Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Roundup: Measles Antibodies; The Primary Care System; Ultraprocessed Food; And More
Infants are often assumed to be immune to measles through maternal antibodies transferred during pregnancy and, in many countries, receive their first measles-containing vaccine at 12 to 15 months. Immunity may wane before this time in measles-eliminated settings, placing infants at risk for measles and complications. We investigated humoral immunity to measles in infants <12 months of age in Ontario, Canada. (Science et al, 12/1)
A strong primary care system can help prevent illness, manage patient care across multiple providers, and reduce health care costs. Essential to such a system is effective communication. To address patients鈥 needs, primary care physicians often must communicate and exchange information with specialists, hospitals and other care settings, social service providers 鈥 and, of course, the patients themselves. (Doty, Tikkanen, Shah and Schneider, 12/10)
In this large observational prospective study, a higher proportion of UPF in the diet was associated with a higher risk of T2D. Even though these results need to be confirmed in other populations and settings, they provide evidence to support efforts by public health authorities to recommend limiting UPF consumption. (Srour et al, 12/16)
Poor sleep may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, new research suggests. Researchers assigned 鈥渟leep scores鈥 on a scale of zero to five to 385,292 British men and women, giving one point for having each of five indicators of healthy sleep: being an early bird, sleeping seven to eight hours a night, having no insomnia, not snoring and not being sleepy during the day. The scores depended on self-reports of sleep behavior. (Bakalar, 12/18)