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A federal committee’s recommendation that Americans should limit their consumption of added sugars to 6% of their daily calories—down from the current guideline of 10%—is spotlighting the growing toll of obesity on the nation’s health, and drawing pushback from makers of candy and sodas. The guidance, from a committee’s recommendations for new U.S. dietary guidelines, aims to address rising rates of obesity and the poor quality of most Americans’ diets. Obesity has been linked to an increased risk of health problems, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer—and raises the risk for severe illness with Covid-19. (Petersen, 9/28)

A large-scale, international study in The Lancet shows that extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) improves survival for critical COVID-19 patients. A technique that removes blood from the body for oxygenation when a patient's lungs are compromised by severe lung damage, ECMO has been used successfully to treat patients suffering from acute respiratory distress (ARDS) and other types of viral pneumonia. The study included 1,035 severely ill, ventilated COVID-19 patients in 213 hospitals at high risk of death due to lung failure. Patients started on ECMO from Jan 16 to May 1 were followed until death, discharge from the hospital, or until Aug 5—whichever occurred first. At the end of the study period, 380 study patients had died in the hospital; 588 had either been discharged to home, a rehabilitation center, or another long-term acute care center; and 67 patients remained in the hospital. (9/28)

When emergency rooms began filling with people with Covid-19 in the spring, there was one group of extremely high-risk patients who were too afraid to go. People with sickle cell disease frequently need emergency medical care, but during the height of the pandemic, many suffered at home from fear of exposure to the coronavirus. The consequences of that hesitation are only beginning to be known. (Edwards, 9/28)

Mayo Clinic researchers report that a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) was 78% effective at preventing Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) recurrence at 1 year despite subsequent exposure to the toxoid in 460 FMT patients. The retrospective study, published late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases, found that 76.8% of adult patients were exposed to the healthcare system after FMT, and 78.1% of 374 patients with risk factor exposure had a durable response at 1 year. (9/28)

Growing rates of obesity among Americans are clear evidence that even the best intentions and strongest motivations are often not enough to help seriously overweight people lose a significant amount of weight and, more important, keep it off. But for those who can overcome fears of surgery and perhaps do battle with recalcitrant insurers, there remains another very successful option that experts say is currently vastly underused. That option is bariatric surgery, an approach that is now simpler, safer and more effective than in its early days in the 1990s. (Brody, 9/28)

Could affixing a motion sensor to my toothbrush — and that of my 12-year old, Max — help either of us improve our oral hygiene? Might I one day earn a compliment, rather than constructive criticism, from someone at the dentist’s office? The Truthbrush set I got has three components: a rubber ring (they call it a “tracker”) that goes around the handle of your toothbrush, a wireless “hub” that plugs into an outlet in your bathroom, and a mobile app that displays data about your brushing habits, and those of others in your house who are using the tracking ring. (Kirsner, 9/28)