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☆ Biden to appoint Mandy Cohen to lead the CDC
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Dr. Mandy Cohen speaks at a news conference at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, Nov. 10, 2021. "Dr. Cohen is one of the nation's top physicians and health leaders with experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track-record protecting Americans' health and safety," Biden said in a statement Friday. President Joe Biden on Friday said he will appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She led the CDC through the Covid vaccine rollout, as well as the delta and omicron waves of Covid. Walensky cited the end of the Covid emergency in her resignation letter to Biden.

Persons: Mandy Cohen, Dr, Cohen, Biden, Joe Biden, Rochelle Walensky, Walensky, Ashish Jha, Monica Bertagnolli, Sen, Bernie Sanders Organizations: Emergency, Center, Congress, North, North Carolina's Department of Health, Human Services, Medicare, Services, for Disease Control, CDC, White, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Washington Post Locations: Raleigh , North Carolina, North Carolina's, U.S

☆ What is eclampsia, the condition that may have killed Olympian Tori Bowie?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But it can develop in anyone, including someone who’s thin and super healthy,” said Dr. Nicole Calloway Rankins, a maternal health advocate and obstetrician-gynecologist in Richmond, Virginia. However, high blood pressure, often called the “silent killer,” does not always show signs, so the best prevention is regular checkups and blood pressure readings throughout pregnancy, experts say. That’s literally a hypertensive crisis.”For people worried about heart disease, blood pressure at those levels would be concerning, but not a crisis. What is it about pregnancy that makes high blood pressure so dangerous? “We really have to be vigilant and understand that blood pressure in pregnancy is different than outside of pregnancy.

Persons: Tori Bowie, Bowie, ”, Nicole Calloway Rankins, “, Antonia Oladipo, Eclampsia, Eleni Tsigas, Alastair Grant, Rankins, Tori, ” Tsigas, “ We’ve, Tsigas, it’s, don’t, ” Rankins, something’s, Joe Biden, Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, Gynecologists, ” Hoskins, ” CNN’s Jacqueline Howard Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Cleveland Clinic, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Preeclampsia Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Commonwealth Fund, Dimes, Century Foundation, Data, National Center for Health Statistics, American College of Obstetricians Locations: preeclampsia, Richmond , Virginia, New Jersey, Melbourne , Florida, Florida, London, Orlando , Florida, United States

☆ Bernie Sanders vows to oppose NIH nominee until Biden delivers plan to lower drug prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed to oppose President Joe Biden's pick to lead the National Institutes of Health – and any other health nominee – until the administration delivers a plan to lower prescription drug prices. Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, controls when his panel reviews nominees for the Department of Health and Human Services. A provision of the act penalizes drugmakers for charging prices that rise faster than inflation for people on Medicare. Lawmakers, researchers and advocates have repeatedly warned that drug prices in the U.S. outpace those in other nations and ultimately harm Americans who need to access lifesaving treatments. A provision of the act penalizes drugmakers for charging prices that rise faster than inflation for people on Medicare.

Persons: Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Sen, Joe Biden's, –, Sanders, Biden, Monica Bertagnolli Organizations: Capitol Hill, National Institutes of Health, Washington Post, Health, Department of Health, Human Services, National Cancer Institute, White House, Post, Medicare, Lawmakers, Democratic, NIH Locations: Washington, Vermont, U.S

☆ What to Know About Eclampsia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Alisha Haridasani Gupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The report identified complications of childbirth as the cause of death, listing eclampsia and respiratory distress as possible factors. “Eclampsia occurs in somewhere between one to 10 in 10,000 pregnancies,” said Dr. Joanne Stone, the head of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Research has suggested that rates of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy — including pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and gestational hypertension — have been on the rise, and increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. What is eclampsia? There can be other causes of seizures during pregnancy, but it’s considered eclampsia “until proven otherwise” through lab tests, including neurological tests, Dr. Longo said.

