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People who consumed foods from the plant-based Mediterranean and brain-focused MIND diets had fewer of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s — sticky beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain — when autopsied, a new study found. The MIND diet is short for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. In fact, people who most closely followed either of the diets had “almost 40% lower odds” of having enough plaques and tangles in brain tissue to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, according to the study. (LaMotte, 3/8)

The world is off-pace for achieving the goal of reducing sodium intake 30% by 2025, according to a first-of-its-kind report from the World Health Organization. Although all 194 WHO member countries committed to the target set in 2013, only 5% have implemented comprehensive sodium-reduction policies, according to Thursday’s report. (Chavez, 3/9)

U.S. prosecutors are dropping felony fraud charges they brought against a former chief executive of ice cream maker Blue Bell Creameries LP in the wake of a 2015 listeria outbreak that led to three deaths.  As part of a settlement reached Wednesday, Paul Kruse, Blue Bell’s CEO from 2004 until 2017, will plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge over food safety violations. He will pay a $100,000 fine and avoid jail time, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court in Austin, Texas. (Tokar, 3/8)

“Anne” is sitting in a small, wood-paneled consultation room, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., about to embark on yet another weight loss journey. Except this one might be different from all the others — the tours of Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and dietitian-led programs. Her doctor, Andres Acosta, is probing her struggle at a depth that’s new to Anne. Acosta begins today’s appointment by telling Anne — a pseudonym we’ve used to protect her patient confidentiality — that he wants to understand the “root cause” of her obesity. (Belluz, 3/9)

Both women and men are likely to live longer when a country makes strides towards gender equality, according to a new global study that authors believe to be the first of its kind. The study was published in the journal PLOS Global Public Health this week, just ahead of International Women's Day. It adds to a growing body of research showing that advances in women's rights benefit everyone. (Treisman, 3/8)

Bindi Irwin, conservationist and daughter of the late Steve Irwin, the renowned “Crocodile Hunter,” took to Twitter on International Women’s Day to share her 10-year struggle with endometriosis, a chronic disease that can cause debilitating pain and infertility. ... “For 10 years I’ve struggled with insurmountable fatigue, pain and nausea,” Irwin, 24, wrote. “A doctor told me it was simply something you deal with as a woman and I gave up entirely, trying to function through the pain.” (Hassan, 3/8)

KHN and NPR: Jimmy Carter Took On The Awful Guinea Worm When No One Else Would — And Triumphed

Jimmy Carter took great pride in pointing out that the United States didn’t start any new wars during his term as president. But after he left office, he launched a war against “neglected” diseases — diseases in far-off lands that most Americans will never suffer from and may not have even heard of. Diseases like lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, river blindness, schistosomiasis … and a disease caused by a nasty little bug called a Guinea worm. Guinea worms are spread through contaminated drinking water and eating undercooked fish. The female worms, which can be up to 3 feet long once mature, cause incredibly painful, open blisters usually on the infected person’s lower legs and feet — through which the worms emerge. It can take a toll for weeks or months, and sometimes permanently, leaving some people unable to support a family. (Beaubien and Whitehead, 3/8)