Health

(NEW YORK) — A growing body of research suggests that age is more than just a number.

Regardless of how many birthdays you’ve celebrated, your overall health may depend on the resilience and vitality of your cells.

It’s a concept known as biological, or epigenetic, aging.

Biological aging explained

“Chronological age is what the calendar tells us,” Elissa Epel, PhD, a professor in the department of psychiatry & behavioral sciences at the University of California, San Francisco Weill Institute for Neurosciences, told ABC News.

Biological age looks beyond the calendar to provide clues for how well someone’s health stands the test of time.

Researchers commonly analyze a process called DNA methylation, which involves chemical alterations of gene expression, without any changes to the actual genetic sequence itself. As this pattern shifts, it is reflected in the age of the cells.

Genetic factors intertwine with environmental factors, such as pollutants and toxins, and lifestyle habits, like diet and exercise, to alter DNA methylation and influence cell function.

The idea is that everything can have an impact at the cellular level, which could potentially have implications for predicting disease risk and longevity.

Watching the clock

To test for biological age, scientists use advanced tools known as epigenetic clocks.

Developed a little over a decade ago by UCLA researcher Steve Horvath, PhD, epigenetic clocks use blood, skin, or saliva samples to analyze specific patterns in the DNA, called methylation marks, and then compare them against chronological age, as well as to a database containing information from other individuals.

Evaluating various body systems, Horvath found that even healthy tissue next to a breast cancer tumor, for example, was about 12 years older than the rest of the body.

“We can’t change our genes, but we can change how much they are activated or silenced,” said Epel, also the director of the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center in San Francisco, adding that, “the patterns of methylation, like doors being open or closed, change dramatically with age.”

Until recently, epigenetic clocks have primarily been used in the lab, but a few are now available to consumers. Some have price tags upwards of $500.

Consumer tests can offer insights into lifestyle changes that might help slow biological aging, though experts are still evaluating their accuracy and utility.

If you could turn back time

Epel and her team recently found that women who followed a diet with healthy nutrients such as folate and magnesium, showed signs of younger biological age, while women who consumed diets higher in added sugar were found to have older biological ages.

These findings were independent, in that more sugar meant more accelerated biological age, even if a woman’s overall diet was healthier, but sticking to a healthier overall diet was associated with slower cellular aging, even in those who consumed more added sugar.

Another team of researchers similarly looked at diet, with an eight-week twin study, where one twin followed a vegan diet while the other continued eating meat.

The “vegan” twins had lower age markers in different body systems compared to their meat-eating identical twin, and even more compelling, they had a decrease in their biological ages among multiple epigenetic clocks.

“Our health is not necessarily set in stone, it’s changing all the time, and so within the realm of our own individual spaces, we have some power, in terms of, the health behaviors that we choose to engage in, and those can have an impact on our epigenetic health,” Dorothy Chiu, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UCSF, told ABC News.

Looking to the future

Understanding biological aging can be empowering. But it’s just as important to remember that it is not the end all, be all, Epel cautions.

“We don’t suggest individuals go out and get tested and think they’ve determined how long they are going to live,” she said. “It’s one source of information, and it’s not definitive in any way, especially since it changes.”

The main takeaway is that day-to-day habits can potentially influence health right down to the cellular level. Any steps, even small steps, towards staying healthy may have benefits.

While we can test biological age for some insights into how well someone is aging, for now, the best way to stay healthy is to keep up to date with screenings and follow the evidence-based recommendations from your healthcare provider.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Current routine blood tests are not a reliable way of diagnosing long COVID, according to a new study.

The researchers, who published their findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal on Monday, examined if a COVID-19 infection led to changes in routine blood biomarkers, such as platelet counts or protein in the urine, that may be predictive of long COVID.

The study is part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) RECOVER Initiative, which seeks to better understand, diagnose, prevent and treat the condition.

“Our challenge is to discover biomarkers that can help us quickly and accurately diagnose long COVID to ensure people struggling with this disease receive the most appropriate care as soon as possible,” said Dr. David Goff, director for the division of cardiovascular sciences at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in a statement.

“Long COVID symptoms can prevent someone from returning to work or school, and may even make everyday tasks a burden, so the ability for rapid diagnosis is key,” the statement continued.