Persons: Tori Bowie, ”, Joanne Stone, Monica Longo, Eunice Kennedy, Stone, it’s, Longo Organizations: The New York Times, Olympic, Icahn School of Medicine, Research, National, of Child Health, Human, National Institutes of Health Locations: Mount Sinai

☆ I swapped alcohol for 'Psychedelic Water' popular among sober-curious people online. I found it's the perfect drink to avoid social anxiety without a hangover.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"Psychedelic Water?" Despite the name, Psychedelic Water doesn't include LSD or psilocybin and definitely won't make you hallucinate. The main side effect I experienced while drinking Psychedelic Water was an occasional tingling sensation on my tongue and minor stomach pains. Psychedelic Water was one of the previously unheard-of brands that took off on social media during this time. Psychedelic Water is available in four flavors: hibiscus lime, blackberry yuzu, oolong orange blossom, and prickly pear.

Persons: —, seltzer, Robbie, Abby Wallace, Pankaj Gogia, Ben Rogul, Gogia, psychedelics Organizations: Service, Pacific Islanders, National Institutes of Health, Nielsen, Urban Outfitters

☆ DeSantis' campaign apparently used AI-created fake images showing Trump and Fauci hugging and kissing
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Kelly Mclaughlin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

DeSantis' campaign shared images of Trump and Fauci hugging in a Twitter video on June 5. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign appears to feature AI-generated fake images of former President Donald Trump and former White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci hugging and kissing. DeSantis, DeSantis' campaign, and Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. AI-generated images have circulated in the political sphere for months. In February, Trump shared a parody AI-generated video of DeSantis and Elon Musk speaking with Adolf Hitler.

Persons: DeSantis, Trump, —, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Anthony Fauci, Fauci, ake, hotos, Organizations: AFP, Service, Florida Gov, White House, Trump, DeSantis Locations: usk

☆ Musk's Neuralink valued at about $5 billion despite long road to market: Reuters
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Such so-called secondary trades are an imperfect gauge of a company's value; their volume is thin and they lack the wider market consensus of a fundraising round or initial public offering (IPO). About 85% of pre-IPO companies are currently valued in secondary trades at an average discount of 47% to their last funding round, according to data provider Caplight. In Neuralink's last known fundraising in 2021, it raised $205 million at an approximately $2 billion valuation, according to data provider Pitchbook. The maximum amount sought for the Neuralink shares marketed for sale at a $7 billion valuation was just $500,000, according to the email seen by Reuters. Sim Desai, chief executive of Hiive, an online platform where the shares are traded, said demand for Neuralink stock has been "tremendous."

Persons: Elon, Kip Ludwig, Musk, Neuralink, Sim Desai, Arun Sridhar, Sridhar, Galvani Organizations: U.S . National Institutes of Health, Reuters, U.S . Food, GSK Plc, Sciences Locations: Neuralink's, U.S

Neuralink's valuation jump in secondary trades is in sharp contrast to other startups. About 85% of pre-IPO companies are currently valued in secondary trades at an average discount of 47% to their last funding round, according to data provider Caplight. The maximum amount sought for the Neuralink shares marketed for sale at a $7 billion valuation was just $500,000, according to the email seen by Reuters. Sim Desai, chief executive of Hiive, an online platform where the shares are traded, said demand for Neuralink stock has been "tremendous." Neuralink stock that some of the employees hold has jumped around 150% in value in just two years, based on the secondary trades.

