Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Your High Rent May Be Hurting Your Health, Shortening Your Life: Report
USA Today: High Rent In The US: It's Harming Health And Shortening Lifespans
Paying high rent is stressful, and a recent study found it can actually shorten your lifespan. People who spent a vast portion of their income on rent were more likely to experience poor health and had a greater risk of premature death, the study found. The research published in November in the peer-reviewed journal Social Science & Medicine also found that evictions and even the threat of being evicted were linked to higher mortality rates. (Rodriguez, 1/10)
USA Today: Black Americans Face Higher Rates Of Stroke At Younger Ages
Black Americans suffer from strokes at far younger ages than white patients, according to a new study. The gap is nearly a decade. ... Researchers at Brown University evaluated stroke trends using data from 17 hospitals in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky from 1993 to 2015. ... They found the rate of stroke decreased from 230 cases per 100,000 people to 188 cases in that time, according to the report published Wednesday in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. (Rodriguez, 1/10)
Inside Climate News: Chemicals Found In Everyday Products May Increase Breast Cancer Risk
More than 900 chemicals in widespread use could be increasing breast cancer risk, scientists reported in a peer-reviewed study published Wednesday. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women globally, and recently replaced lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed form of the disease. (Gross, 1/10)
Axios: YouTube Tries To Make It Easier For You To Help In A Medical Emergency
First things first: If there's an emergency, call 911. But then, maybe check YouTube for quick advice on how to help, the tech giant says. YouTube is launching a new feature directing users to short, step-by-step first-aid tutorials on how to deliver potentially life-saving care — such as directions on performing CPR, recognizing a heart attack or administering overdose reversal drug Narcan — before first responders arrive. (Reed, 1/10)
The Washington Post: Sexual Assaults On Cruise Ships Are Rising
Sex crimes on cruise ships sailing to and from the United States increased last year, according to numbers released by the Transportation Department. From January to September 2023, the FBI received 39 reports of sexual assault and 58 reports of rape from passengers. The incidents represent less than 1 percent of the tens of millions of passengers who take cruises each year. However, sexual assaults continue to be the most commonly reported crimes on cruise ships. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, more than two out of three sexual assaults are not reported. (Hiatt, 1/10)
Also —
The Washington Post: Ancient DNA Helps Trace Multiple Sclerosis Origins In European Descendants
Five thousand years ago, sheep and cattle herders migrated westward from Asia to Europe, bringing with them their pastoral way of life — and higher genetic risk for multiple sclerosis, according to a new study of DNA from thousands of ancient and present-day people. The finding answers a long-standing conundrum in medical science: Why is this debilitating autoimmune disease most common in people from northern Europe? The research also recasts the modern-day illness, suggesting it is rooted in an evolutionary trade-off. (Johnson, 1/10)
Stat: U.K. Sequencing Study Surfaces New Findings About Tumor DNA
A decade ago, the U.K. launched its 100,000 Genomes Project, a major research endeavor that involved sequencing the DNA of that many people to discover how our genes shape our health. But the initiative wasn’t just focused on sequencing our regular DNA. One arm of the project also entailed decoding the genomes of some participants’ tumors. (Joseph, 1/10)