Long COVID occurs when patients still have symptoms at least four weeks after they have cleared the infection. In some cases, symptoms can be experienced for months or years.

Symptoms vary and can include fatigue, difficulty breathing, headaches, brain fog, joint and muscle pain and continued loss of taste and smell, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Long COVID most often occurs in people who had severe illness, but anyone can develop the condition. People who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 may be at higher risk of developing long COVID, according to the CDC.

Scientists are not sure what causes long COVID but have identified risk factors including having underlying conditions or experiencing multi-system inflammatory syndrome due to COVID. There have also been studies concerning whether long COVID patients have blood biomarkers different from those who were infected with the virus but didn’t develop long COVID.

For the study, researchers looked at more than 10,000 adults enrolled in the RECOVER Adult Cohort at 83 sites across the U.S. between October 2021 and 2023. Of the group, more than 8,700 had previously been infected with COVID.

Participants completed a set of surveys, a physical examination and 25 standard laboratory blood and urine tests. The participants were then followed routinely over the next two years, taking follow-up surveys and follow-up lab tests.

Researchers detected “markedly few differences in biomarkers between those with prior infection and those without,” according to a press release.

One difference the team did find is that, compared to people without prior COVID infections, those with prior COVID infections were associated with small increases in HbA1c, which measures average blood sugar levels over two to three months to screen for diabetes. However, these increases disappeared after participants with pre-existing diabetes were excluded.

There were also slightly elevated levels of uACR, which measures the amount of albumin and creatinine in urine to help identify kidney damage, in long COVID patients. However, these differences were only seen in a small group and this damage may have occurred during their initial infection, the team said.

“Future work will use RECOVER’s biobank of cohort samples such as blood and spinal fluid, to develop more novel laboratory-based tests that help us better understand the pathophysiology of long COVID,” Dr. Kristine Erlandson, a professor of medicine and infectious disease at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, said in a statement.

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(NEW YORK) — Authorities warned residents of Lincoln, New Hampshire, to monitor themselves for symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease after five people fell ill in June and July.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services on Monday linked the outbreak of the bacterial pneumonia — which is caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with Legionella bacteria — to a cooling tower behind the RiverWalk Resort in downtown Lincoln.

“Anybody who has visited the area near the contaminated cooling tower should monitor themselves for symptoms,” Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire state epidemiologist, said in a DHHS statement.

“People who develop fever or other symptoms of pneumonia within 14 days after spending time in this area should talk to their healthcare provider about testing for Legionella infection,” he added.

The cooling tower has been sanitized and put back into operation after discussion with state officials, RiverWalk Vice President Renee Blood told ABC News affiliate WMUR-TV.

“Out of an abundance of caution, additional testing will be performed later this week,” Blood told WMUR. 

The test results are expected next week.

DHHS said the cooling tower’s continued operation could mean further exposure risks, particularly for people within a half-mile of the facility.

“Anyone who is visiting the specified area should assess their health risk,” DHHS said. “Those who are older, are current or former smokers, have weakened immune systems, or have certain medical conditions like chronic lung disease and diabetes are at higher risk for developing Legionnaire’s disease.”

Symptoms usually begin between two and 14 days following exposure and can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. The bacteria can also cause serious pneumonia, the stage known as Legionnaires’ disease. The condition can be fatal if left untreated.

DHHS noted, however, that most healthy people exposed to Legionella bacteria do not fall ill.

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(NEW YORK) — More than half of U.S. states are reporting “very high” levels of COVID activity as the virus continues to spread and increase in many parts of the country, according to the latest wastewater data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At least 27 states are reporting “very high” levels and 17 states are reporting “high” levels of wastewater viral activity.

The western region continues to see the highest levels followed by the South, Midwest and Northeast, respectively.

Current levels are nearing but remain lower than what they were in the winter months, when there tends to be increased spread of respiratory illnesses.

Wastewater data comes with limitations in how well it represents spread in a community, but it may be the best data available, experts say.

“While wastewater is not a perfect measure, it’s increasingly vital in filling the gaps left by the absence of comprehensive case reporting and hospitalization data,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.

