Morning Report Newsletter

We’ve waited 18 years for this. No, we’re not talking about a sequel to Napoleon Dynamite. We’ll still have to wonder if Kip’s cage fighting-career ever takes off. Instead, we’re talking about the update to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2004 developmental surveillance checklist . . .

A new pilot study suggests that a nonpharmacologic, cost-free, simple, and quick intervention may help prevent vasovagal syncope (VVS). Excellent! You had us at nonpharmacologic—those treatments are as welcome as pizza and wings on Super Bowl Sunday.

The ever-insightful George Costanza must have been talking about e-cigarettes when he opined, “This thing is like an onion. The more layers you peel, the more it stinks.”

It’s that time of year again. As reliably as Tom Brady secures a spot in the playoffs every winter, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) releases its annual updates to the Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. This year’s recommendations offer several key changes.

As you may already know, the use of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been proven safe and effective in reducing the risk of sexual HIV acquisition. The problem is that it’s not getting prescribed to everyone who needs and wants it.

In a study that will inevitably be made into a Hallmark movie, researchers have uncovered a remarkable phenomenon: when long-time couples are in close proximity to each other, their heart rates sync up like a crowd of strangers catching the first beats of “We Will Rock You.”

We’ve assumed for months that Adele’s new album would take our breath away, but as of this week, our ears can finally confirm its Adele-level quality. Similarly, we’ve assumed consuming zinc could help fight a respiratory infection, but we now have published data to substantiate that claim.

As if we needed another reason to avoid fast food, preliminary research suggests that traces of plastic in fast-food products are as ubiquitous as that feeling of regret 30 minutes later.

We enjoy a hearty debate. Did Tony Soprano die in the finale? Could Ferris Bueller really have completed all those activities before dinner? Can a patient with obesity still be in good health?

Two researchers say most likely to that last one. They combed through a mountain of literature on dieting, exercising, and mortality and examined >200 meta-analyses and single studies. That’s enough data to make Steve Kornacki don his khakis and election-night game-face.

This was a great week. First, we learned that William Shatner—Capt. Kirk himself—is heading into outer space, boldly going where no 90-year-old has gone before. Then, we heard the news that an effective treatment for COVID-19—in pill form—may be headed our way.