Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Room Temperature Rises, So Do Women's Math And Verbal Scores
It is a truth universally acknowledged 鈥 or at least, much discussed on social media 鈥 that a woman who works in an office is in want of a sweater. Office air conditioning is often set at a temperature that women find chilly; the resulting water-cooler debate has been called the 鈥渂attle of the thermostat.鈥 One study even suggested that because women have slower metabolic rates, the formula used to set temperatures in workplaces, which was developed decades ago based on the comfort of men, may overestimate women鈥檚 body heat production by 35 percent. (Greenwood, 5/22)
Wearing a black shirt with 鈥淔ight for your happiness鈥 on the front and 鈥淪ick not weak鈥 on the back, Daniel Carcillo eats an apple as his wife makes a cappuccino nearby and their oldest daughter scampers around the kitchen. This is the family he always wanted, just not the life he expected. Carcillo is hurting inside and out after seven documented concussions in the National Hockey League and what he believes could be literally hundreds of traumatic brain injuries. (Whyno, 5/23)
When Mary Gregory filled out the registration form to compete in a local weightlifting event, she checked the box that read 鈥渇emale鈥 without hesitation. 鈥淚 mean, that鈥檚 my gender,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even think about it. That鈥檚 who I am.鈥 If there were any questions, Gregory didn鈥檛 notice, and on April 27, after months of training, she strode onto the platform at the Best Western hotel just east of Charlottesville and wowed the spectators and fellow powerlifters in attendance. That night she posted a picture on Instagram of herself holding a trophy, telling her 120 followers about the records she set for her age and weight class in the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation, which organized the day鈥檚 competition. (Maese, 5/19)
With Memorial Day around the corner, sunscreens on the market today may be providing聽inferior sun protection or contain potentially harmful chemicals, an environmental advocacy organization says. In a聽review of聽more than 1,300 products with SPF in them, the Environmental Working Group found that about two-thirds did not meet its standard for protection or chemical safety.聽(Miller, 5/22)
The fast-paced, high-pressure environment and often low wages can take its toll on workers' mental health. His peer-to-peer counseling and support program, 鈥淚 Got Your Back,鈥 is now starting to spread. (Yang, 5/22)
Does anything you do as a parent matter? This is a question that surely most parents have asked themselves, as they push through some of the harder parts of raising children 鈥 sleepless nights, tantrums, vomiting illnesses, harassing children to finish their homework. Given how much work parenting can be, most of us probably want to believe that, yes, it does matter. The evidence, however, is not always as clear. (Oster, 5/23)
Kathy Wales will perform the same tasks as her fellow nurses when she starts work, but she took a different path to wearing scrubs. The 15-year Air Force veteran stopped working in 2009 when her two young sons were diagnosed with a rare disease. She lost both in the years that followed 鈥 one to the illness, the other to suicide. Their deaths inspired her to build a new career that begins next month at a Virginia hospital, a path that involves working through grief, helping patients with their mental health and honoring the lives of her children. (Moyer, 5/22)