Many national surveillance systems have diminished in scope since the national public health emergency ended, leaving authorities with limited resources to monitor how the virus is spreading.

“As traditional surveillance systems have dwindled, wastewater analysis has emerged as one of the most reliable tools we have to monitor COVID-19 activity in communities,” Brownstein added.

Other limited COVID surveillance systems such as emergency department visits and test positivity are also on the rise, according to CDC data. Deaths from the virus remain relatively flat, especially compared to previous years.

Updated COVID vaccines are set to be available this fall, according to federal health authorities. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that vaccine manufacturers formulate shots based on the KP.2 strain, an offshoot of the omicron variant that is currently estimated to make up about 6% of cases.

Genetically similar variants, known as KP.3.1.1 and KP.3, currently make up almost half of estimated cases, CDC data shows.

The CDC has already recommended that everyone over the age of 6 months get an updated COVID vaccine this season. The recommendation will take effect as soon as the vaccines are made available, pending FDA authorization.

An expected delivery date for the updated COVID vaccines has not been shared yet, but in previous years the shot was made available in late August or September. Vaccine manufacturers have told ABC News they are ready to ship doses as soon as they receive the green light from the FDA.

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(NEW YORK) — A third death has been reported in connection to a multi-state outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections that has been linked to a Boar’s Head deli meat recall.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that since a previous update on July 31, nine more cases of listeria had been reported, including one new death in Virginia.

In total, there have been 43 illnesses leading to hospitalization.

The announcement also stated that the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Division of Food Safety and Inspection “collected unopened Boar’s Head liverwurst products from retail stores and the New York State Food Laboratory identified Listeria monocytogenes” and that “[whole-genome sequencing] determined it to be the same strain as the strain making people sick in this outbreak.”

Boar’s Head previously expanded its original July 26 recall on several types of deli meats to include an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that may be contaminated with listeria.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service initially announced that Boar’s Head Provisions Co. had recalled 71 products produced between May 10, 2024, and July 29, 2024, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names.

The announcement was an expansion on a previous recall announcement amid an ongoing investigation by the CDC into an outbreak of listeria infections linked to meats sliced at delis that had sickened 34 people across 13 states.

ABC News’ Good Morning America has reached out to Boar’s Head for comment on the recall.

Details of Boar’s Head deli meat recall

The Virginia-based meat producer initially recalled approximately 207,528 pounds of products that were distributed to retail deli locations nationwide, including all liverwurst products and “additional deli meat products that were produced on the same line and on the same day as the liverwurst” that could be “adulterated with L. monocytogenes.”

Boar’s Head deli meat recalled product information

“On July 30, Boar’s Head expanded their July 26 recall to include all deli products, including prepackaged deli products, in shelf life from this establishment,” the CDC stated previously. “Look for “EST. 12612” or “P-12612″ inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels.”

The items “include meat intended for slicing at retail delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold at retail locations,” FSIS stated Wednesday. “These products have ‘sell by’ dates ranging from 29-JUL-2024 through 17-OCT-24.”

Click here for the full list of product details with item numbers, brand names and sell by dates.

The ready-to-eat liverwurst products were produced between June 11, 2024, and July 17, 2024, and have a 44-day shelf life.

Recalled liverwurst products include 3.5-pound loaves in plastic casing, or “various weight packages sliced in retail delis,” according to the FSIS, and are labeled “Boar’s Head Strassburger Brand Liverwurst MADE IN VIRGINIA.”

The products, which the FSIS said were shipped to retailers, bear sell by dates ranging from July 25 to Aug. 30, 2024. Sell by dates are printed on the side of the packaging.

Click here for images with full label details.

Additional ready-to-eat deli meats subject to recall

• 9.5-pound and 4.5-pound full product, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head VIRGINIA HAM OLD FASHIONED HAM” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 4-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head ITALIAN CAPPY STYLE HAM” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 6-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head EXTRA HOT ITALIAN CAPPY STYLE HAM” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 4-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head BOLOGNA” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 2.5-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head BEEF SALAMI” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 5.5-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head STEAKHOUSE ROASTED BACON HEAT & EAT” with sell by date “AUG 15” on the product packaging.
• 3-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head GARLIC BOLOGNA” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 3-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head BEEF BOLOGNA” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.

