Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. This week’s selections include stories on Castleman disease, Kawasaki disease, phage therapy, Tribeca Pediatrics, and more.
The Wall Street Journal:
This Doctor Found His Own Miracle Drug. Now He Wants To Do It For Others
Kaila Mabus, an athletic teenager in the Chicago area, went to the emergency room in 2019 in renal failure. It took another month before she was diagnosed with Castleman disease, a rare disorder that causes the immune system to attack vital organs. The Food and Drug Administration has approved just one drug to treat Castleman. It didn’t help Kaila. Her parents feared she might die. Her doctors sought help from Dr. David Fajgenbaum, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania and fellow Castleman patient who studies the disease. He has matched rare-disease patients with drugs that are already in pharmacies for other conditions for over 10 years, starting with himself. (Marcus, 2/28)
CIDRAP:
Case Study Highlights The Potential—And Challenges—Of Phage Therapy
For over two decades, Lynn Cole was in a protracted battle with bacteria and her own immune system. Diagnosed as having the autoimmune disease Sjogren’s syndrome in 1999, Cole suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, was oxygen dependent and highly susceptible to pneumonia, and frequently needed antibiotics for recurrent lung and urinary tract infections. Her daughter, Mya, was there for all of it. But around 2010, Lynn Cole began to have recurrent bloodstream infections caused by the bacterium Enterococcus faecium. From 2013 to 2020, she underwent several hospitalizations at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) for E faecium bloodstream infections and received multiple courses of intravenous antibiotics. At some point in her complex medical history, the bacterium had colonized her gut and become the source of the recurrent infections. (Dall, 2/28)
The Washington Post:
How Ants’ Healing Power Could Give Insight Into Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Sub-Saharan Matabele ants are known to be precision hunters, but it’s their tender side that recently caught the attention of scientists. The ants, officially called Megaponera, often get hurt hunting termites — their sole source of food — because termites fight back ferociously, often inflicting serious damage on their attackers. But the ants have a special skill for healing their wounded comrades: They can detect when an injury is infected and treat it with antimicrobials they make themselves. (Cimons, 2/24)
The New York Times:
High Blood Pressure: How To Recognize It And Lower Your Level
Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure — but only a quarter of those with hypertension have it under control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High blood pressure “is a smoldering public health crisis,” said Dr. Rishi K. Wadhera, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an author of new research showing that blood pressure screenings have not returned to what they were before the coronavirus pandemic. (Szabo, 2/29)
The 19th:
Meet The Woman Behind Some Of The Biggest Changes For Disabled Travelers In Over 30 Years
Though few people know her name, Emily Voorde helped shape Secretary Pete Buttigeg’s views on disability long before he was advancing policy for the Department of Transportation. (Luterman, 2/27)
The Washington Post:
Indigenous People Sue Radiologists Over Nonconsensual MRI Scans Of Livers
In a lawsuit, dozens of Pictou Landing First Nation members accused two radiologists of conducting MRI scans of their livers without their consent in Nova Scotia. (Sands, 2/27)
The New York Times:
How Tribeca Pediatrics Became A Vast Business Empire
Last year, the practice opened 12 new offices, including in areas that are typically not considered gentrified, like Morris Park in the Bronx and Rahway, N.J. Five more are planned for 2024, including the first Tribeca Pediatrics branch on Long Island. It currently operates 48 offices in New York and its suburbs, employing around 400 people, including 112 doctors and nurse practitioners, who treat more than 100,000 patients. … In a city where health care often means faceless corporate medicine (see: CityMD), Tribeca Pediatrics has built a recognizable, trendy brand. But as it expands into a vast empire, is it at risk of losing its personal touch? (Kurutz, 2/24)
The Washington Post:
The Legend Of The Empty CVS In Washington D.C.
There is almost nothing left to steal at the CVS in Columbia Heights, and that gives you an idea of which items have actual value. Blank CDs, for example — the thieves don’t even bother with them. The greeting card section has been left alone. The good magazines like Vogue and GQ and Sports Illustrated are gone, but there are still a few copies of Traditional Home, some special issues of Life devoted to Willie Nelson, and a Woman’s World that declares: “Bye bye, jiggly fat!” No soft drinks, but three gallon-sized jugs of Arizona green tea are still on the shelves on one recent visit. Other shelves, stretching entire aisles, are totally empty. It has been like this since at least October, when the Legend of the Empty CVS of Washington began to spread beyond the District’s borders. (Judkis, 3/1)
On Kawasaki disease —
The New York Times:
A Doctor’s Lifelong Quest To Solve One Of Pediatric Medicine’s Greatest Mysteries
It looked like a scene from the TV crime show “CSI.” Dr. Jane Burns was peering into a multiheaded microscope at the San Diego County medical examiner’s office, scrutinizing autopsy samples from an array of mysterious deaths. This one was from the heart of a 20-year-old jujitsu fighter who was last seen at the gym and was found dead in his bed two days later. There were no signs of foul play or self-harm. The blood vessel tissue on the slide looked abnormal. Dr. Burns turned to the examiner: “I think this was likely one of mine.” Dr. Burns is an expert in a rare childhood illness called Kawasaki disease, which is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children worldwide. It is also one of pediatric medicine’s greatest mysteries: No one knows what causes it. (Baumgaertner, 2/27)
The New York Times:
How To Spot Kawasaki Disease In Your Child
Doctors across the United States are seeing a rise in Kawasaki disease, a mysterious condition that primarily affects children under 5. The illness is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in children worldwide but it is often unrecognized or misdiagnosed. Kawasaki disease is rare, but cases are climbing in the United States. Here are the important things to know about Kawasaki disease. (Baumgaertner, 2/27)
