Most 'Ovarian Cancer' Isn't. And That Fact Can Save Lives.
A major shift in how we understand ovarian cancer is also opening a meaningful opportunity for prevention: most cases begin in the fallopian tubes, and removing them during another planned abdominal or pelvic surgery may reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancer by over 70 percent. This excellent article offers a fantastic and clear introduction to the idea; for a deeper look, we spoke with chief of general surgery Katherine Fischkoff, MD, and Alexandre Buckley de Meritens, MD, about the evidence, procedure, those who may benefit, access, and importance of awareness. (from nytimes.com)
America Is About to Go Over a Peptide Cliff
The peptide boom has moved well beyond the fringes of wellness culture, even as the evidence for some of its most popular drugs remains remarkably thin. This piece looks at BPC-157 and other gray-market peptides now moving closer to mainstream compounding, and the uneasy question at the center of that shift: what happens when access begins to outpace the science needed to establish safety, efficacy, and even consistent formulation? (from theatlantic.com)
Black lung rates in Appalachia are high as the 1970s, with thousands of miners sick
Black lung was supposed to be a disease we knew how to prevent. Instead, new federal data show rates among veteran underground coal miners in central Appalachia have climbed to levels not seen since 1978, with silica exposure playing an important role in the resurgence. After decades of miners, medical leaders, union leaders, rank and file workers and their families, and endless advocates fighting for protections against a disease that has taken so many lives, we seem to be back where we started. This critical investigation traces how a preventable occupational disease has returned with devastating force, and asks what it means when the protections exist, but workers are still getting sick. (from npr.org)
And now some fiction, homegrown.
What happens when a surgeon turns his eye from the operating room to crime fiction? In "Stone Hearts", Craig R. Smith, MD, cardiac surgeon and former Chair of the Department of Surgery, builds a medical caper rooted in transplant, intrigue, and the peculiar moral weather that hovers above and beyond the hospital.
Follow along each Friday as we release the novel one chapter at a time. You can also see more on Dr. Smith's Substack, Long Incision.
Chapters 1-5 available now. Read Chapter 1: Eva.
Related:
- A Conversation with Dr. Craig Smith on His Novel “Stone Hearts,” the Art of Writing, and the Surgeon’s Imagination
- Does Tylenol During Pregnancy Cause Autism? Separating Fact from Fear
- What We're Reading: 07/10/26