What WWII data tells us about children, added sugar and chronic disease
A study released last year based on World War II-era data highlights the importance of eating well, particularly during pregnancy, says Robert Siegel, a pediatrician and pediatric obesity specialist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center. Siegel, who was not involved in the study, is also the director of the hospital's Center for Better Health and Nutrition.
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Politico
26 minutes ago
- Politico
Will feds weigh in on religious vax carveouts?
Driving the Day RELIGIOUS VAX EXEMPTIONS — It's back-to-school season, which means parents are shuttling their kids to pediatricians for annual checkups — and advocates for and against states' exemptions to vaccine mandates for school entry are gearing up for a fight, Lauren reports. Vaccine skeptics have sought to make their case to the Trump administration's Religious Liberty Commission — created by executive order in May — for executive action to bolster religious carve-outs. But they face pushback from public health experts who warn that more exemptions could threaten public health, setting up another front in the vaccine wars. Four states — California, Connecticut, Maine and New York — don't offer religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements, and Massachusetts lawmakers are considering banning them. West Virginia provides exemptions after GOP Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed an executive order earlier this year invoking the state's religious freedom law. Some religious liberty groups have called on the federal government — which has no say in state vaccine mandates — to use federal education funding as leverage to expand religious opt-outs from school immunization requirements, pointing to a Clinton-era religious protection statute. Precedential web: Some vaccine law experts question how far the executive branch could go to nudge those outlier states toward accepting religious exemptions. The Supreme Court curtailed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act's application to the states in 1997, and administrative conditions on federal funding can't run afoul of Congress' directions. But proponents say those lawyers ignore more recent opinions that work in exemption advocates' favor, pointing to a Covid-19-era decision lifting in-home gathering restrictions on religious grounds and, more recently, the court's ruling in favor of parents who want to opt their children out of LGBTQ+-themed lessons in public schools. Shifting winds: The number of kindergarteners entering school with at least one vaccine exemption continues to tick up, with the CDC reporting last week that 3.6 percent had one in the 2024-2025 school year, compared with 2.2 percent a decade ago. Days before the updated data was released, the American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirmed its opposition to religious exemptions, arguing they should be abolished to protect public health. 'In practice, nonmedical exceptions based on religious belief can substantially limit the public health value of vaccine requirements for school attendance,' the group said in a statement. 'There is no practicable way for schools or other involved community partners to distinguish fairly among religious or other nonmedical claims.' What's next: The Religious Liberty Commission will hold a hearing next month on public education issues, giving exemption proponents another opening to make their case. It's unclear where the White House stands on the concept — a spokesperson didn't comment — but the first Trump administration's HHS pursued avenues to grant health care workers expanded 'conscience' protections and to allow imports of certain vaccines due to some patients' religious beliefs. IT'S TUESDAY. WELCOME BACK TO PRESCRIPTION PULSE. Your host is wondering whether concerns about a common allergy medicine's risks might catch the FDA's attention. Send tips to David Lim (dlim@ @davidalim or davidalim.49 on Signal) and Lauren Gardner (lgardner@ @Gardner_LM or gardnerlm.01 on Signal). Eye on the FDA NEW TOP LAWYER — FDA Commissioner Marty Makary named a longtime government attorney on Monday to be the agency's chief counsel, months after his first pick was torpedoed by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Sean Keveney, who most recently served as HHS's acting general counsel, served as a career civil servant at DOJ's civil rights division before becoming deputy general counsel at HHS in 2019, according to the department and his LinkedIn profile. His predecessor in the position, Hilary Perkins, was also a career DOJ lawyer whose appointment drew Hawley's ire before Makary's confirmation because of her record defending the Biden administration's abortion pill policies. While Perkins also defended the Trump FDA's mifepristone positions, that wasn't enough to overcome his opposition, and she ultimately stepped down days into the job. MDUFA KICKOFF — The FDA's medical device user fee program is not set to expire until Sept. 30, 2027, but the process to renew it has already begun. Despite HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vocal distaste for the user fee programs, the Trump administration has made it clear they are committed to the monthslong process that will likely result in their renewal for another five years. Industry and FDA leaders — including FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Center for Devices and Radiological Health Director Michelle Tarver — met Monday to discuss the potential sixth iteration of the medical device user fee program. 'While user fees support timeliness and predictability by providing FDA with additional resources, user fees are not a guarantee of approval,' AdvaMed's senior executive vice president, Janet Trunzo, said according to prepared remarks. 'They never have been, and they never should be.' In Congress SENATE PASSES FDA FUNDING — Before leaving town for the August recess, the Senate passed a bill to fund the FDA for fiscal 2026 as part of a minibus package by an 87-9 vote. The legislation, which funds the agency at $7 billion, is made up of $3.6 billion in taxpayer funds and $3.4 billion in user fee revenues. But it is unclear whether lawmakers will have to turn to a continuing resolution before government funding runs out at the end of September. The House Appropriations Committee previously advanced an FDA bill that funded the agency at a lower level. Research Corner BOOST FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH — The Gates Foundation said Monday it would spend $2.5 billion through 2030 to speed global women's research into maternal, menstrual, gynecological and sexual health. Pharma Moves Erika Sward is now chief advocacy officer at UsAgainstAlzheimer's. She previously was assistant vice president of national advocacy at the American Lung Association. Document Drawer FDA Commissioner Marty Makary met with Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) for an introductory meeting on July 24. He also met with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to discuss nonanimal testing approaches on July 21, according to newly posted public calendar disclosures. He also met with the leadership team of the Government Accountability Office on July 16 to discuss 'items of mutual interest.' WHAT WE'RE READING Top FDA cancer medicine regulator Richard Pazdur played a critical role in the rejection of Replimune Group's skin cancer therapy, STAT's Adam Feuerstein reports. Longevity companies are eyeing Montana as a potential hub for 'biohacking' treatments thanks to state laws embracing patients' 'right-to-try' experimental drugs, The Wall Street Journal's Alex Janin writes.
