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Morning Briefing

Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

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Thursday, Jun 15 2017

Full Issue

Public Health Roundup: Conjoined Twins; A Shot For Incontinence; And Home Health Care For Seniors

Also in the news: a tool to detect Parkinson's, transgender talk and salt caves as the new health trend.

For the first time,聽conjoined twins聽Abby and Erin Delaney can sleep聽in separate beds. The 10-month-old girls from聽North Carolina were born connected at the head, an extremely rare condition. Following months of planning and preparation, the pair聽underwent a successful 11-hour separation surgery last week at Children鈥檚 Hospital of Philadelphia in southeastern Pennsylvania, according to the hospital. (Bever, 6/14)

Urinary incontinence is a common condition in women. Approximately 25 percent of young women, around half of middle-aged and postmenopausal women, and three-fourths of older women experience some involuntary urine loss, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The group estimates that $19.5 billion a year is spent on treatments, which run the gamut from behavior modification to surgery. Then there鈥檚 the O-Shot, meant for the 15 percent of women who have stress incontinence 鈥斅爈eakage associated with a strain such as sneezing or lifting. Rush, 6/14)

The 84-year-old man who had suffered a mini-stroke was insistent as he spoke to a social worker about being discharged from the hospital: He didn鈥檛 want anyone coming into his home, and he didn鈥檛 think he needed any help. So the social worker canceled an order for home health care services. And the patient went back to his apartment without plans for follow-up care in place. (Graham, 6/15)

Getting in to see a doctor takes time. Getting the most out of your doctor鈥檚 time takes something more: an inquisitive approach. Armed with the right questions before you sit on the exam table, you, too, can become an empowered patient ready to make informed decisions about your health. (Shah, 6/15)

Erin Smith doesn鈥檛 watch a lot of TV. Instead, the 17-year-old spends her evenings perfecting an online tool she created. The tool, called FacePrint, can detect Parkinson鈥檚 disease years before current diagnosis methods by recording your facial reactions with a webcam at home. Smith, a senior at Shawnee Mission West High School, has traveled to Twitter and Google headquarters, won a $10,000 prize from the #BuiltByGirls Future Founder competition to continue her research, and has been recognized by the Michael J. Fox Foundation. (Marleah Campbell, 6/14)

Experts say it's hard to know exactly how many transgender teachers there are in the country because they often don't disclose their status, fearing discrimination. Across the country, estimates show less than one percent of the population identifies as transgender. (Emanuel, 6/15)

Two young women in white chamois robes exited the Himalayan salt sauna at Premier57, a spa in Midtown Manhattan, looking rosy and happily spent. The salt sauna, lined with burnt orange and yellow blocks of sodium chloride, is a popular destination at the spa, where a day pass is $75 and the tagline urges guests to 鈥渋mmerse, indulge, intrigue.鈥 Options include an infrared lounge, a meditation room, an igloo room, a gold sauna and a clay sauna, 鈥渂ut we have a lot of guests who just come here for the salt room, especially if they have arthritis,鈥 said the spa鈥檚 general manager, Ellis Kim. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very good for arthritis and for regulating blood pressure.鈥 (Kaufman, 6/14)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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