Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Meet The Teen Challenging The Ultra-Processed Food Industry; Our Obsession With Mental Health Is Backfiring
The New York Times: This Teen Took On A $10 Trillion Industry. We Might All Be Healthier Because Of Him.
A teenager’s lawsuit against the food industry shows us the path to a better food system. (Julia Belluz, 7/27)
The New York Times: Obsessing About Our Mental Health Is Part Of Our Mental Health Problem
We need to support psychological well-being without fixating on it. (Clay Routledge, 7/26)
Stat: Cutting-Edge Dementia Research Sees The Brain As Infrastructure
In the nine years since my last visit to the Docklands’ Excel conference center for the 2017 annual Alzheimer Association International Conference, or AAIC, little of London’s infrastructure has changed. I traveled via the same low-ceilinged, clattering trains with signs advising riders to “mind the gap” and “mind the step.” The center has the same weird jack-o’-lantern-esque façade and forgettable restaurants and hotels. I was even here for the same conference. Same meeting, in the same place, but what transpired was quite different. In just nine years, how we think about the aging brain has transformed. (Jason Karlawish, 7/28)
The Washington Post: As A Doctor, Here’s Why I Wear Sunblock Indoors
I know that feels counterintuitive, but let’s start by pondering this question: Why do people in the United States tend to get more skin cancers on their left side, while people in Australia appear to get more sun damage on the right? The answer is UVA exposure while driving. (Trisha Pasricha, MD, 7/27)
The Marshall Project: I Spent 78 Days In A Violent Youth Jail. I Have PTSD For Life.
In 2004, when I was 16 years old, I spent 78 days in Savannah Regional Youth Detention Center. Twenty-two years later, I am still reeling from the effects, most often in the form of violent flashbacks. (Joey Heilman, 7/24)
