Week in Review: August 5

By Samantha Rossi • August 5, 2022

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The Week in Review provides an overview of the past week’s top health care content, including industry news and trends, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Laboratories news, and upcoming events.

Industry News

Even simple exercise may help aging brain, study hints

New research hints that even a simple exercise routine just might help older Americans with mild memory problems. Doctors have long advised physical activity to help keep a healthy brain fit. But the government-funded study marks the longest test of whether exercise makes any difference once memory starts to slide — research performed amid a pandemic that added isolation to the list of risks to participants’ brain health. Researchers recruited about 300 sedentary older adults with hard-to-spot memory changes called mild cognitive impairment or MCI -- a condition that’s sometimes, but not always, a precursor to Alzheimer’s. Half were assigned aerobic exercises and the rest stretching-and-balance moves that only modestly raised their heart rate. Source: Associated Press

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Optum, Sanofi team to make low-cost insulin available to uninsured 
Optum, a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, is partnering with Sanofi to make low-cost insulin available to diabetes patients without insurance. The Optum Store will now carry a 30-day supply of insulin available for $35 to those with a valid prescription but no insurance. Source: Fierce Healthcare

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How the COVID-19 pandemic changed Americans’ health for the worse

The ripple effects of the Covid-19 pandemic’s influence on nearly every aspect of health in America are becoming clear. Covid-19 has killed more than one million people in the U.S., a toll mounting by some 350 people a day. A range of other chronic diseases and acute threats to health also worsened during the pandemic, data show, as people missed screenings, abandoned routines and experienced loss and isolation. “In addition to just the terrible burden of a million Americans dying, there are other repercussions from the pandemic that we need to address,” said Chrissie Juliano, executive director of Big Cities Health Coalition, an organization of city health officials. Some setbacks could be reversed relatively quickly, health experts said, while it might take years to recognize the full effects of others. Source: Wall Street Journal

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Mayo Clinic News

EMS providers across Wisconsin receive funding for support, stability

Wisconsin governor Tony Evers announced an $8 million investment into emergency medical services yesterday. The funding can be used for things like new vehicles, safety upgrades, diagnostic medical equipment and patient transport equipment. Source: NBC 15

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Mayo: urgent need for O- blood types

The Mayo Clinic Blood Donor Center is still in urgent and immediate need for O- donations.  Even though the community has responded, our patients’ needs continued to remain high, with up to a 25% increase in daily usage throughout the last week. Although a surge in blood product demand is typically associated with trauma, blood products are used for the day-to-day care of patients. Life-saving blood product is needed by our patients undergoing surgeries or treatment for medical problems, such as cancer, bleeding disorders, liver damage, burns, and severe bacterial infections. Source: KAAL

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Is napping bad for you? New study links frequent naps to higher risk of stroke, high blood  pressure

According to Virend Somers, MD, PhD, the Alice Sheets Marriott professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, people who don't sleep well at night may have higher levels of catecholamines, which are connected to your adrenaline response in the body and can raise blood pressure. Bad sleep can also make it hard for your body to keep blood vessels open and free of clots. Source: Health

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Samantha Rossi

Samantha Rossi is a Digital Marketing Manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. She supports marketing strategies for product management and specialty testing. Samantha has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2019.