Persons: Elon, Kip Ludwig, Musk, Neuralink, Sim Desai, Arun Sridhar, Sridhar, Galvani, Rachael Levy, Marissa Taylor, Krystal Hu, Greg Roumeliotis, David Gregorio Our Organizations: U.S . National Institutes of Health, Reuters, U.S . Food, GSK Plc, Sciences, FDA, U.S . Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation, Thomson Locations: Neuralink's, U.S, Washington ,, New York

☆ Parents in a town in Ireland came together to voluntarily ban smartphones for kids as old as 13
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Parents in Greystones, Ireland, have implemented a smartphone ban for primary school-aged kids. The hope is that the ban will help prolong childhood by lessening the anxiety and exposure to adult materials that smartphone usage often eggs on. It makes it so much easier to say no," Laura Bourne, whose child is in primary school, told The Guardian. The impacts of smartphone usage on kids is becoming an increasing concern as ongoing studies seek to analyze any lasting effects on the brain. Meanwhile, a town in India has banned smartphone usage for all under the age of 18, according to the Times of India.

Persons: Laura Bourne, Rachel Harper, Stephen Donnelly, — Organizations: Guardian, Irish Times, National Institutes of Health, Times Locations: Greystones, Ireland, Dublin, India, Times of India

The House Rules Committee late on Tuesday, in the first procedural vote on the contentious legislation, cleared the measure for debate in the full House on Wednesday. The solid Democratic opposition is not necessarily indicative of how the party would vote on the bill itself. "We are certainly punching above our weight," she told her fellow House Republicans. [1/4] U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) returns to his office from the House floor at the U.S. Capitol ahead of an expected vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a bill raising the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, in Washington, U.S., May 31, 2023. White House Budget Director Shalanda Young, who was one of Biden's lead negotiators, urged Congress to pass the bill.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy's, Joe Biden's, McCarthy, Biden, Chip Roy, Roy, Erin Houchin, Kevin McCarthy, Julia Nikhinson, Republican Mitt Romney, Dick Durbin, Shalanda Young, Biden's, Young, White, David Morgan, Richard Cowan, Moira Warburton, Julio, Cesar Chavez, Scott Malone, Rosalba O'Brien, Alistair Bell Organizations: U.S . House, Kevin McCarthy's Republicans, Twitter, Democratic, Treasury, Republican, White, Senate, Republicans, Office, ., U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Senators, National Institutes of Health, Internal Revenue Service, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington , U.S, Washington

The House Rules Committee late on Tuesday, in the first procedural vote on the contentious legislation, cleared the measure for debate in the full House on Wednesday. The solid Democratic opposition is not necessarily indicative of how the party would vote on the bill itself. "We are certainly punching above our weight," she told her fellow House Republicans. A successful House vote would send the bill to the Senate, where debate and voting could stretch into the weekend, especially if any one of the 100 senators try to slow its passage. White House Budget Director Shalanda Young, who was one of Biden's lead negotiators, urged Congress to pass the bill.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy's, Joe Biden's, McCarthy, Biden, Chip Roy, Roy, Erin Houchin, Republican Mitt Romney, Dick Durbin, Shalanda Young, Biden's, Young, White, David Morgan, Richard Cowan, Moira Warburton, Julio, Cesar Chavez, Scott Malone, Himani Sarkar, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: U.S . House, Kevin McCarthy's Republicans, Twitter, Democratic, Treasury, Republican, White, Senate, Republicans, Office, Senators, National Institutes of Health, Internal Revenue Service, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington

The solid Democratic opposition is not necessarily indicative of how the 213-member party caucus would vote on the bill itself. But reflecting party divisions, Representative Erin Houchin countered that despite Democratic control of the White House and Senate, the bill would achieve significant Republican spending cuts. "We are certainly punching above our weight," she told her fellow House Republicans. White House Budget Director Shalanda Young, who was one of Biden's lead negotiators, urged Congress to pass the bill. A successful House vote would send the bill to the Senate, where debate and voting could stretch into the weekend, especially if any one of the 100 senators try to slow its passage.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy's, Joe Biden's, Biden, Chip Roy, Roy, Erin Houchin, Republican Mitt Romney, McCarthy, Dick Durbin, Shalanda Young, Biden's, Young, White, Richard Cowan, Moira Warburton, David Morgan, Scott Malone, Himani Organizations: U.S . House, Kevin McCarthy's Republicans, Democratic, Treasury, Republican, White, Senate, Republicans, Office, National Institutes of Health, Internal Revenue Service, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington

☆ How to Get Absolutely No Sun This Summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Madeleine Aggeler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

They worshiped the sun as a god and built temples for it. They danced for it and wrote poems about it. They devoted unfathomable amounts of time, money and effort into studying it, and even built probes that could fly out into space and get a closer look. And yet, the sun is tricky. We need sunlight for vitamin D, and to help regulate our sleep cycles, but it inspires people to go stand up paddle boarding, and then to tell you again and again about how you really have to try stand up paddle boarding.