The recalled products bear establishment number “EST. 12612” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels.

The above products were produced on June 27, 2024, according to Boar’s Head.

What prompted the Boar’s Head recall

According to the USDA, the problem was discovered when the FSIS “was notified that a sample collected by the Maryland Department of Health tested positive for L. monocytogenes.”

“The Maryland Department of Health, in collaboration with the Baltimore City Health Department, collected an unopened liverwurst product from a retail store for testing as part of an outbreak investigation of L. monocytogenes infections,” the agency stated previously. “Further testing is ongoing to determine if the product sample is related to the outbreak. Anyone concerned about illness should contact a healthcare provider.”

Details of listeria outbreak linked to deli meats

The FSIS is currently working with the CDC as well as state public health partners to investigate a multi-state outbreak of listeria infections linked to meats sliced at delis, USDA officials said.

According to the CDC, “All 43 people have been hospitalized and three deaths have now been reported, one from Illinois, one from New Jersey, and, as of this update, one from Virginia.”

As of Aug. 8, states involved in the outbreak included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

“Samples were collected from sick people from May 29, 2024, to July 12, 2024,” the USDA stated, adding that “the investigation is ongoing.”

In a notice published July 19, the CDC stated that many of those sickened in the outbreak had reported eating meat that they had sliced at deli counters.

“Investigators are collecting information to determine the specific products that may be contaminated,” the CDC stated.

“Listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands and food,” the agency added. “Refrigeration does not kill Listeria, but reheating to a high enough temperature before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats.”

Symptoms, side effects of listeria

According to the CDC, listeria can cause severe illness “when the bacteria spread beyond the gut to other parts of the body” after a person consumes contaminated food. Those at higher risk include pregnant people, those aged 65 or older, or anyone who has a weakened immune system, the CDC says.

“If you are pregnant, it can cause pregnancy loss, premature birth, or a life-threatening infection in your newborn,” the CDC states on its website. “Other people can be infected with Listeria, but they rarely become seriously ill.”

According to the CDC, anyone infected with listeria may experience “mild food poisoning symptoms” such as diarrhea or fever, and many recover without antibiotic treatment.

An estimated 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die, according to the CDC.

An earlier version of this story was originally published July 26, 2024. 

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(NEW YORK) — A new study suggests a popular artificial sweetener found in everything from drinks and baked goods to gum and candy could be linked to a higher risk of blood clots, but the researchers themselves say their findings are preliminary and more research is needed to understand any potential health risks.

Erythritol, a zero-calorie sweetener widely used in sugar replacement or reduced-sugar products, was found to increase levels of proteins associated with blood clotting compared to regular sugar, according to a new study published Thursday in the medical journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

“This research raises some concerns that a standard serving of an erythritol-sweetened food or beverage may acutely stimulate a direct clot-forming effect,” the study’s co-author, Dr. W. H. Wilson Tang, research director for Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement announcing the study’s findings. “Erythritol and other sugar alcohols that are commonly used as sugar substitutes should be evaluated for potential long-term health effects especially when such effects are not seen with glucose itself.”

For the study, 10 people were randomly assigned to drink water mixed with 30 grams of erythritol, while another 10 individuals were randomly assigned to drink water mixed with 30 grams of glucose.

The amount of 30 grams was chosen because it is the quantity commonly found in erythritol-containing foods, according to the Cleveland Clinic researchers who led the study.

The people who drank water mixed with erythritol were found 30 minutes later to have a higher level of proteins involved in platelet clumping in their bloodstream compared to those who drank glucose.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is naturally found in fruits such as watermelons, pears and grapes, but has since been processed as a food additive used to sweeten and enhance the flavor of foods, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

According to Cleveland Clinic researchers, erythritol is produced through fermenting corn.

Consuming high amounts of sugar carries its own risk.

Due to a growing obesity epidemic, artificial sweeteners are becoming increasingly common ingredients found in soft drinks, “diet” foods and other processed products. Although federal regulatory agencies like the FDA have deemed most artificial sweeteners as safe, studies are ongoing about the long-term health effects.

