Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scientist's MRIs Highlight Psilocybin Boosting Brain Plasticity
NPR: This Is Your Brain On Drugs: How Psilocybin Can Trigger Plasticity
In the name of science, Dr. Nico Dosenbach had scanned his own brain dozens of times. But this was the first time he'd taken a mind-bending substance before sliding into the MRI tunnel. "I was, like, drifting deeper into weirdness," he recalls. "I didn't know where I was at all. Time stopped, and I was everyone." Dosenbach, an associate professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, had been given a high dose of psilocybin, the active substance in magic mushrooms, by his colleagues. (Hamilton, 7/18)
Axios: CBD May Help Protect Skin From Sun Damage: Study
An active ingredient in marijuana could help shield skin from sun damage, according to new research in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. (Goldman, 7/17)
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NPR: The Pros And Cons Of Mammograms Should Be Explained To Women, Study Says
New research makes the case for educating women in their 40s — who've been caught in the crossfire of a decades-long debate about whether to be screened for breast cancer with mammograms — about the harms as well as the benefits of the exam. After a nationally representative sample of U.S. women between the ages of 39 and 49 learned about the pros and cons of mammography, more than twice as many elected to wait until they turn 50 to get screened, a study released Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine found. (Cohen, 7/17)
CNN: Women With Endometriosis Face Fourfold Higher Risk Of Ovarian Cancer, Study Suggests
The risk of developing ovarian cancer appears to jump about fourfold among women with endometriosis, compared with women who haven’t been diagnosed with the condition, a new study finds. (Howard, 7/17)
Stat: Bone Marrow Donors Needn’t Be Perfect Match In Cancer Care: Study
As a hematologist-oncologist in Miami, Mikkael Sekeres always hopes his patients will find a perfect match for the bone marrow transplant they need to save their lives — but he doesn’t expect it. Most of his patients are Latino or African American, and rates of perfect matches are much lower for racial or ethnic minorities. That gloomy picture could soon change. (Chen, 7/17)
The New York Times: Moving In Childhood Contributes To Depression, Study Finds
Researchers who conducted a large study of adults in Denmark, published on Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, found something they had not expected: Adults who moved frequently in childhood have significantly more risk of suffering from depression than their counterparts who stayed put in a community. In fact, the risk of moving frequently in childhood was significantly greater than the risk of living in a poor neighborhood, said Clive Sabel, a professor at the University of Plymouth and the paper’s lead author. (Barry, 7/17)
Axios: Medical Debt Fuels Mental Health Treatment Gap
As many as 1 in 4 U.S. adults with depression and anxiety can't pay their medical bills — a situation that could be limiting their ability to get timely psychiatric care, Johns Hopkins researchers found. (Bettelheim, 7/18)
Stat: 'Too Early To Say' When Novartis Will File Myelofibrosis Drug
A Novartis executive on Thursday said “it’s too early to say” whether the company would still submit an experimental myelofibrosis drug for regulatory approval this year, amid questions about the medicine’s data profile and whether it’s sufficient for filing. (Joseph, 7/18)
