Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Warnings Issued About Mexican-Border Cancer Surgeries
State and federal health officials are warning U.S. residents to cancel planned surgeries in a Mexico border city after five people from Texas who got procedures there came back and developed suspected cases of fungal meningitis. One of them died, officials said. The five people who became ill traveled to Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, for surgical procedures that included the use of an epidural, an anesthetic injected near the spinal column, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Tuesday. Four remain hospitalized, and one of them later died. (5/18)
In other health and wellness news 鈥
Leading heart health organizations are urging schools and parents to teach young children life-saving skills such as how to call 911 and how to administer CPR. On Wednesday, the American Heart Association, the European Resuscitation Council and the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation published a scientific statement in the journal Circulation that details evidence showing schoolchildren as young as 4 know how to call for help in a medical emergency and that, by age 10 to 12, children can administer effective chest compressions when performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better known as CPR. (Howard, 5/17)
They don't call it the "death cap" mushroom without good reason. It's one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world. Eating only half a cap can shut down your liver 鈥 and if you don't get medical attention fast enough, that shroom just might turn out to be your last meal. Mushroom poisonings are tough to track reliably, but some scientists estimate that they cause about 10,000 illnesses and 100 deaths a year globally. Until now, effective treatments for death cap poisonings were few and far between with no proven antidote available. (Barnhart, 5/17)
Exercise is, without question, good for our hearts. But can we potentially get too much of a good thing? A growing body of science, including a new report of the health of almost 1,000 longtime runners, cyclists, swimmers and triathletes, finds that years of heavy endurance training and competition may contribute to an increased chance of developing atrial fibrillation, especially in men. (Reynolds, 5/17)
Now a co-founder and strategic partner at Plezi Nutrition, a maker of sweetened beverages for kids ages 6 and up, Michelle Obama says she鈥檚 offering a lower-sugar alternative to steer them away from sugary drinks. ... But Plezi鈥檚 first product is a flavored juice drink blend that, under the very standards Obama championed, could not be served in US schools. (Shanker, 5/17)
Global temperatures are likely to soar to record highs over the next five years, driven by human-caused warming and a climate pattern known as El Ni帽o, forecasters at the World Meteorological Organization聽said on Wednesday. ... 鈥淭his will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment,鈥 said Petteri Taalas, the secretary general of the meteorological organization. 鈥淲e need to be prepared.鈥 (Plumer, 5/17)