A previous study on erythritol from researchers at Cleveland Clinic found that higher levels of erythritol were found among patients who experienced a major adverse cardiovascular event — which includes stroke, heart attack, blood clots and cardiovascular death — over three years of observation.

Last year, the World Health Organization issued a new recommendation that people who are trying to lose weight should avoid using zero-calorie non-sugar sweeteners.

Zero-calorie non-sugar sweeteners have not been shown to help with weight loss long-term in children or adults, and their use may bring side effects like increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes and death in adults, the WHO said at the time.

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(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 has significantly fallen as a leading cause of death in the U.S. for the first time since the pandemic began, according to new provisional data published Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2023, the virus was the tenth-leading cause of death among Americans, down from the fourth-leading cause in 2022 and the third-leading cause of death between March 2020 and October 2021.

The report also found that overall deaths fell significantly from 2022 to 2023.

The report did not go into reasons for why deaths have fallen, but Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said likely reasons include the prevention of COVID fatalities through vaccines, treatments for early onset illness and a better overall understanding of the virus.

“Being on the other side of the pandemic played a big part in seeing this overall mortality rate go down,” he said. ‘This is, in large part, related to the public health effort, especially vaccines that, of course, saved so many lives.”

For the report, researchers looked at preliminary death certificate data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System.

In 2023, there were about 3.09 million deaths in the U.S. with an age-adjusted rate of 750.4 deaths per 100,000 people. This is a decrease of 6.1% from the rate of 798.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2022.

Additionally, death rates were highest among males, older adults and Black Americans, according to the report.

The three leading causes of death in the U.S. were heart disease, cancer and unintentional injury, respectively, which is unchanged from 2022.

Last year marked the first time since the pandemic began that COVID-19 was not one of the top five leading causes of death. Provisional data showed COVID-19 was the underlying cause for 1.6% of all deaths in 2023, decreasing from 5.7% in 2022.

The COVID-19 death rate fell from 58.7 per 100,000 deaths in 2022 to 18.2 per 100,000 in 2023, the report found.

The number of COVID-19-associated deaths fell from 2023 across all age groups and racial/ethnic groups.

Death rates from COVID-19 were highest among those aged 75 and older — highlighting the impact the virus has had on the elderly population. However, the gap between death rates among racial/ethnic groups shrunk from 2022 to 2023.

In 2022, the COVID death rate for white Americans was 58.6 per 100,000 compared to 71.0 per 100,000 for Black Americans. In 2023, the rate was 19.6 per 100,000 for white Americans and 17 per 100,000 for Black Americans.

“Because of the wide disparities that exist in COVID-related deaths, and we know that COVID deaths were not equal across the population, especially hit…Black populations and other and African American people, it’s not surprising that when you overall reduce COVID deaths, that will overall contribute to potentially sort of a closing of the gap,” Brownstein said.

He added that there is more work to be done to close the gap even further, including providing access to health care and insurance for traditionally underserved populations.

Brownstein also said he hopes more efforts can be made to reduce deaths from traditional leading causes of death such as heart disease and cancer.

“We’ve made a big dent in COVID as a result of response efforts,” he said. “But now there’s still such an important effort to deal with some of these other leading causes of death. These data are important because they can help from an awareness perspective and an allocation of research resources.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 has significantly fallen as a leading cause of death in the U.S. for the first time since the pandemic began, according to new provisional data published Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2023, the virus was the tenth-leading cause of death among Americans, down from the fourth-leading cause in 2022 and the third-leading cause of death between March 2020 and October 2021.

The report also found that overall deaths fell significantly from 2022 to 2023.

The report did not go into reasons for why deaths have fallen, but Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said likely reasons include the prevention of COVID fatalities through vaccines, treatments for early onset illness and a better overall understanding of the virus.

“Being on the other side of the pandemic played a big part in seeing this overall mortality rate go down,” he said. ‘This is, in large part, related to the public health effort, especially vaccines that, of course, saved so many lives.”

For the report, researchers looked at preliminary death certificate data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System.

In 2023, there were about 3.09 million deaths in the U.S. with an age-adjusted rate of 750.4 deaths per 100,000 people. This is a decrease of 6.1% from the rate of 798.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2022.

