The scientist says current methods to measure pain in rats aren’t all that great, because the animals are often in the middle of a panic attack when a predator — in this case, a scientist — is looming. (Thielking, 2/9)
The New York Times: Two Prostate Cancer Drugs Delay Spread Of The Disease By Two Years
They are among the most challenging prostate cancer patients to treat: about 150,000 men worldwide each year whose cancer is aggressive enough to defy standard hormonal therapy, but has not yet spread to the point where it can be seen on scans. These patients enter a tense limbo which often ends too quickly with the cancer metastasizing to their bones, lymph nodes or other organs — sometimes causing intense pain. (Belluck, 2/8)
Stat: The Future Of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Could Be In Mini, Moveable Labs
Last November, Oxitec introduced its first “mobile production unit” in Juiz de Fora, an inland city of 500,000. Eggs from the Piracicaba factory are raised in mosquito hatcheries crammed inside the 40-foot rectangular lab that could pass for a white shipping container, condensing the work of a high-tech Silicon Valley-esque facility into just a single room. In coming months, the company said, it hopes to finalize contracts with another handful of Brazilian cities, beginning with interventions that cover areas with as few as 10,000 residents. (Facher, 2/9)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Hysterectomies That Save Ovaries Still Carry Health Risks, Study Finds
For years, surgeons performing hysterectomies have opted to leave the patients' ovaries in place, when possible, to reduce the risk of heart disease and other health problems. But preserving ovaries may not help as much as was previously thought, a new study suggests. (Washington, 2/8)
