Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More People Search For Gambling Addiction Help As Sports Betting Grows
Internet searches seeking help for gambling addiction have "increased substantially" as the number of states with legalized sports betting has expanded in recent years, prompting a need for more public health awareness, according to a study released Monday. The findings "suggest that sportsbooks pose a substantial health concern," researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and Bryn Mawr College wrote in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. (Ortiz, 2/17)
In other health and wellness news 鈥
Heart failure is a condition that occurs when the heart can鈥檛 pump out enough blood and oxygen to meet the body鈥檚 needs. Deaths from it have been climbing steadily nationwide since 2012, wiping out earlier declines. Rising rates of metabolic disorders like obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure are likely contributing. There are medications to treat one of the two main types of heart failure, but they aren鈥檛 used as much as they should be, doctors said. 鈥淭he treatments that have been proven in trials to work are not getting prescribed to people in a timely way,鈥 said Dr. Janet Wright, the director of the division for heart disease and stroke prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Agrawal, 2/18)
A woman treated with a pioneering type of immunotherapy for a solid tumour has been in remission for more than 18 years with no further treatments, experts have revealed. The therapy involves taking T-cells, a type of white blood cell, from a patient and genetically engineering them to target and kill cancer cells. These modified T-cells are grown in a laboratory and then infused back into the patient. (Davis, 2/17)
Much of what people have been taught about making America healthier is wrong, Dan Buettner, the originator of the term "Blue Zones," told members of the Senate Aging Committee Wednesday. Why are the people in Blue Zones living 10 years longer than Americans? "Because they're avoiding the diseases that shorten Americans' lives and are bankrupting us in many ways," Buettner, of Miami, Florida, said at a hearing on "Optimizing Longevity: From Research to Action." (Frieden, 2/17)
Children and teens should drink water, plain pasteurized cow鈥檚 milk and limited amounts of 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices, according to healthy beverage guidelines recently released by an expert panel. In a consensus statement, the panel recommended limiting plant-based milk alternatives, flavored milk, caffeine and beverages sweetened with both sugar and nonsugar sweeteners. (Blakemore, 2/15)