Additionally, death rates were highest among males, older adults and Black Americans, according to the report.

The three leading causes of death in the U.S. were heart disease, cancer and unintentional injury, respectively, which is unchanged from 2022.

Last year marked the first time since the pandemic began that COVID-19 was not one of the top five leading causes of death. Provisional data showed COVID-19 was the underlying cause for 1.6% of all deaths in 2023, decreasing from 5.7% in 2022.

The COVID-19 death rate fell from 58.7 per 100,000 deaths in 2022 to 18.2 per 100,000 in 2023, the report found.

The number of COVID-19-associated deaths fell from 2023 across all age groups and racial/ethnic groups.

Death rates from COVID-19 were highest among those aged 75 and older — highlighting the impact the virus has had on the elderly population. However, the gap between death rates among racial/ethnic groups shrunk from 2022 to 2023.

In 2022, the COVID death rate for white Americans was 58.6 per 100,000 compared to 71.0 per 100,000 for Black Americans. In 2023, the rate was 19.6 per 100,000 for white Americans and 17 per 100,000 for Black Americans.

“Because of the wide disparities that exist in COVID-related deaths, and we know that COVID deaths were not equal across the population, especially hit…Black populations and other and African American people, it’s not surprising that when you overall reduce COVID deaths, that will overall contribute to potentially sort of a closing of the gap,” Brownstein said.

He added that there is more work to be done to close the gap even further, including providing access to health care and insurance for traditionally underserved populations.

Brownstein also said he hopes more efforts can be made to reduce deaths from traditional leading causes of death such as heart disease and cancer.

“We’ve made a big dent in COVID as a result of response efforts,” he said. “But now there’s still such an important effort to deal with some of these other leading causes of death. These data are important because they can help from an awareness perspective and an allocation of research resources.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, ended weeks of speculation after selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday.

During his time as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and governor of the North Star State, Walz has pushed for access to abortion and other reproductive health care. He’s also lowered drug prices and has proposed a public buy-in option for insurance.

Here’s where Walz stands on various health care issues:

Reproductive rights

Walz has been a supporter of abortion rights and was vocal about protecting access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

In January 2023, he signed the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, which says everyone has a “fundamental right to make decisions about reproductive health” including abortion care, fertility treatments, contraception, sterilization and other care.

Prior to the PRO Act being signed, Minnesota already had strong abortion laws. The state does not prohibit abortion based on how far along someone is in their pregnancy and a 1995 state Supreme Court case held that the state Constitution protects the right to choose to have an abortion.

Walz, however, said the law is a “firewall against efforts to reverse reproductive freedom.”

In April 2023, he also signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act, which protects patients who travel to Minnesota to seek abortion care — as well as abortion providers — from legal action in other states.

Additionally, when Harris became the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic run by Planned Parenthood this year, she was joined by Walz.

The governor has also spoken about protecting access to fertility treatments and IVF. The issue is a personal one for Walz; his wife, Gwen, underwent IVF procedures for years before welcoming the first of their two children.

“When my wife and I decided to have children, we spent years going through infertility treatments,” Walz said Tuesday during his first joint appearance with Harris at a rally in Philadelphia. “I remember praying every night for a call for good news, the pit in my stomach when the phone rang and the agony when we heard that the treatments hadn’t worked.”

Access to health insurance

During his inaugural speech in 2019, Walz called health care “a basic human right.”

“What Minnesotans want from their health care is simple,” he said. “They don’t want to get sick in the first place. But if they do, they want care at a price they can afford and at a location close to home.”

During his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from 2007 to 2019, Walz voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the landmark health care bill that was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama.

Walz and the Democratic leadership in Minnesota have attempted to expand MinnesotaCare, the state’s public health insurance program, to allow all residents — regardless of income — the option to buy in.

There are two bills currently under consideration in the Minnesota Legislature – HF 4745 and SF 4778 — but the governor’s office told local media the bills would not likely pass this year.

The governor has worked to expand access to health care with a record 146,445 residents signing up for private health plans for 2024 during the open enrollment period for MNsure, the state’s official health insurance marketplace, the governor’s office said.

