Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Teen Suicide Spiked By 70 Percent In Span Of Ten Years. What's Going On?
USA Today: Teen Suicide Is Soaring. Do Spotty Mental Health And Addiction Treatment Share Blame?
J.C. Ruf, 16, was a Cincinnati-area pitcher who died by suicide in the laundry room of his house. Tayler Schmid, 17, was an avid pilot and hiker who chose the family garage in upstate New York. Josh Anderson, 17, of Vienna, Va., was a football player who killed himself the day before a school disciplinary hearing. The young men were as different as the areas of the country where they lived. But they shared one thing in common: A despair so deep they thought suicide was the only way out. (O'Donnell and Saker, 3/19)
The Associated Press: Want To Avoid The Flu While Flying? Try A Window Seat
Worried about catching a cold or the flu on an airplane? Get a window seat, and don't leave it until the flight is over. That's what some experts have been saying for years, and it's perhaps the best advice coming out of a new attempt to determine the risks of catching germs on an airplane. (Stobbe, 3/19)
Los Angeles Times: To Avoid Germs On An Airplane, Consider Booking A Window Seat
What you really need to watch out for is a flight attendant with a cough or runny nose. A single one of them can infect 4.6 passengers during a transcontinental flight. A group that dubbed itself the FlyHealthy Research Team came to these conclusions after flying back and forth from Atlanta to the West Coast on 10 flights and paying extremely close attention to the movements in the economy-class portion of the cabin. (Kaplan, 3/19)
NPR: African-American And Latino Children Often Diagnosed With Autism Later Than Their White Peers
Sherry Alvarez says she knew there was something different about her son since he was about 9 months old. Back then Sherry says his pediatrician told her there was nothing to worry about, " 'Boys are a little slower than girls, so let's just wait until his second birthday.' " We aren't using Sherry's son's name to protect his privacy. By her son's second birthday, Sherry says she was getting desperate. She didn't know why he wasn't talking yet or showing affection like other kids. At 2 1/2, he was referred to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. (Rentz, 3/19)
Stat: Many Common Drugs, Not Just Antibiotics, May Kill Off Gut Microbes
Antibiotics, it’s widely known, can wipe out a person’s “good” microbes along with the bad — sometimes leading to nasty side effects like diarrhea or serious infections. But new research finds that antibiotics aren’t alone in their bacterial slaughter: Nearly 1 in 4 other prescription medications, from antipsychotics to antivirals, kill off gut microbes. That could mean old drugs could have new uses — or have hidden impacts on antibiotic resistance. (Sheridan, 3/19)
Stat: As Towns Lose Their Newspapers, Disease Detectives Are Left To Fly Blind
Epidemiologists rely on all kinds of data to detect the spread of disease, including reports from local and state agencies and social media. But local newspapers are critical to identifying outbreaks and forecasting their trajectories. On the map, [Maia] Majumder saw every county without a local newspaper as a community where health officials and disease researchers could be flying blind. (Branswell, 2/20)
The Associated Press: For Menopause Sex Discomfort, Gel Worked As Well As Hormone
In a study of women with menopause-related sexual discomfort, gels worked as well as prescription hormone tablets at reducing symptoms. The researchers say the results suggest low-cost, over-the-counter moisturizers might be the best option. Most women in the study reported some relief from their most bothersome symptoms — painful intercourse, vaginal dryness or itching — regardless of treatment. Still, not quite half the women experienced what researchers considered a meaningful decline in symptom severity. (3/19)
Kaiser Health News: Adults Skipping Vaccines May Miss Out On Effective New Shingles Shot
Federal officials have recommended a new vaccine that is more effective than an earlier version at protecting older adults against the painful rash called shingles. But persuading many adults to get this and other recommended vaccines continues to be an uphill battle, physicians and vaccine experts say. “I’m healthy, I’ll get that when I’m older,” is what adult patients often tell Dr. Michael Munger when he brings up an annual flu shot or a tetanus-diphtheria booster or the new shingles vaccine. Sometimes they put him off by questioning a vaccine’s effectiveness. (Andrews, 3/20)
The New York Times: Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach Of Racism For Black Boys
Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families and living in some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods, still earn less in adulthood than white boys with similar backgrounds, according to a sweeping new study that traced the lives of millions of children. (Badger, Miller, Pearce and Quealy, 3/19)
The New York Times: When the Death Of A Family Farm Leads To Suicide
Fred Morgan was already deep in debt from rebuilding his milking barn after a fire when milk prices plunged in 2015, setting off an economic drought that is now entering its fourth year — the worst in recent memory for dairy farmers in New York State. Mr. Morgan, 50, saw no way to save the dairy farm in central New York State that he took over as a teenager from his ailing father and ran with his wife, Judy, and their son, Cody. (Kilgannon, 3/19)
California Healthline: The Juul’s So Cool, Kids Smoke It In School
The students wait eagerly for their teachers to turn their backs.That’s their cue to reach quietly for a small, sleek device they can easily conceal in their palms. It resembles a flash drive, but instead of computer files, this device stores nicotine. They take a hit, sucking on the device as they would a cigarette. Then, “they blow into their backpacks … or into their sweater when the teacher isn’t looking,” said Elijah Luna, 16, a sophomore at Vista del Lago High School in Folsom, Calif., about 30 miles east of Sacramento. (Ibarra, 3/19)
