Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Studying Autism And Alzheimer's Together May Unlock New Treatments
The Washington Post: The Links Between Autism And Alzheimer’s Could Change How We Treat Both
Joseph Buxbaum was initially unconvinced. When early hints of a connection between autism and Alzheimer’s began to appear in the medical literature a few years ago, they struck him as implausible — one a condition of early brain development, the other driving decline in old age. But the signals kept accumulating, and over time, his skepticism gave way to a new line of inquiry that could transform scientists’ understanding of the two diseases. (Eunjung Cha, 4/5)
More on aging —
The Washington Post: We May Have Less Control Over How Long We Live Than Previously Thought
Uri Alon was long puzzled by a textbook statistic: Longevity, the thinking went, was about 20 percent in our genes. “That makes you think what’s the rest of the 80 percent: Is it the lifestyle? Why should we study genes for lifespan if it’s not that important? It kind of bothered me,” said Alon, a physicist turned systems biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Alon uses mathematical models to understand complicated biological problems, and he and his colleagues built one to reexamine the factors that define the contours of human lifespan in a Science study published earlier this year. (Johnson, 4/5)
The Washington Post: The Complexity Of Your Job May Affect Dementia Risk
Working in complicated jobs is linked to a lower likelihood of dementia later on. (Kim, 4/6)
NBC News: What Is A Biological Age Test? Experts Talk Benefits, Risks Of At-Home Testing
Scientists have developed a number of ways to estimate biological age, including so-called epigenetic clocks that measure changes to DNA at the molecular level. These clocks, often created for clinical research purposes, are becoming mainstream in the form of direct-to-consumer test kits. ... Biological age test kits are widely available online, ranging from $299 saliva-based tests to $499 blood tests. But all tests aren’t created equally, and there are limitations to the health insights they provide. (Leake, 4/5)
The New York Times: For Many Patients Leaving The I.C.U., The Struggle Has Only Just Begun
The accident happened in Pittsburgh on Nov. 16. Joseph Masterson, a lawyer who was just days from retiring at age 63, suffered cardiac arrest while driving, plowed into a guardrail and lost consciousness. Other drivers stopped, broke the car window and pulled him to safety. A passing volunteer fireman performed CPR until an ambulance arrived to take Mr. Masterson to U.P.M.C. Mercy Hospital. (Span, 4/4)
San Francisco Chronicle: How To Vet A California Nursing Home — And Spot Red Flags
In Daly City, a woman broke a tooth after she was dropped while being moved to her nursing home bed. In Fairfield, a woman with dementia escaped from her nursing home and wandered across a busy street to a parking lot, where she was found wandering and asking for help. A man in Hayward died after staff missed his respiratory medication two days in a row. In Santa Rosa, a resident was found with maggots in his infected toe, which had to be amputated. (Allday, 4/5)
Fox News: Study Identifies 5 Factors That Predict Stroke Risk After A Mini Stroke
After a minor stroke, there are several risk factors that can predict another event, according to new research. A study published in the journal Circulation by the American Heart Association investigated what happens after someone has a transient ischemic attack (TIA), also known as a "mini-stroke." This was a follow-up to the previous PERSIST study, which found that stroke risk persisted after the typical 90-day monitoring window. (Stabile, 4/5)
