With Millions Of Baby Boomers Expected To Get Alzheimer’s, Experts Puzzle Over Best Ways To Avoid Bleak Future
Stat News talked to eight experts about which interventions would be most helpful for the brain-wasting disease that has no cure. While, the U.S. has tripled spending on the disease since 2015, there's been little effort to manage spending or research priorities. Other public health news looks at the call for flu shots, banished unvaccinated students, autism, concussions, safe playgrounds, seniors' falls, baby food, "brain tingles," and arthritis, as well.
Stat:
With Alzheimer's Tsunami Expected, Experts Weigh How To Shift Tide
The forecast looms like a portent of doom. From 5.8 million people today, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease is projected to reach 13.8 million by 2050, overwhelming caregivers and the health care system — a prospect that has produced alarm bordering on panic about an unstoppable Alzheimer’s tsunami. Reality, however, is far more nuanced: Medical breakthroughs and other factors could dramatically reduce that number — though, paradoxically, such advances could also increase the prevalence of this most common form of dementia. (Begley, 10/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
Doctors Urge Americans To Get Flu Shots Amid Fears Over Deadly Flu Strain
Doctors are urging Americans to get their flu shots right away after a bad flu season in Australia has raised concerns about the coming season in the U.S. Public health experts often look to the Southern Hemisphere’s influenza patterns for clues of what’s to come. This year Australia saw an earlier-than-usual peak of flu cases and had a tough season overall. The predominant flu strain in Australia, as in recent years in the U.S., was the H3N2 virus, which generally causes more severe illness, particularly among the elderly, and more hospitalizations and deaths. (Reddy, 10/16)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Doctors Brace For A Severe Flu Season
Public health experts trying to predict the severity of the upcoming flu season in the U.S. often look to the Southern Hemisphere for clues. Here’s the word from Down Under, where winter recently ended:Brace yourself, America. (Oliviero, 10/16)
The Associated Press:
Scrutiny Of Vaccine Exemptions Banishes Some From Schools
Carl and Kerri Schwartz say they have good medical reason for not vaccinating their disabled 11-year-old son, Thorn, and until recently his local public school went along with their family doctor's advice. That changed, the Schwartzes said, when New York state did away with religious exemptions for vaccines in the middle of a measles outbreak, and then clamped down on medical exemptions like theirs. Thorn is now barred from his school in Fairport while his parents challenge the district's rejection of his exemption. (10/16)
NPR:
An Educational Refuge For Gifted Teens On The Autism Spectrum
Educators refer to teens like Alex as "twice exceptional." "I have a large degree of skill in almost every subject of learning," says Alex, who is 16. "But I also have autistic spectrum disorder." For Alex, this dual identity has meant both opportunity and frustration. He has skipped two grades so far, and began taking college math courses last year, when he was still 15. But when he was younger, Alex's underdeveloped social skills caused him a lot of grief. (Hamilton, 10/16)
CNN:
High School Sports With Highest Concussion Rates Revealed In New Study
When it comes to concussions in high school sports, there is good news and bad news, a new study suggests. The rates of football practice concussions and recurrent concussions across all sports have gone down in recent years, according to the study, published in the journal Pediatrics on Tuesday. The bad news: Concussion rates increased in football games. (Howard, 10/15)
The Washington Post:
Group Seeks ‘Playground Equity’ — Giving Kids A Safe Place To Play
More than 200 volunteers recently gave up their Saturday to labor in a Southwest Baltimore schoolyard constructing a modern playground they hope will promote play — and level the playing field. Those behind the effort believe schools with many low-income black students, such as North Bend Elementary/Middle School, have been shortchanged for years when it comes to monkey bars, climbing walls and swings, and the known health benefits of playgrounds. They are making a concerted effort to correct that. (Cohn, 10/16)
Kaiser Health News:
‘Fear Of Falling’: How Hospitals Do Even More Harm By Keeping Patients In Bed
Dorothy Twigg was living on her own, cooking and walking without help until a dizzy spell landed her in the emergency room. She spent three days confined to a hospital bed, allowed to get up only to use a bedside commode. Twigg, who was in her 80s, was livid about being stuck in a bed with side rails and a motion sensor alarm, according to her cousin and caretaker, Melissa Rowley. “They’re not letting me get up out of bed,” Twigg protested in phone calls, Rowley recalled. (Bailey, 10/17)
CNN:
95% Of Tested Baby Foods Contain Toxic Metals, Report Says
Toxic heavy metals damaging to your baby's brain development are likely in the baby food you are feeding your infant, according to a new investigation published Thursday. Tests of 168 baby foods from major manufacturers found 95% contained lead, 73% contained arsenic, 75% contained cadmium and 32% contained mercury. One fourth of the foods contained all four heavy metals. (LaMotte, 10/17)
NPR:
Watching ASMR Videos Can Feel So Good, But What's The Science Behind Them?
When scientist Giulia Poerio was a little girl, she says she would experience this very peculiar — and distinct — feeling: "a warm, tingling sensation that starts at the crown of the head, almost like bubbles on the scalp. "Even more peculiar? It was triggered by specific sounds or gentle movements, "like watching my mom brush her hair or put makeup on," she recalls, or having her feet measured for school shoes or a teacher explain something to her very carefully. (Kowng, 10/17)
WBUR:
Concerns Rise About Possible Complications From Steroid Injections For Hip And Knee Arthritis
More than 30 million Americans have osteoarthritis, a chronic condition of the joints that affects mainly older people. Many patients seek relief from the pain it causes by getting injections of steroids into their hips and knees. (Goldberg, 10/17)
