people
How Texas became the (MAHA) heartland
Jamie Carrero for STAT
Over recent months, Texas has become a testing ground for health-related legislative efforts — which in some ways has been a long time coming. The state has a diverse population, a political establishment eager to please the Trump administration, and a colony of prominent Make America Healthy Again converts. In August, the governor sat shoulder to shoulder with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he signed a package of MAHA bills at a desk adorned with a blue placard reading "Making Texas Healthier."
The average Texan doesn't always know the MAHA movement by name, but it has undoubtedly taken root there. STAT's Isabella Cueto recently spent a week in the Lone Star state, talking both with people invested in the political movement and others who are simply trying to keep themselves and their families healthy. One pair of sisters particularly stuck with me — like many Americans, they're taking stock of MAHA and arriving at divergent views.
"Maybe some could label me a conspiracy theorist, but I'm open to learning," Alysha Bogie said. Her sister Amber recently had a baby, and Alysha has to wear a mask when visiting, since she isn't fully vaccinated. "As a new mom, I think you're just—," Alysha started. But Amber cut her off: "Overwhelmed? And terrified?" Read Isa's report from the ground.
policy
A fluoride crackdown on Halloween
The FDA announced Friday that it will take action to restrict the sale of ingestible fluoride supplements. Leadership first previewed the move over the summer at a public meeting on the usage and potential risks of such products, which are typically recommended for kids in areas without fluoridated water. Now, the agency has sent notices to four companies outlining its intention to take enforcement action related to the supplements.
"This Halloween, the FDA is driving a stake through the heart of outdated science … It's scary that these products have been used for decades without approval," Kennedy said in a statement released on what one STAT reporter described as "the candy-est day of the year."
In the past, Kennedy has advocated for the removal of fluoride from water as an issue of medical freedom. But critics say that removing oral fluoride supplements from the market would restrict parents' freedom of choice. Revisit Anil's story from this summer to learn how we got here.
in the room
What's ahead at AHA
Later this week, physicians, researchers, patients, and patient advocates will gather in New Orleans for the scientific sessions of the American Heart Association, where they'll hear about new ways to address cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. STAT's Elizabeth Cooney will be on the ground to cover the conference. Here's a preview of the science that will be presented in NOLA:
- A new study suggests there are factors that start in the kidney and then lead to cardiovascular problems in people with advanced chronic kidney disease, independent of other issues.
- Patients who survive a stroke caused by narrowed blood vessels live with a higher risk of another stroke or heart attack. Another study tells us the lower their LDL-C, or "bad" cholesterol fell, the better they did — even when that number dropped below recommended levels.
- Men and women vary in how they develop and experience heart disease, from who's vulnerable to what symptoms they feel to who survives. A new study, published Monday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, asked how those sex differences play out across the United States in deaths from heart attacks.
Read more from Liz. You can follow along by signing up for her "AHA in 30 seconds" newsletter.
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