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Monday, June 5, 2017
[Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking]
Sponsored by
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Good morning, folks! Megan here, back from a long weekend in the Midwest. Here's what you need to know about the day's news in health and medicine.
Discrepancies in identifying sudden infant deaths
There isn’t a go-to method for identifying cases of sudden, unexpected infant deaths, and that’s making it difficult to monitor and potentially prevent future deaths, researchers warn in a new paper published in Pediatrics<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=353119367b&e=4aad33fd68> this morning. Researchers mailed out hypothetical scenarios of infant deaths to hundreds of medical examiners and coroners. They didn’t all agree on how to classify the deaths, and they also didn’t universally flag the cases as SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome. Those discrepancies could make it difficult for public health researchers to keep a close eye on cases of SIDS and to identify certain populations that might be particularly at risk. The authors of the new paper say they’d like to see the field come up with a standardized set of practices for investigating and classifying infant deaths to keep the numbers accurate.
New guidelines for treating cardiac arrest mid-flight
A cardiology task force is rolling out a new set of proposed guidelines <http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=82a9b97fa2&e=4aad33fd68> for how to handle a passenger or crew member who goes into cardiac arrest while on an airplane. Cardiac arrests make up just a sliver of medical emergencies on flights, but they’re responsible for an estimated 86 percent of in-flight emergencies that lead to death. The new guidelines came out of a cardiology conference going on this week. Here’s what the task force recommends:
§ Tell passengers about what emergency equipment is available and where it’s located during the pre-flight announcements. And if someone on board is suspected to be in cardiac arrest, crew members should request help over the intercom immediately.
§ Make sure there’s an AED, or automated external defibrillator, on every aircraft. U.S. airlines are required to carry such a device but operators based in other countries may not be.
§ Keep flight crews trained regularly in how to provide basic life support, including specific instruction on how to provide CPR in the cramped spaces on an airplane.
A super-lightweight sponge that can stand up to heat
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a sponge that can stand up to heat, but squishes under pressure. (Gao/Li/Wu/Brown University/Tsingua University)
Scientists have created<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=4881a554ba&e=4aad33fd68> a new type of super-lightweight sponge using nano-sized ceramic fibers tangled up in a ball. Microscopic ceramic fibers — not all that different than the ceramic you see vases made from — are a useful material because they are flexible but heat-resistant. But it’s been challenging to find a cheap, quick way to create those fibers. So engineers at Brown brainstormed a new technique: blow spinning. They use air pressure to push a liquid that contains ceramic through a tiny hole in a syringe. As the liquid drips out of the syringe, it hardens into fibers which are collected by a spinning cage. Researchers heat up that material, and a tangled ball of nanofibers is left. The sponges could one day be used in medical settings or in purification devices for drinking water.
Sponsor content by Bristol-Myers Squibb
When melanoma spreads to the brain, what’s next? New data for I-O therapy presented at ASCO
Melanoma spreads to the brain in 40-60 percent of patients. Once it has spread, it is notoriously difficult to treat, with patients living an average of only three months. Data presented for the first time at the ASCO Annual Meeting reveal what may be possible for I-O therapies that help the immune system fight cancer. Learn about the latest data<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=8ebe37e612&e=4aad33fd68> in metastatic melanoma related to metastases in the brain.
Inside STAT<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=2fbde6b253&e=4aad33fd68>: The Real World for diabetes patients
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Charles Mattocks, center, says he learned to control his diabetes with diet and exercise. (Alissa ambrose)
Welcome to “Reversed,” a new reality TV show set in Jamaica that aims to help Americans with type 2 diabetes restore their health. The host, Charles Mattocks, is a smooth-talking entrepreneur who has leveraged his uncle Bob Marley’s fame and his own history of using diet and exercise to manage his diabetes to establish himself as a guru for diabetics. But back at home, the participants are still struggling with the stubborn realities that are common in patients with chronic disease, from deteriorating vision to the inability to work. STAT’s Rebecca Robbins visited the set — read her story here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=819420b02f&e=4aad33fd68>. And if you’re a STAT Plus subscriber, read her related story<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9eac0fa941&e=4aad33fd68> on the drug manufacturer that’s sponsoring the show in a bid to boost its inhalable insulin sales.
The Senate is still chipping away at a draft health bill
Congress is headed back to the Hill this week, with GOP lawmakers in the Senate continuing to chip away at a first draft of their health care bill. It's been just over a month since the House passed the AHCA, but it's not yet clear what, exactly, the Senate plans to retain in that bill and what they intend to scrap. And not all Republicans are feeling confident in their prospects. On Friday, Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina said<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5fbdc1d063&e=4aad33fd68> it's "unlikely" they'll reach a health care deal.
Tell us about your favorite health and science books
Attention Morning Rounds readers who are also avid book readers — STAT is creating its annual book list, and we're looking for your recommendations. Share your favorite science and medicine picks here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=2a6c8c7a87&e=4aad33fd68>, and your recommendation might end up on our list!
Bicycle accidents cost health care system billions
Bicycle accidents are increasingly common, and medical costs tied to treating people involved are skyrocketing. A new analysis<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5b2a20696c&e=4aad33fd68> finds that from 1997 to 2013, there were 3.8 million non-fatal bicycle injuries and more than 9,000 deaths due to bicycle accidents, with the number of accidents ticking up each year. Those injuries cost the health care system $237 billion over that time span. Men accounted for 75 percent of that cost. More than half of accidents involved a cyclist 45 years or older, though the new analysis doesn’t include pediatric bicycle injuries. The study's authors say that cycling offers a wide range of health benefits, but their findings demonstrate there's a need for safer cycling infrastructure to reduce the risk of an accident and cut down on related health care spending.
What to read around the web today
§ Millions of dollars’ worth of research in limbo at NIH. Washington Post<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=1132e9e74c&e=4aad33fd68>
§ Outcry over EpiPen prices hasn't made them lower. New York Times<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=09d8ae6ffe&e=4aad33fd68>
§ Mayo Clinic’s unusual challenge: overhaul a business that's working. Wall Street Journal<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=80c5a0eaa0&e=4aad33fd68>
More reads from STAT
§ Health officials set to release a list of drugs<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=6f5e2f6a73&e=4aad33fd68> everyone on Earth should be able to access.
§ After a horrific blaze, Oakland firefighters confront lasting emotional scars<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=bb72a51139&e=4aad33fd68>.
The latest from STAT Plus
§ U.S. could save $825 million a year with a small change in immunotherapy dosing<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=fff469ba16&e=4aad33fd68>, study says.
§ Meet the biotech company trying to shake up how the FDA thinks about cancer drugs<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=bbfdd04f4c&e=4aad33fd68>.
Thanks for reading! More tomorrow,
[Megan]
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