Top news stories from AMA Morning Rounds®: Week of Dec. 9, 2024

Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Dec. 9, 2024–Dec. 13, 2024.

HealthDay (12/6, Thompson) reported, “Americans are falling farther behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to health and life expectancy, a new study shows.” Researchers found that “life expectancy in the United States is expected to increase to 79.9 years in 2035 and 80.4 years by 2050, up from 78.3 years in 2022.” Although “that sounds good,” it is “actually a modest increase that will lower the nation’s global ranking from 49th in 2022 to 66th in 2050 among 204 countries around the world, they found.” The findings were published in The Lancet.

The Washington Post (12/9, A1, Ajasa) reports, “The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday the ban of two known carcinogens used in a variety of consumer products and industrial settings.” Monday’s “announcement includes the complete ban of trichloroethylene—also known as TCE—a substance found in common consumer and manufacturing products including degreasing agents, furniture care and auto repair products.” Additionally, “the agency banned all consumer uses and many commercial uses of perc—also known as tetrachloroethylene and PCE—an industrial solvent long used in applications such as dry cleaning and auto repair.”

The New York Times (12/9, Tabuchi) reports, “TCE is known to cause liver cancer, kidney cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and to damage the nervous and immune systems.” Furthermore, while “it is less harmful than TCE,” perchloroethylene “can cause liver, kidney, brain and testicular cancer, and can damage kidneys, the liver and the immune system.”

The New York Times (12/10, Caryn Rabin) reports physicians “routinely advise that women undergoing screening for cervical cancer receive Pap smears every three years beginning at age 21.” Now, starting “at 30, women have a new option.” Rather than “undergoing a pelvic exam, these patients may go to a doctor’s office and collect their own vaginal sample to be tested for human papillomavirus, the infection that causes most cases of cervical cancer, according to new guidelines issued on Tuesday by a national health services panel.” The FDA approved “self-collection of the sample” in May. According to the Times, “the HPV test should be repeated every five years from age 30 until 65, when most women can stop screening, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said.”

The AP (12/10, Johnson) reports the “draft recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are aimed at getting more people screened and spreading the word that women can take their own vaginal samples to check for cancer-causing HPV.” Under the guidelines, “women ages 30 to 65 can still opt for a Pap test done by a doctor every three years.”

CNN (12/11, LaMotte) reports, “The food you eat may be affecting your body’s ability to fight cancer cells in the colon, according to a new study.” Researchers found that “the potential culprit” is “an overabundance of certain omega-6 fatty acids—perhaps from ultraprocessed foods in your diet—that may hinder the anti-inflammatory and tumor-fighting properties of another essential fatty acid, omega-3.” The findings were published in Gut.

You may also be interested in: What doctors wish patients knew about ultraprocessed foods.

NBC News (12/12, Edwards) says, “Even though a record number of kids died from the flu last year, the percentage of children getting flu shots continues to plummet.” The CDC “reported Wednesday that as of Nov. 30, just over a third of U.S. kids—37%—had gotten flu shots, down from 43% at the same time last year.”

The Hill (12/12, O'Connell-Domenech) reports, “These numbers could change because roughly 10% of children had a parent report they intend to get their child vaccinated, and about 14% had a parent say they will probably get their child vaccinated against the flu, according to the CDC.” Last “flu season was particularly deadly—the CDC reported 205 children died from the disease, the most since the COVID-19 pandemic.”

You may also be interested in: How many Americans were hospitalized with flu last year? 

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