Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Using Aspirin Long-Term Helps Dramatically Cut Risk Of Certain Types Of Cancer
Austin American-Statesman: Long-Term Aspirin Users At Lower Risk Of Cancer, Study Concludes
Aspirin may help alleviate your headache or stomach pains, but it may also reduce your risk of cancer, according to a new report. ...After analyzing the results, they found that aspirin users were 47 percent less likely to have liver and esophageal cancer. (Parker, 11/1)
The New York Times: Inflammation In Midlife Tied To Brain Shrinkage Later In Life
Chronic inflammation in middle age may be associated with an increased risk for brain shrinkage and Alzheimer’s disease later in life. A new study, published in Neurology, looked at 1,633 people whose average age was 53 in 1987-89, measuring white blood cell count and various blood proteins that indicate inflammation. (Bakalar, 11/1)
Stat: Squashed In Space: Study Identifies Changes In Astronauts' Brains
Sure, space travel makes bones and muscles atrophy and alters the distribution of blood and other bodily fluids, among other physiological consequences of microgravity, but what does it do to the brain? Since astronauts on a mission to Mars will need their wits about them, NASA and outside scientists have been keen to assess the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the 3 pounds of protoplasm inside the skull. In a NASA-funded study published on Wednesday, Dr. Donna Roberts of the Medical University of South Carolina and her colleagues therefore compared before- and after-mission MRIs of 34 astronauts, 18 who spent months on the International Space Station (average voyage: 165 days) and 16 who had shorter jaunts (14 days, on average, on the space shuttle). (Begley, 11/1)
The New York Times: Tapping Into Dementia Patients’ Memories Through Vaudeville
The elderly dementia patient in the next room was unresponsive and in a foul mood, the head nurse warned. Dapper Dan and Beatrice took that information into account and proceeded anyway. The patient was lying in bed with her eyes wide open and didn’t say a word when the pair launched into a medley of 50s tunes. By the time they got to their third song, “Under the Boardwalk,” they noticed the patient’s toes were moving to the rhythm under the bedsheet and that she was gently tapping her fingers to the music. (Hollow, 11/1)
Kaiser Health News: Learning To Advance The Positives Of Aging
What can be done about negative stereotypes that portray older adults as out-of-touch, useless, feeble, incompetent, pitiful and irrelevant? From late-night TV comedy shows where supposedly clueless older people are the butt of jokes to ads for anti-aging creams equating youth with beauty and wrinkles with decay, harsh and unflattering images shape assumptions about aging. Although people may hope for good health and happiness, in practice they tend to believe that growing older involves deterioration and decline, according to reports from the Reframing Aging Initiative. (Graham, 11/2)
California Healthline: Mental Health Of Transgender People Is Under Stress, Study Finds
Diana Feliz Oliva, a 45-year-old transgender woman who grew up outside Fresno, Calif., remembers being bullied when she was younger and feeling confused about her gender identity. She was depressed and fearful about being found out, and she prayed every night for God to take her while she slept. “I was living in turmoil,” said Oliva, who now works as health program manager in a clinic for transgender people at St. John’s Well Child & Family Center in Los Angeles. “Every morning, I would wake up and I knew I would have to endure another day.” (Gorman, 11/2)
The Baltimore Sun: Cost Of Breast Cancer Burdensome For Many Patients
It’s a common problem: Many breast cancer patients find themselves facing expenses they never contemplated. The medical field has a name for it: financial toxicity. Some patients fall into heavy debt, or bankruptcy. Some skip treatments to cut costs, and drain their savings and retirement accounts to keep up with medical bills. Some lose their jobs, because they’re too sick to work or because they miss too many work days. The depletion of funds can affect patients from all walks of life, including those who have insurance. (McDaniels, 11/1)
The Baltimore Sun: Dry Eye Can Be An Annoying, But Treatable Condition
Computers and smart phones are wearing out people’s eyes. Dry eye, a condition that causes strain and fatigue of the eye, is just one of the conditions caused by looking at screens all day. Dr. Richard A. Adler, a surgeon and ophthalmology specialist with Belcara Health in Baltimore, said that eye drops used to be the main treatment for the disease. But now doctors are using many other medical tools to offer relief to patients, he said. (McDaniels, 11/2)
Columbus Dispatch: Gene-Replacement Therapy Helping Kids With Neuromuscular Disease
Dr. Jerry Mendell refers to a boy and a tricycle to explain how effective a new gene-replacement therapy has been in rescuing babies at Nationwide Children’s Hospital from a debilitating and deadly neuromuscular disease. ...Perhaps an ordinary milestone for most children, this is remarkable for a child who was born with type-1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which attacks nerve cells and can cause severe physical limitations — including the inability to breathe, swallow, talk or sit up. (Viviano, 11/2)
