News
Total now 5 infected with Legionnaires’ disease at UWMC
The latest patient was likely exposed to Legionella bacteria before the University of Washington Medical Center took steps to halt the spread, The Seattle Times reports. In another Times article, a 32-year-old heart-transplant patient who contracted Legionnaires’ disease says she plans to sue UWMC.
Obese patients get substandard health care
Although a third of Americans are obese, the health care system is ill prepared — and its practitioners often unwilling — to treat the growing population of overweight patients, The New York Times reports. Both patients and physicians say that part of the problem is a reluctance to look beyond a person’s excess weight.
Oral contraceptive use linked to higher risk of depression
A study in JAMA Psychiatry found that women who use hormonal contraception face a 23 percent higher rate of developing depression and using antidepressants than those who didn’t use the drugs, Kaiser Health News reports. That rate nearly doubled among teens.
Brain benefits of exercise are short-lived
A study in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience found that the brain-boosting benefits of exercise may dissipate if one chooses lounging over exertion, even just for a week or so, The New York Times reports. Exercise helps with brain health by increasing blood flow through the gray matter not only during exercise, but throughout the rest of the day.
Other news
Prostate study backs wait-and-watch approach
Talking about guns with parents
Sugar industry shaped nutrition debate