Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
This Research On How Salt Affects Our Bodies Just Upended 200 Years Of Accepted Knowledge
The New York Times: Why Everything We Know About Salt May Be Wrong
The salt equation taught to doctors for more than 200 years is not hard to understand. The body relies on this essential mineral for a variety of functions, including blood pressure and the transmission of nerve impulses. Sodium levels in the blood must be carefully maintained. If you eat a lot of salt — sodium chloride — you will become thirsty and drink water, diluting your blood enough to maintain the proper concentration of sodium. Ultimately you will excrete much of the excess salt and water in urine. The theory is intuitive and simple. And it may be completely wrong. (Kolata, 5/8)
The Associated Press: Suicide Online: Facebook Aims To Save Lives With New Actions
The alarming video of a Georgia teenager livestreaming her own suicide attempt stayed up long enough on Facebook Live for sheriff's deputies to find and save her — a repeat phenomenon that has prompted mental health experts and Facebook's CEO to further investigate how they can use social media as a possible platform to help save lives. (Martin, 5/8)
Stat: Loneliness In Seniors: A Medical Problem This Provider Thinks It Can Solve
Clinicians are starting to look at the role that poverty, race, and other social determinants play in a person’s health, but what about social connectedness — how do friendship, family, and loneliness play into a person’s medical needs? Large health care systems have yet to take up the fight in a meaningful way, but that could be changing. On Monday, CareMore, a unit of Anthem Insurance that offers coverage and health care to more than 100,000 members across seven states, is introducing a campaign to help some of the US population’s most socially isolated people: seniors. (Tedeschi, 5/8)
Cox Media Group: Study: 16 Children Hospitalized Daily With Gunshot Injuries
Dr. Alyssa Silver, an attending physician and assistant professor of pediatrics in Children's Hospital at Montefiore/Albert Einstein College of Medicine Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine, took a close look at the number of children injured by guns. CNN reported. She found that roughly 16 children a day, or an estimated 5,862 a year, were hospitalized due to firearm injuries in 2012. (D'Angelo, 5/5)
HealthDay: With Autism, Tracking Devices May Ease Parents' Minds
An electronic tracking device can calm worried parents who fear their child with autism might wander off and stumble into danger, a new survey shows. With the device, "parents were more comfortable letting their child spend time with family and friends," explained lead researcher Dr. Andrew Adesman. (Miller, 5/8)
