Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More Teens, Young Adults Turning To AI Chatbots For Mental Health Support
When today鈥檚 teenagers and young adults are struggling emotionally, some are turning not only to friends, family members and therapists but also to artificial intelligence. Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults have used AI chatbots for advice or help when they felt upset, nervous or anxious, according to a new study published June 1 in JAMA Pediatrics. (Hetter, 6/11)
A new study finds that flu shots were associated with moderate protection against the virus during the 2024-25 flu season. People vaccinated against influenza that season were 40% less likely to test positive for flu than unvaccinated people, according to a study of more than 1.1 million Californians. (Szabo, 6/11)
A chemotherapy-free regimen was safe and effective in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), according to results from a prospective study. The 2-year overall survival (OS) rate among all 114 patients in the study was 99.1%, reported Franco Locatelli, MD, PhD, of IRCCS Bambino Ges霉 Children's Hospital in Rome, during a session at the European Hematology Association annual congress in Stockholm. (Bassett, 6/11)
Menaquinone-7 (MK-7) supplementation modestly slowed the progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) for patients in the placebo-controlled VitaK-CAC trial. (Lou, 6/11)
Studies in lifestyle and wellness 鈥
A specific gut microbe could help with long-term weight loss goals. New research published in the journal Nature Medicine tested whether a pasteurized (not live) gut bacterium called Akkermansia muciniphila MucT could help people keep weight off after losing it. (Stabile, 6/11)
Neuroscientist Miia Kivipelto鈥檚 life鈥檚 work has been about preventing dementia. Now, at 52, she has begun thinking more about her own vulnerability. 鈥淢idlife is the time,鈥 said Kivipelto, a neuroscientist who recently joined the Yale School of Nursing as the inaugural director of its Center for Aging Well in New Haven, Connecticut. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the last best chance to lower risk.鈥 (Eunjung Cha, 6/11)
While isotretinoin (Accutane) is an incredibly effective acne medication, the intense side effects lead some patients to microdose the medication off-label. Isotretinoin is a very concentrated form of vitamin A that shrinks the sebaceous glands, reducing oil production, and is most often prescribed for acne, explained Raman Madan, MD, a dermatologist with Northwell Health in Glen Cove, New York, in an interview with MedPage Today in which a press person was also present. (Robertson, 6/11)
Also 鈥
On my second visit with Nancy Wexler at her Manhattan apartment, she had a gift for me. It was a copy of her newly published memoir, 鈥淢y Life, My Science: Pursuing a Cure for Huntington鈥檚 Disease.鈥 It had been signed with a stamp of her signature 鈥 she isn鈥檛 able to sign it herself. Nor could she rise from her brown faux-leather recliner to greet me 鈥 she can鈥檛 get up unassisted. Speaking requires effort. She can manage at most a few badly slurred words or phrases or, with great difficulty, a short sentence. (Kolata, 6/11)