Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Guidelines, Statin Use Lead To Declining Cholesterol Levels, But Some High Risk Groups Lag Behind
Some good health news: Americans' cholesterol levels are dropping, and more people at especially high risk are getting treatment. Researchers say Monday's report suggests a controversial change in recommendations for cholesterol treatment may be starting to pay off. "It is very heartening," said Dr. Pankaj Arora of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who led the study. "But there is more to do." (Neergaard, 11/11)
Efforts to reduce deaths from breast cancer in women have long focused on early detection and post-surgical treatment with drugs, radiation or both to help keep the disease at bay. And both of these approaches, used alone or together, have resulted in a dramatic reduction in breast cancer mortality in recent decades. The average five-year survival rate is now 90 percent, and even higher — 99 percent — if the cancer is confined to the breast, or 85 percent if it has spread to regional lymph nodes. (Brody, 11/11)
New guidance on concussions shows there isn't enough solid evidence to answer some of parents' most burning questions about contact sports. That includes what age is safest to start playing them. Pediatric experts in sports medicine, neurology and related fields evaluated and rated three decades of sports concussion-related research. They say recent evidence filled in some blanks. (Tanner, 11/11)
Racial bias may affect whether black patients with heart failure are approved for heart transplants, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers in Arizona asked 422 doctors, nurses and other hospital decision-makers to look at a pool of hypothetical patients, both black and white, and decide which should be referred for a heart transplant. (Kilpatrick, 11/11)
Some studies, and many ads, suggest that omega-3 supplements are helpful for improving mental health. But a systematic review of research has found the supplements are probably ineffective in treating or preventing depression and anxiety. The analysis, in the British Journal of Psychiatry, included a broad range of long-term trials of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation. Omega-3s are found in fatty fish like salmon and other foods. Neither length of treatment nor size of dosage demonstrated effectiveness. (Dixon, 11/12)
Big, destructive hurricanes are hitting the U.S. three times more frequently than they did a century ago, according to a new study. Experts generally measure a hurricane's destruction by adding up how much damage it did to people and cities. That can overlook storms that are powerful, but that hit only sparsely populated areas. A Danish research team came up with a new measurement that looked at just the how big and strong the hurricane was, not how much money it cost. They call it Area of Total Destruction. (Borenstein, 11/11)
