Medicare Negotiated Discounts On 10 Widely Used Prescribed Drugs

Older Americans on Medicare who take 10 widely prescribed drugs such as Xarelto or Eliquis will get a break on the medications’ list prices beginning in 2026. The Biden administration on Thursday announced Medicare negotiated discounts with pharmaceutical companies on 10 drugs prescribed to treat blood clots, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. The drugs include Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Enbrel, Imbruvica, Stelara, and the insulins Fiasp and NovoLog. USAToday.

More People Are Dying from Dementia, According To New Study

Deaths from dementia have tripled in just 21 years, according to a new study published in The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders. In 1999, about 150,000 Americans died from dementia, according to the study. By 2020, that number had tripled to over 450,000. ABC.

Alzheimer’s Risk Rose Up To 42% With Untreated High Blood Pressure, Study Finds 

Some 46% of the 1.28 billion adults around the world with high blood pressure don’t know they have it, according to the World Health Organization. Yet living with uncontrolled hypertension may dramatically raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease for people ages 60 and older, according to a new metanalysis. CNN.

How Christian Conservatives Are Planning for the Next Battle, on I.V.F.

Republicans may be backing away from abortion, but these activists have a strategy, with or without Trump.

…As they see it, their challenge spans generations, not simply a single political cycle. And their approach — including controlling regulatory language, state party platforms and the definition of when life begins — reflects an incremental strategy similar to the one activists used for decades to eventually overturn Roe v. Wade. NYT.

Unresponsive Brain-Damaged Patients May Have Some Awareness

Many patients thought to be in vegetative or minimally conscious states may be capable of thought, researchers reported.

…Teams of neurologists at six research centers asked 241 unresponsive patients to spend several minutes at a time doing complex cognitive tasks, such as imagining themselves playing tennis. Twenty-five percent of them responded with the same patterns of brain activity seen in healthy people, suggesting that they were able to think and were at least somewhat aware. NYT.

Five-second breaks can help defuse couples’ arguments, study shows

Five seconds said to be just as effective as 10 or 15 in managing lower-level conflicts and preventing escalation.

Couples having a row should take a five-second break to stop them reaching boiling point, according to a study. Taking a pause during an argument can act as a firebreak that prevents rows from escalating, defuses disagreements and could save the need for costly counselling. Guardian.

Urban birds are teeming with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, study finds

Exposure to bacteria in landfill sites and polluted rivers may explain prevalence among city-dwelling birds

The authors suggest that wild birds may pick up antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in a number of ways: gulls and crows, for example, are known to lurk at landfill sites, while ducks and geese may pick them up in rivers and lakes that are contaminated with human wastewater. Guardian.