Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Dementia Deaths Tripled Over Just 2 Decades In Alarming Trend: Study
Deaths from dementia have tripled in just 21 years, according to a new study published in The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders. In 1999, about 150,000 Americans died from dementia, according to the study. By 2020, that number had tripled to over 450,000. (Shaik, 8/14)
Some 46% of the 1.28 billion adults around the world with high blood pressure don’t know they have it, according to the World Health Organization. Yet living with uncontrolled hypertension may dramatically raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease for people ages 60 and older, according to a new metanalysis. (LaMotte, 8/14)
An observational study today in Alzheimer's Research & Therapy suggesting that a single episode of shingles is tied to a 20% higher risk of long-term confusion and memory loss further supports receiving the vaccine against the disease. (Van Beusekom, 8/14)
For many, middle age is associated with midlife crises and internal tumult. According to new research, it is also when the human body undergoes two dramatic bouts of rapid physical transformation on a molecular level. In a new study, scientists at Stanford University tracked age-related changes in over 135,000 types of molecules and microbes, sampled from over 100 adults. They discovered that shifts in their abundance — either increasing or decreasing in number — did not occur gradually over time, but clustered around two ages. (Sands, 8/14)
Older adults find themselves in a unique moment with technology. Artificial intelligence offers significant benefits for seniors, from the ability to curb loneliness to making it easier for them to get to medical appointments. But it also has drawbacks that are uniquely threatening to this older group of Americans: A series of studies have found that senior citizens are more susceptible to both scams perpetrated using artificial intelligence and believing the types of misinformation that are being supercharged by the technology. Experts are particularly concerned about the role deepfakes and other AI-produced misinformation could play in politics. (Merica, 8/13)