Organizations: National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health

☆ Scientists propose long Covid definition based on key symptoms in large study
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

South_agency | E+ | Getty ImagesScientists funded by the federal government have proposed a definition of long Covid based on symptoms identified in a large study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The scientists assigned points based on how much each symptom distinguished participants with long Covid from those who did not catch the virus. There are no tests that can diagnose long Covid based on markers in the blood. Scientists participating in RECOVER are trying to understand the underlying biology that causes long Covid, which could potentially lead to such tests in the future. Horwitz said the proposed definition could help create a rubric to diagnose patients with long Covid in a manner similar to Lupus.

☆ Pfizer oral weight loss drug may be as effective as, quicker than Ozempic injection by Novo Nordisk, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An oral drug made by Pfizer causes a similar amount of weight loss as, and works quicker than, rival Novo Nordisk 's blockbuster injection Ozempic, according to results from a phase two clinical trial released Monday. The results suggest danuglipron may be as effective for weight as Ozempic over a shorter period of time. New York-based Pfizer is the latest pharmaceutical company to dip into the blockbuster weight loss drug market. Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy catapulted to the national spotlight in recent years for being weight loss "miracles." But experts say the medicines may further perpetuate a dangerous diet culture that idealizes weight loss and thinness.

☆ The good, bad and ugly about BMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Short for body mass Index, BMI is nothing more than a crude measurement of a person’s body fat based on height and weight. Yet critics say the term BMI has become a societal judgment by lumping individuals into arbitrary categories that perpetuate misconceptions about body weight. “Yet it has become completely medicalized that health equals weight, weight equals health based on BMI. Conversely, BMI can underestimate body fat in older adults and anyone who has lost muscle, according to the Harvard T.H. More conundrums: Women naturally have more body fat and less muscle mass than men, while some racial and ethnic groups are genetically predisposed to carry more or less lean muscle mass and body fat.

☆ FDA advisors recommend Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for infants but raise safety concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Food and Drug Administration's independent panel of advisors on Thursday recommended full approval of Pfizer's vaccine that protects infants from RSV, but raised safety concerns over premature births that may be tied to the shot. Ten of the advisors said the safety data on Pfizer's shot was adequate, while four said it was not. The FDA earlier this month approved the first RSV shot for adults ages 60 and older from GlaxoSmithKline. The agency is expected to make a decision within weeks on Pfizer's other RSV shot for that same age group. Pfizer's shot for infants is administered to expectant mothers in the late second or third trimester of their pregnancy.

☆ Elon Musk says he's upped his sleep to 6 hours per night—and that his old routine hurt his brain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk says his days of trying to sleep less and work more are over — at least, relatively speaking. "And the brain pain level is bad if I get less than six hours [of sleep per night]." Now he gets at least seven hours of sleep, he wrote in a 2019 blog post. Musk often works seven days per week and only takes "two or three" truly workless vacation days per year, he said on Tuesday. "I work seven days a week, but I'm not expecting others to do that."

☆ Bat lands worldwide are besieged, seeding risk of a new pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

This collision – bats and humans competing for resources on territory long the domain of the bats – could trigger the next pandemic. As people destroy bat habitats worldwide, they are unwittingly helping bat-borne viruses mutate, multiply, and infect other species, including homo sapiens. For millennia, bat viruses lurked across the forests of West Africa and in other undisturbed parts of the world but posed little threat to humanity. They’re potent proliferators: Some roost tightly together and in close quarters with other bat species. Each of the bat viruses analyzed by Reuters has epidemic potential, according to the World Health Organization.

