Who Needs Romance When You Have Gene Compatibility? New App Matches Users Based On DNA

Stat: A New App Tries To Use DNA To Match Genetically Compatible Couples
A new online dating app is pitching DNA analysis as a cure for catfishing, endless left swiping, and the myriad other ailments of 21st-century courtship. Pheramor, which launches this week in Houston with several thousand singles already signed up, operates like a cross between 23andMe and OkCupid. Users swab their cheeks, mail in their samples for sequencing, and then browse profiles of potential dates with whom they’re assigned a compatibility score between 0 and 100 percent. (Robbins, 2/26)

The Wall Street Journal: A Cough Syrup Goes A Different Kind Of Viral. Its Stock Soars.
Has Chinese alternative medicine come in from the cold? Shares of Hong Kong-listed pharmaceutical distributor Kingworld Medicines Group Ltd. soared as much as 55% Monday after a Wall Street Journal article about growing use of its signature product in the U.S. was widely shared among social media users in Asia and picked up by some local media outlets. The company describes its dark syrupy cough remedy, Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, as an “herbal dietary supplement with honey and loquat.” (Erheriene, 2/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Medical Researchers Look To Enlist Patients As Partners
Joel Nowak, a 66-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., resident with metastatic prostate cancer, knows a lot about cancer research. Over the years, he has contributed blood, saliva and medical information to studies in hopes of helping investigators battle the disease. But something has nagged at him. Almost always, Mr. Nowak says, investigators want data, “but you never hear from them again.” (Dockser Marcus, 2/25)

The Washington Post: Googling Your Own Cancer Symptoms: Does It Work?
It was a headline that captured her attention: “Boy, 13, died just A WEEK after being diagnosed with leukemia despite having NO symptoms beforehand.” Laura Handley, a mother of five, had been scrolling through Facebook when she was sucked into a story about a seemingly healthy 13-year-old boy who had died suddenly from an aggressive form of cancer called acute myeloid leukemia. Curious about the disease, she decided to search for the symptoms on Google. The results came back with “fatigue, fever, or loss of appetite.” (Bever, 2/24)

NPR: Back Pain May Be The Result Of Bending Over At The Waist Instead Of The Hips
To see if you're bending correctly, try a simple experiment. "Stand up and put your hands on your waist," says Jean Couch, who has been helping people get out of back pain for 25 years at her studio in Palo Alto, Calif. "Now imagine I've dropped a feather in front of your feet and asked to pick it up," Couch says. "Usually everybody immediately moves their heads and looks down." (Doucleff, 2/26)

The Washington Post: Bad Genes Don't Doom You To Heart Attack If You Fight Back
John Fixx works out every day. Most days he runs, either outside or on a treadmill. Sometimes he uses an elliptical machine. He also lifts weights and follows a low-fat diet. He has never smoked. At 56, mindful of his family history, he already has lived longer than his father and grandfather, who both died young of heart attacks. His three siblings also practice healthy habits. “We can’t control the DNA we are given,” says Fixx, who heads the Country School in Madison, Conn. “But we can control what we put into our bodies, and whether we exercise, get enough sleep and manage stress. A predisposition to cardiovascular disease doesn’t mean we can’t lead healthy lives extended by many years.” (Cimons, 2/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Food Tailored To Our Genes May Be On The Menu Soon
What if you could take a blood test to determine the best diet for you? Right now most dietary guidelines are developed by looking at an average population. But not everyone responds to a given diet the same way. Some ethnic groups, for instance, are more prone than others to high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels and excess body fat on certain diets. (Ward, 2/25)

The Washington Post: Rare Diseases Get Their Day With Emphasis On Research
Rare diseases — ailments that affect fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States — may go unnoticed by most people. But advocates say they’re worth noticing. People with Adams-Oliver syndrome, for example, are born with hairless, scarred patches on their scalps and may be missing lower legs or hands. People with granuloma annulare experience rings of bumps on their skin that can spontaneously appear or resolve. People with watermelon stomach get stripes on the inside of the stomach from internal bleeding. (Blakemore, 2/24)

Sacramento Bee: Getting Sick: Fact Vs. Fiction
You may have heard that going outside in the winter without a hat on will result in catching a cold, but is that really true? A doctor separates fact from fiction when it comes to what actually causes us to get sick. (2/25)

Kaiser Health News: Trump’s Perfect Score On Brain Test Spawns DIY Cognitive Exam
When Donald Trump aced a cognitive test in January, scores of people tried to take it, too, based mostly on media reports that invited them to match wits with the president. Casual users puzzled over line drawings of animals, while others wondered what it meant if they were bad at subtracting by sevens. (Aleccia, 2/26)