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business Insider
For once, good news: More colon cancers are getting caught early as 40-somethings line up for colonoscopies
Colon cancer researchers are crying tears of joy this morning. New data released today suggests that more early-stage colon cancer cases are being detected in younger people across the US, before it's too late. "It's the first time we've actually had really good news," cancer epidemiologist Rebecca Siegel, the senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, told Business Insider, shortly before the new report was released in the medical journal JAMA on Monday. "I start tearing up, because it's so exciting to see earlier diagnosis in these young people." For decades, Siegel has been watching as the rate of aggressive, late-stage young colon cancer cases has gone up and up in people under 50. She meets young survivors speaking out at conferences, "and then they're gone." "It's so sad," she said. In 2018, to respond to the trend of colon cancer hitting more folks under the age of 50, the ACS changed its colon cancer screening recommendations, telling people to start looking for colon cancer earlier, at age 45. But it wasn't until 2021 when the US Preventative Services Task Force made the same recommendation, triggering an insurance mandate for colonoscopies and stool testing. Today, just three years after the USPSTF switch, researchers are already seeing the benefits of earlier detection. More adults in the 45- to 49-year-old age group are getting screened, and more cases of very early-stage, highly treatable, and not-yet- symptomatic colon cancer are being found. From 2004 to 2019, colon cancer detection rates in this age group increased about 1% every year. After the ACS recommendation change in 2018, from 2019 to 2022 the detection rates surged by 12% year after year. In 2019, only 21% of people aged 45-49 had done any colon cancer screening — either a stool test or a colonoscopy. By 2023, more than 33% of adults in that age bracket had gotten checked. Most of the new cases were local-stage tumors, meaning these cancers were found before they'd spread to other parts of the body. "Lives are being saved," Siegel said. How to know whether you should get a colon cancer test When cancer is diagnosed earlier, it's treated more quickly and easily, and survival rates skyrocket. Still, fewer than 40% of people under the age of 50 do any kind of colon cancer screening. And most who do have private insurance. There is a cheap and easy solution for this that's already available: home testing with a stool kit like FIT. It costs just a few dollars and can be mailed to people right at home, requiring no prep work. "For this 45- to 49-year age group, these are young active people raising young families," Siegel said. "So stool testing is a great option." Siegel said that most people under the recommended screening age of 45 do not need to be screened for colon cancer, but she said there are a few groups that should talk to their doctor even before their 45th birthday: People with a family history of colorectal cancer People who are seeing troubling signs that may be early indicators of colon cancer, like: Signs of rectal bleeding (could be blood in the toilet or on your toilet paper) Changes in bowel habits (more constipation or more diarrhea than what's normal for you, over a period of several weeks) Persistent abdominal pain Iron deficiency anemia, which can be determined by a blood test "I tell people if you have these symptoms and your doctor doesn't do anything about it, follow up. Get a second opinion. Be your own advocate," Siegel said. "I have heard so many stories where the next doctor found cancer."
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Japan's oldest person is a 114-year-old retired doctor who carried an Olympic torch in 2021
Shigeko Kagawa, a 114-year-old retired physician from Nara Prefecture, has become Japan's oldest living person, following the death of 114-year-old Miyoko Hiroyasu, according to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Kagawa, a symbol of Japan's extraordinary longevity, graduated from medical school before World War II, served at a hospital in Osaka during the war, and later ran her family's clinic as an obstetrician and gynecologist. She retired at 86. At 109, Kagawa became one of the oldest torchbearers in Olympic history during the Tokyo 2021 torch relay. Advertisement Shigeko Kagawa, a 114-year-old retired physician from Nara Prefecture, has become Japan's oldest living person. AP She is not doing anything out of the ordinary to stay healthy, a local television MBS News, said last week, quoting her family. She keeps a regular routine, going to bed and waking up at set times, and she eats small portions but always has three proper meals a day. Her predecessor as Japan's oldest person led a similarly active life. Born in 1911, Hiroyasu studied art in Tokyo, taught in Hiroshima Prefecture, and raised three children. She died in a nursing home in Oita Prefecture, where she spent her days reading newspapers, sketching, and playing card games. Advertisement 'I am grateful to be healthy,' she said on her 113th birthday. Despite an overall population decline, Japan's elderly population continues to grow. As of September 1, 2024, a record 36 million people — 29% of the population — were aged 65 or older, the highest proportion of seniors in the world. At 109, Kagawa became one of the oldest torchbearers in Olympic history during the Tokyo 2021 torch relay. AP Advertisement Those aged 80 and above now make up 10% of the population, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. There are 95,119 centenarians across the country.
