As a Zepbound patient, here are the seven reforms I’d like to see I highlight two: “2. Tighter oversight of manufacturers’ pricing policies and the competitive environment [..] it’s a bit rich (pun intended) for [Lilly CEO Dave] Ricks [whose total compensation was $114 million in 2024 after the company made more than $10 billion in profit last year] to complain about telehealth/compounding pharmacies like Hims & Hers offering cheaper “backdoor generics” of GLP-1s. (Note to Congress: Rather than permitting the Food and Drug Administration to stop the work of compounding pharmacies on GLP-1s — a throttling that is now well … Read More
The workout is simple, and its health benefits are backed by nearly 20 years of research. “What is ‘Japanese walking’? [..] interval walking is a form of interval training, which involves alternating between bursts of intense activity and more gentle movement or rest. In this case, it’s basically just alternating between fast and slow walking. But compared with more classic forms of high-intensity interval training, interval walking is more approachable for many people, especially those who haven’t exercised in a while or who are recovering from injuries that make high-impact activities like running difficult, said Dr. Carlin Senter, the chief of primary-care … Read More
Why Republicans think that insurance should be tied to employment — and that it’s not essential to have at all. “The idea of requiring Medicaid enrollees to work barely registered eight years ago, the last time Republicans debated deep health care cuts as part of their effort to repeal Obamacare. They failed to pass a law that time. This time they were successful. That’s in part because Republicans have put more stock in an idea that has long been a part of the American conversation about health insurance: that it is a benefit one earns by working. Work requirements have … Read More
It’s long been obvious why cigarettes are bad. The risks of alternatives like Zyn and Juul are much hazier. “it’s easier than ever to get a nicotine buzz without any tobacco at all: Just puff on a vape or pop a tiny nicotine pouch between your teeth and upper lip. These cigarette alternatives have been around for a while, but only recently have they gone fully mainstream. In January, the FDA officially sanctioned the sale of Zyn, among the most recognizable nicotine-pouch brands. In the past three months alone, Philip Morris International, which makes Zyn, shipped 190 million cans of … Read More
“Current US guidelines recommend absolute risk estimation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) to guide decisions on preventive therapies, but communicating absolute risk alone can be challenging for patients and clinicians. In 2021, the European Society of Cardiology guidelines added a recommendation to calculate risk age along with absolute risk to improve communication. Risk age represents the age of a hypothetical person with the same predicted absolute risk but optimal risk factor levels. This may help individuals understand how their risk compares with chronological age (is my risk age older than my actual chronological age?) and may motivate adherence to lifestyle modifications … Read More
A Q&A with the co-author of the new book ‘Food Intelligence’ “[STAT’s Sarah Todd] Are there food policies being floated by MAHA right now that you think are particularly right or particularly wrong? [Former NIH researcher on ultra-processed foods Kevin Hall] I hope that there really is something horrible about these food dyes that they’re going to be able to address by replacing them. But someone from the FDA I had a conversation with said that they were worried that if we replace synthetic food dyes with natural food dyes, the natural food dyes are coming from plants. And plants … Read More
More than a thousand dentists have set up shop in Los Algodones. Their patients are mostly Americans who can’t afford the U.S.’s dental care. “According to Roberto Díaz and Paula Hahn, who run a website about medical tourism called Border CRxing, Los Algodones now has the highest per-capita concentration of dentists in the world: well over a thousand in a population of fifty-five hundred. It’s known as Molar City. [..] technology has its downsides. The more advanced the imaging system, the more expensive the visit, and the more problems it can find with your teeth. Last year, at a routine … Read More
Excerpt – The global total fertility rate has more than halved since 1950, with those of most countries already below replacement level. The population pyramid is increasingly inverted, not just in the wealthiest Western nations but also in most places outside Africa. [..] If birthrates do not recover — and at present, they show no real signs of doing so — eventually we will be forced to revert to the system that prevailed for all of human history up until recently: Older people will be cared for privately, typically by their children and grandchildren, and those without families will have to rely … Read More
To survive a heating planet, humans need shade—lots of it. “Every year, heat takes more lives than floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes combined. The fatalities can sometimes go unnoticed, perhaps because the danger is invisible: There’s no twister that uproots a neighborhood and no flood that sucks it underwater, nor billions of dollars in property damage. Instead, heat’s imprint is seen in empty streets, work slowdowns, cognitive decline, and hospital bills. When autumn arrives and temperatures relent, heat leaves no discernable trace. The Earth is getting hotter. In many places on the planet, summer is already two to three weeks longer than … Read More
“Should employers offer financial incentives for employees who monitor and report “ideal health behaviors”? Should employers offer financial incentives for employees who meet BMI requirements? In this commentary, I take issue with these practices as described in the case above, arguing that labeling behaviors that influence a person’s weight in normative terms contributes to a phenomenon called healthism, an ideology that emphasizes one’s personal responsibility for one’s own health. Engaging in practices that support healthism is morally wrong, because healthism ignores social factors that constrain individuals’ choices and reinforces oppressive social hierarchies. Thus, we ought not to label behaviors influencing a person’s … Read More