Iowa news
Wastewater in Midwest states carries high levels of COVID-19, says CDC
Iowa is among several Midwestern states where wastewater is showing elevated levels of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease and Control describe virus levels as “very high,” indicating that COVID-19 is spreading again. So far, there has not been a spike in hospital cases. The latest COVID-19 variant accounts for about half of the current COVID-19 cases in the country. The variant is highly infectious but does not make most people sicker. (Iowa Public Radio)
Iowa State lands millions to investigate exercise impact on depression, therapy
Jacob Meyer, ISU associate professor of kinesiology, recently landed two National Institute of Mental Health grants to investigate how exercise can reduce stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression. The longer of the two projects — a $3.6 million, five-year study — gives him three years to recruit 200 adults with depression for a 16-week trial to test whether resistance training can be as helpful as aerobic exercise like running or biking is. The second, a $1.5 million, two-year study, aims to explore whether and how exercise might amplify the benefits of therapy. (Business Record)
Business Record readers name ChildServe as most influential nonprofit in Des Moines metro area
Based on readers’ votes, IHA member ChildServe ranks as the most influential nonprofit organization in the Des Moines metro area. Voters are asked to look at nonprofit organizations’ total influence on the community they serve. Although having a solid board is generally a critical component of an organization’s ability to have an impact, board strength is just one factor used to evaluate the influence organizations wield. (Business Record)
National news
Mayo Clinic inks ‘multimillion-dollar’ deal with AI startup
Mayo Clinic has unveiled partnerships with two artificial intelligence-driven companies with plans to accelerate personalized medicine capabilities and offerings. The health system signed an agreement with Cerebras, a team of AI experts, and expanded its relationship with Techcyte, an AI-based digital pathology company. Mayo Clinic selected Cerebras as its first generative AI collaborator for large-scale, domain-specific AI capabilities for more personalized diagnosis and treatment plans. The Silicon Valley startup is working with Mayo to develop models that can summarize medical records, identify patterns in medical images and analyze genome data. (Reuters)
Walgreens aims to be a health care company
CEO Tim Wentworth told CNBC during an interview with Jim Cramer that Walgreens wants to become more of a health care company. Wentworth said Walgreens is already a strong health care company because it provides pharmacy services and has administered 8 million vaccines in its stores. Walgreens has made significant investments in health care over the last few years, including the company’s VillageMD spending $8.9 billion to acquire Summit Health. The deal gave VillageMD around 400 primary care and urgent care clinics. Walgreens Boots Alliance did announce plans to close 60 VillageMD locations by the end of this year as part of $1 billion in planned cost reductions. (CNBC)
Experts scramble to understand rising cancer rates in young adults
Cancer diagnosis rates among people under 50 are on the rise. In the U.S., the rate among this group jumped nearly 13% from 2000 — when it was 95.6 cases per 100,000 people — to 107.8 by 2019. Physicians and scientists are baffled, scrambling to determine what’s beneath the surge and how to identify people at high risk. Gastrointestinal cancers are among those rising fastest in young people. Colorectal cancer trends have been especially concerning: The proportion of colon cancer diagnoses among people younger than 55 increased from 11% in 1995 to 20% in 2019, with a growing proportion of younger adults diagnosed with advanced-stage disease. (Becker’s Hospital Review)