- "Kids need to breathe just like adults do": $35 price caps don't apply to asthma meds young children need, doctors say
- Here's when your weight loss will plateau, according to science
- Small gift cards can be key tool to stop stimulant addiction, but stigma stands in the way
- Why everyone is crying to Taylor Swift's breakup songs
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"Kids need to breathe just like adults do": $35 price caps don't apply to asthma meds young children need, doctors say |
In January, a Senate health committee opened an investigation into the pricing of asthma inhalers. Shortly afterward, three of the biggest makers of the inhalers, including GlaxoSmithKline, pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some US patients at $35. The problem, doctors and parents say, is that those pledges don't apply to daily inhalers used by the youngest kids with asthma, and many families have been left scrambling. These metered-dose inhalers are paired with a device called a spacer — essentially a face mask that connects to the dispenser. That enables the medicine to be given as an aerosol so little kids can just breathe it in. Since GSK discontinued its branded version, Flovent, in favor of an authorized generic, these inhalers have become harder and harder for families to come by. In addition, the generic isn't as widely covered by insurance. In turn, families looked to one of the remaining brands available on the market, called Asmanex — and that has since gone into shortage. A third available brand, Alvesco, costs more than twice as much and is often not covered by insurance. It's a situation that has put kids in danger of asthma flare-ups and visits to the ER. |
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| Here's when your weight loss will plateau, according to science |
Whether you're shedding pounds with the help of new medicines, slimming down after weight loss surgery or cutting calories and adding exercise, there will come a day when the numbers on the scale stop going down and you hit the dreaded weight loss plateau. But a new study finds that when you hit that plateau depends on the method you use to lose weight. Kevin Hall, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health who specializes in measuring metabolism and weight change, found that methods like gastric bypass surgery and new weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound are so effective because they double the time it takes to hit a plateau. People are able to lose weight for longer than by cutting calories alone. The body regulates weight by trying to maintain an equilibrium between the calories we eat and the calories we burn. When we expend or cut calories and start burning our stored energy, appetite kicks in to tell us to eat more. Hall's studies showed that the more weight a person loses, the stronger appetite becomes until it counteracts — and sometimes completely undoes — all the hard work they've done to lose in the first place. While it may stymie dieters, the appetite feedback circuit is actually a good thing, he said. It would be dangerous if a drug or treatment got rid of appetite entirely. |
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Small gift cards can be a key tool to stop stimulant addiction, but stigma stands in the way |
Clyde Davis battled an addiction to methamphetamine and heroin for more than nine years. He tried treatment programs, but none worked for him before he reached his insurance maximum and was forced to discharge. Three years ago, he became one of the first participants in a new contingency management program at the Rimrock Foundation, Montana's oldest nonprofit addiction treatment center. Contingency management uses positive reinforcement as a behavioral treatment for stimulant addiction. People are rewarded with small-value gift cards or vouchers for submitting urine tests that are negative for stimulants. Decades of research show that it is the most effective treatment for stimulant addiction, but it has not been widely implemented due to policy barriers and stigma. "We're in the midst of a crisis of fatal overdose in the United States. It's largely driven by opioids, but it's also driven by stimulant use disorder," said Dominick DePhilippis, deputy national mental health director for substance use disorders in the Veterans Health Administration. "There's a moral imperative to make this very effective treatment available to patients. It can save lives." Contingency management encourages abstinence using positive reinforcement. The approach has proved to be highly effective in clinical trials at keeping people addicted to stimulants in treatment and reducing their drug use in both the short-term and the long-term. Davis said the rewards and counseling gave him hope and made him more willing to accept help. He graduated from the 12-week program and has abstained from drugs ever since. He now works as a rehabilitation technologist at the Rimrock Foundation, alongside the people who he says helped save his life. "I am living a life that I never thought I would ever dream of living. It's beautiful," he said. |
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Why everyone is crying to Taylor Swift's breakup songs |
In her first album released since she announced the end of her previous six-year relationship, Taylor Swift captures the anger, sadness, longing and confusion that fans love in a good breakup song. Experts say it is normal and often helpful to connect with heartbreaking music, and Swift even shared her own philosophy in an Instagram post about the album, "The Tortured Poets Department." "This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page," Swift said. "Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it." Why does it feel so good? Catharsis and validation, said Arianna Galligher, director of the Gabbe Well-Being Office and of the Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. It is beneficial to have an avenue to explore the more painful emotions and to feel like it is OK because other people have and are experiencing them too, she said. Even if you aren't in the midst of a breakup, tapping into those emotions from past experiences can help, said Dr. Jaryd Hiser, a psychologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. "We all fall into this trap of avoidance of these emotions," he said. "To be able to go back to those, think of it as a processing of that time." That process may lead to more acceptance of those experiences and that it is OK if you never fully feel OK about them, he added. |
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| Many people focus more on stretching than strengthening when it comes to muscle tension and pain. Our mobility expert explains why stretching isn't always the answer for what ails you. |
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After an entire podcast season talking about weight, how it affects our health and how much of it is truly in our control, I realize that it may have brought up complicated feelings about food. In this season's last episode, we wanted to remind you all that food is not the enemy and that it's the source of not only nourishment but also some of the most amazing memories of our lives. To help talk us through how we can balance both eating for pleasure and our health, I enlisted Kaiser Permanente's first director of culinary medicine, Dr. Linda Shiue, who is both a doctor and a chef. Here are her tips on hope to add joy to your meals: Don't judge food as good or bad: "Even though we, as an individual, may not even think that we care that much about that message, it's reached all of us. It's in all of our subconscious," she said. "I think that most people at some point feel like, 'Oh, I shouldn't eat that. That's bad for me. It might affect my weight.' " She suggests not using the term "cheat day" but instead celebrating "treat days." It's the "everything in moderation" mantra. Don't go on "diets": Restricting food doesn't work says, Shiue says. Instead, she advises the opposite. "Rather than restricting, add more of the foods [that] science shows us are better for our health: lots of plants, legumes and whole grains. This will improve your health even if [you] aren't eating 'perfectly' all the time and even if you don't lose weight." Listen to your body: Pay attention to your feelings as you eat. That starts with eating mindfully. "It means when you're eating your food, just focus on the pleasure of that," Shiue said. "Eat slowly. Chew your food. … Also pay attention to when you've had enough." Reclaim your food heritage: Healthy and satisfying food can be from any country and can contain a wide variety of flavors. We don't all have to eat a "standard healthy American diet," she said. "The traditional diet of every culture contains healthy foods and should be celebrated with pleasure." Think beyond calories: "Nutrition and sustenance — that's only one small part of food," Shiue said. "Food is, for me, mainly pleasure. It's a connection to myself, to my loved ones, to my culture." In other words, don't forget to enjoy your food. 🎉 Finally, thank you to everyone who voted for us for a 2024 Webby awards. We are so proud to win this year's People's Voice Award for Health, Wellness & Lifestyle podcasts. We love having you join us for these conversations. We'll be back with a new season on May 21 exploring the science of happiness, but in the meantime, keep listening each week as we bring you more insightful conversations. |
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| Global temperatures are rising, severe storms are intensifying and people are feeling climate anxiety. Does saving the planet mean living without comfort or convenience? CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir believes taking better care of the earth and our ourselves can go hand-in-hand. |
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