Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Dietitians Struggle To Find Ethical Balance In Navigating Ties To Food Industry
But whether the trade group should be hawking it at an assembly of the nation鈥檚 dietitians 鈥 as it did here at a conference this month 鈥 has become a point of contention.The event in question is the annual Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, and it is a veritable feast of food-related promotion. But the event is also made possible by vast sums of money from companies and trade groups, in some cases reinforcing the perception that 鈥淏ig Food鈥 brands are corrupting the guidance provided to millions of Americans every year. Over the years, the group hosting the event, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has exacerbated those concerns. (Kaplan, 10/31)
If you鈥檝e inhaled so many 鈥渇un size鈥 Halloween candies that you feel like you could die, scientists have some good news: That is extremely unlikely. Of all the ways to go, overdosing on candy might not seem so bad. But death by candy is actually pretty hard to pull off. (Kaplan, 10/31)
And in other public health news聽鈥
A聽complication of measles that kills children years after they have been infected is more common than previously thought, according to disturbing data released Friday. ...聽The complication is a neurological disorder that can lie聽dormant for years and then is 100 percent fatal.聽Researchers don't know what causes the virus to reactivate, and there is no cure once it does. The only way to prevent the disorder is by vaccinating everyone possible against measles. (Sun, 10/28)
The body鈥檚 immune T cells fight off foreign invaders, but in patients with cancer and chronic diseases, they get tired from that constant battle. And it鈥檚 not just the body鈥檚 natural T cells that get exhausted. Engineered cells known as CAR-T cells 鈥 which aim to home in on and attack tumor cells 鈥 can get worn out, too. Now, scientists have a clearer picture of what鈥檚 happening inside those tired T cells. We talked to researcher Dr. Nick Haining of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute about the work, published this week in聽Science. (Thielking, 10/28)
A majority of U.S. middle and high schoolers say that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes and that such products as smokeless tobacco and cigars fall somewhere in between, according to national surveys. They鈥檙e not necessarily wrong, but that comes with caveats, experts say. (10/28)
After skin disease, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States, affecting 1 in 6. It also is the second-leading cause of death from cancer among men. Nearly 3 million men in the United States currently live with prostate cancer, with a new case occurring every 2.4 minutes and a death occurring every 19.1 minutes. ... Prostate cancer has no early warning signs. But a test that involves a digital rectal exam and a blood test can help identify cancer early on, when treatment is most effective, says Dr. Ronney Abaza, a urologic surgeon at OhioHealth. (Pyle, 10/30)
Co-founded by Jay Feinberg, who found himself in need of a donor 25 years ago, Gift of Life has facilitated more than 3,000 transplants since its inception in 1991. It has added 275,000 names to Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide, a database of 28 million donors ... [Robby] Holroyd says that being a donor is one of the most gratifying 鈥 and easiest 鈥 things he has ever done. (The procedure, which involves a machine draining blood from your arm, has much become much easier over the years.) (Rhodes, 10/28)