Capping drug prices

In 2020, Walz signed the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act, allowing those in urgent need of insulin to go to their pharmacy once in a 12-month period and receive a one-time, 30-day supply of insulin for a $35 co-pay.

The long-term component of the law allows eligible individuals to receive insulin for up to one year, with an option to renew, and receive a 90-day supply with a co-pay cap of $50.

The governor also announced earlier this year that the state’s Department of Health was publishing a list of more than 300 drugs whose prices will be required to be reported by manufacturers, wholesale retailers and pharmacies.

These policies are similar to those implemented under the Biden-Harris administration. The cost of insulin has been capped at $35 per month for many Americans, and the federal government has begun direct price negotiations on 10 widely used drugs paid for by Medicare Part D, with plans to add more drugs to the list in the future.

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(NEW YORK) — Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ reported higher rates of poor mental health and experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors than their cisgender and heterosexual peers, a new U.S. survey found.

In 2023, more than three in five LGBTQ+ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or another non-heterosexual identity — high school students said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and more than half reported having poor mental health, according to the latest results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, published Tuesday morning by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Across all of those outcomes that we looked at, experience of violence, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, we do see this really significant disparity between LGBTQ+ young people and their cisgender and heterosexual peers,” Dr. Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s division of adolescent and school health, told ABC News. “That has been the case for a while.”

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is conducted every other year and surveys thousands of high school-age children from public and private schools between grades 9 and 12 across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Ethier said 2023 was the first year that a question on transgender identity was included in the national survey “and so it’s the first time that we’re really able to look at that group as a whole, and the findings are quite stark, as they have been in previous years.”

LGBTQ+ students were more likely than their peers to report experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, according to the survey.

In 2023, 65% said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness during the past year compared to 31% of cisgender and heterosexual peers, according to the survey. Additionally, 53% said they experienced poor mental health during the last 30 days in comparison to 21% of their peers, they survey said.

The report also found that 41% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year and one in five — 20% — did attempt suicide.

LGBTQ+ students were also at higher risk of substance use than their peers. In 2023, LGBTQ+ high school students said they were about twice as likely to have ever used illicit drugs and prescription opioids.

The report found that 26% of LGBTQ+ students said they drank alcohol in the past 30 days compared to 21% of cisgender and heterosexual students. Additionally, 25% of LGBTQ+ students said they used marijuana compared to 14% of their peers.

It also found that 18% of LGBTQ+ students reported having ever misused prescription opioids and 15% reported having ever used illicit drugs. Comparatively, 8% of cisgender and heterosexual students said they had used or misused illicit drugs or prescription opioids.

Additionally, LGBTQ+ students were more likely than cisgender and heterosexual students to currently be misusing prescription opioids — such as codeine, Vicodin, OxyContin, Hydrocodone or Percocet — with 7% of LGBTQ+ youth saying they had misused these drugs in the past 30 days compared to 3% of cisgender and heterosexual students.

What’s more, LGBTQ+ youth were more likely to experience violence, according to the survey. Nearly three in 10 LGBTQ+ students said they were bullied at school and nearly two in 10 missed school because of safety concerns.

In the report, the CDC said schools that have put policies and practices in place in place to support LGBTQ+ youth have seen improved mental health and fewer suicidal thoughts and behaviors among this population as well as among heterosexual and cisgender youth.

“We also know how to make things better for LGBTQ+ young people, and so we know that there are things that their schools could be doing to make them feel safer and more supported, and that when their schools do that, not only do LGBTQ+ young people do better, but their heterosexual peers do better as well,” Ethier said. “And so, we are really focused on making sure that we can do everything that we can do to get those effective policies and practices out there for schools and so that they can create better environments for those young people.”

The report also had some positive findings regarding the general U.S. teen population including a decrease in teen girls saying they experienced persistent sadness and hopelessness between 2021 and 2022 and a decrease in reported attempted suicide among Black youth.

“We’re not out of the woods, yet. We clearly have more work to do,” Ethier said. “But what this tells us is that when we focus in on an issue for young people, when we come together, we do what young people need us to do, we can really make a difference and improve their health and well-being.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide – free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988.

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