Happy Saturday! We hope you’ve been enjoying the first week of the spookiest month of the year. Don’t forget that October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month; here’s what I’ve been reading lately — from new research on the benefits of breastfeeding to a refresher on breast cancer signs and symptoms to look out for. And here’s what else you might have missed in health and wellness news this week.
What our team has been interested in: These were some of our favorite topics:
What researchers have been studying: Here are interesting highlights from some recent health and medical studies:
What happened in celebrity health: Celebrities make headlines for more than just fashion and films; they can call our attention to some important health topics too. Here’s what to know this week:
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In an op-ed published by Teen Vogue, celebrity heiress Paris Hilton reflects on her ADHD diagnosis and why she considers it her “superpower.”
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Popular Australian TV host Fiona MacDonald announced her own death on social media almost three years after being diagnosed with a motor neuron disease. The former game show host had worked to raise awareness and more research for the disease.
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Former President Jimmy Carter turned 100 years old on Tuesday. Here’s how he’s defying expectations around hospice and end-of-life care.
And finally, here are some of the biggest headline makers in health and wellness this week.
The deadly Marburg virus strikes in Central Africa
Officials in Central Africa are grappling with an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus — a disease for which there’s currently no vaccine and no treatments apart from supportive care. As of Sept. 30, Rwanda has reported 27 cases of the virus and nine deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with most of the cases affecting health care workers at two health facilities.
The virus is spread by the Egyptian fruit bat, and infected humans can also transmit the disease to other humans via bodily fluids and contaminated objects. Initial symptoms include fever, rash, aching muscles, sore throat, vomiting and diarrhea, while more advanced symptoms of the disease include delirium, liver failure, shock and organ failure.
Fox News reports that Marburg can cause serious illness and death, with a 20% to 90% fatality rate. There haven’t been any confirmed cases of Marburg in the U.S., and the CDC says the risk of infection in the U.S. is low.
Breast cancer rates are rising among young women
A report published by the American Cancer Society on Tuesday found that while fatalities from breast cancers have decreased, rates of new diagnoses have increased — particularly among younger women and younger Asian American and Pacific Islander women.
Breast cancer rates increased 1% every year from 2012 to 2021, but in women under age 50 they increased about 1.4% a year. Among Asian American and Pacific Islander women under 50, the increase was even higher, with breast cancer diagnoses increasing 50% since 2000.
It isn’t clear why more younger women are getting breast cancer, but Dr. Sonya Reid, an oncologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told NBC News it’s likely due to “modifiable risk factors such as environmental exposures in food, air or water, rising rates of obesity and sedentary lifestyles.”
A record number of children died from influenza last season — while child vaccination levels continue to plummet
There were 200 pediatric flu-related deaths in the 2023-2024 season, new data from the CDC has revealed, breaking the previous record of 199 pediatric deaths during the 2019-2022 season. About 80% of the children who died were not fully vaccinated against influenza, and nearly half had at least one preexisting medical condition.
The news comes as more data from the CDC also reveals that vaccination rates among U.S. kindergartners continued to fall during the 2023-24 school year, with coverage of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough), polio and chicken pox vaccines decreasing in more than 30 states compared to the 2022-23 school year.
Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, tells ABC News that the numbers are “concerning, but unfortunately [also] not surprising given the climate of misinformation and vaccine hesitancy that we exist in.”
