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Many More People Ages 45-49 Are Getting Screened For Colon Cancer Researchers found that facility-based colorectal cancer screening rates among younger adults increased about tenfold after U.S. guidelines changed the recommended screening age to 45. Other public health news is on young-onset dementia, salmonella, the impact of pollution reduction on infants, and more. MedPage Today: Colon Cancer Screening Rates Way Up In Younger Adults Facility-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among young adults has rapidly increased since U.S. guidelines started recommending that screening begin at an earlier age, according to a population-based cohort study. Facility-based CRC screening among adults ages 45 to 49 increased about 10-fold following guideline changes from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the American Cancer Society (ACS), "far exceeding growth" among those ages 50 to 75, reported Alyssa H. Harris, MPH, of Vizient in Chicago, and colleagues in a research letter in JAMA Network Open. (Bassett, 11/4) More health and wellness news — MedPage Today: Young-Onset Dementia Linked To Sharply Increased Death Risk Survival rates of people with young-onset dementia -- dementia diagnosed before age 65 -- varied considerably by clinical type, a population-based cohort study in Finland showed. The median survival for young-onset dementia (also known as early-onset dementia) was 8.7 years, said Eino Solje, MD, PhD, of the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, and co-authors. (George, 11/4) CIDRAP: Antimicrobial Peptides Show Promise Against Salmonella In Chickens, Study Finds Antimicrobial peptides derived from a strain of probiotic bacteria demonstrated the potential to inhibit the most common bacterial cause of foodborne illness in lab and poultry experiments, according to a team of researchers from The Ohio State University. (Dall, 11/4) Medical Xpress: Programs Aimed At Reducing Pollution Can Benefit Infant Health Because policies to address pollution are costly to implement and impose social burdens, it is important to understand the full benefits of pollution-reducing programs. An article in Health Economics provides compelling evidence that one such program offered considerable benefits for infant health, especially in vulnerable populations. Based on an analysis of more than a decade of US birth records, the research shows that the Nitrogen Oxide Budget Trading Program—a cap-and-trade initiative to reduce ozone pollution—significantly improved infant health outcomes, particularly among Black, low-income, and single mothers. (11/5) CIDRAP: Only Certain Types Of Bats Host Viruses With High Epidemic Potential, Research Suggests Far fewer bat species carry viruses with high potential to cause disease epidemics in people than is widely assumed, researchers from the University of Oklahoma and Yale write in Communications Biology. In fact, only certain types—especially those found in coastal South America, Southeast Asia, and equatorial Africa—harbor dangerous pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, Marburg, and Nipah viruses, they found. (Van Beusekom, 11/4) KFF Health News: Is Covid During Pregnancy Linked To Autism? What A New Study Shows, And What It Doesn't A large study from Massachusetts has found that babies whose mothers had covid-19 while pregnant were slightly more likely to have a range of neurodevelopmental diagnoses by age 3. Most of these children had speech or motor delays, and the link was strongest in boys and when the mother was infected late in pregnancy. The increase in risk was small for any one child, but because millions of women were pregnant during the pandemic, even a small increase matters. (Gounder, 11/5) KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute' Arielle Zionts reads the week’s news: Though 13 states cover GLP-1s such as Wegovy for weight loss for people on Medicaid, many eligible people are missing out, and advance planning can help seniors aging alone maintain more control over their final days. (11/4) This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
