Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Cancer Death Rates Have Fallen Nearly 30% Over 25 Years
You鈥檙e less likely to die of cancer today than you were a generation ago. True, you could鈥檝e said the same thing 20 years ago and 40 years ago. But the gains made against cancer during the first two decades of the 21st century are so profound 鈥 and so unexpected given other trends that should be leading to more cancer deaths, not fewer 鈥 that some experts are talking again about the idea that cancer could be cured. (Mouchard, 7/29)
Errors in diagnosis are relatively common among older people. The reasons are many: older adults may have multiple conditions, take many medications, and illnesses can look very different in older people than they do in younger ones. Older adults may show different symptoms or none at all. And sometimes health care workers assume that whatever is bothering the patient is 鈥渂ecause of your age.鈥 All this can lead to older patients being either under-treated or over-treated. (Milne-Tyte, 7/30)
Exposure to wildfire smoke increases the odds of being diagnosed with dementia even more than exposure to other forms of air pollution, according to a landmark study of more than 1.2 million Californians. The study 鈥 released Monday at the Alzheimer鈥檚 Assn. International Conference in Philadelphia 鈥 is the largest and most comprehensive review of the impact of wildfire smoke on brain health to date, according to its authors. (Wigglesworth, 7/29)
When the mayor of Las Vegas, N.M., issued a warning in 2022 to its 13,000 residents, it wasn鈥檛 over a fire 鈥 they had recently lived through the state鈥檚 largest wildfire in its history: Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak. The dire warning was that the city had 30 days of clean water left. The 2022 monsoon rains covered the Gallinas watershed, where cleared trees from the Santa Fe National Forest and ash-covered grounds made for flash-flood conditions. The storms introduced massive amounts of carbon from burned trees and plant life into the streams and reservoirs. Water treatment couldn鈥檛 keep up, making their stores undrinkable. (Wolfe and Steckelberg, 7/29)
Around a quarter of adolescent girls who have been in relationships have endured physical or sexual violence, a World Health Organization study said on Tuesday, calling for more prevention actions. The WHO analysis published in the Lancet medical journal was based on surveys from thousands of adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 from 154 countries and areas. It showed that 24% of them had been subjected to intimate partner violence at least once, with 16% reporting it in the past year. (Farge, 7/29)