☆ Biden Nominates Monica Bertagnolli to Run National Institutes of Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Liz Essley Whyte | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, a surgeon by training, previously taught at Harvard Medical School. Photo: Jeff Chiu/Associated PressPresident Biden nominated Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to head the National Institutes of Health and steer the federal government’s pursuit of cutting-edge medical research. The Wall Street Journal in April first reported the White House’s pick. Monday’s nomination would end a 17-month search to find a scientist to head an agency, with a $47 billion yearly budget, that plays an important role conducting and funding disease, drug and vaccine research.

☆ Universal flu vaccine based on mRNA tech to be tested by National Institutes of Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Patients are now enrolling in an early stage clinical trial to test a universal flu vaccine based on messenger RNA technology, the National Institutes of Health announced Monday. "A universal flu vaccine could serve as an important line of defense against the spread of a future flu pandemic," Dr. Hugh Auchincloss, acting director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a statement Monday. The universal flu vaccine trial will enroll up to 50 healthy people ages 18 through 49 to test whether the experimental shot is safe and produces an immune response, according to NIH. The universal shot was developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The dominant flu strains can change between the time when experts select the strains and the manufacturers roll the shots out.

☆ Biden taps Bertagnolli to lead National Institutes of Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will appoint Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Cancer Institute, to lead the National Institutes of Health, the White House said on Monday. Bertagnolli will become the second woman to serve as a permanent director of the NIH after a yearlong search to find a permanent replacement for the agency's long-serving leader, Francis Collins. "Dr. Bertagnolli is a world-class physician-scientist whose vision and leadership will ensure NIH continues to be an engine of innovation to improve the health of the American people," Biden said in a statement. Bertagnolli was appointed in October to head the National Cancer Institute, which is a part of NIH, and also served as head of surgical oncology at the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, one of the nation's top cancer research facilities. Lawrence Tabak has been performing the director duties since December of that year after previously holding the roles of principal deputy director and deputy ethics counselor since 2010 at NIH.

☆ A Cancer Surgeon and Patient Is Biden’s Pick to Lead N.I.H.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Sheryl Gay Stolberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — President Biden will announce on Monday that he will nominate Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, a cancer surgeon who became the director of the National Cancer Institute in October, to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health, filling a position that has been vacant for more than a year. Dr. Bertagnolli is also a cancer patient. She announced late last year that she had she received a diagnosis of early breast cancer. She is the first female director of the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. She would be only the second woman to lead the N.I.H.

CNN —President Joe Biden will nominate Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, who currently leads the National Cancer Institute, to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health, the White House announced on Monday. Biden called Bertagnolli “a world-class physician-scientist whose vision and leadership will ensure NIH continues to be an engine of innovation to improve the health of the American people,” in a statement Monday. She would lead the country’s medical research agency, overseeing 27 research institutes and centers focused on different areas of medical research, such as cancer, the human genome, as well as allergy and infectious diseases. The nomination to lead NIH marks a fast ascent within the Biden administration for Bertagnolli. In this August 2022 photo, Monica Bertagnolli, newly appointed director of the National Cancer Institute, stands for recognition during remarks by President Joe Biden.

☆ Face masks are still a good idea at the doctor’s office, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But they remain in many medical offices, and a study published Monday says they might still be a good idea. The study, published in the journal the Annals of Internal Medicine, also found that there wasn’t a significant difference in protection between surgical masks and N95 respirators in a health care setting. Because gold standard evidence about their protectiveness is not available, they say, masks for patients and health care personnel should be considered a good safety measure. Lab studies show that surgical masks and respirators are good at limiting the spread of aerosols and droplets from people who are sick with the flu, coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses. “We all realize the importance and utility of a mask,” Madad said.

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