Amazon’s Alexa pulls for Kamala Harris over Trump AI update. The WHO says cellphones don’t cause brain cancer — but I’m not convinced. And your phone is eavesdropping for Big Tech. Plus, a guy’s mom thinks she’s friends with Brad Pitt, but it’s all a scam.
⌚ Her watch saved her life: Dr. Amanda Faulkner, a 51-year-old psychiatrist from New Zealand, thought her new Apple Watch was faulty for always nagging about her heart rate. Then it spiked to over 90 BPM, and doctors found she had acute myeloid leukemia. This rare cancer was caught just hours before her organs could have failed. Thankfully, she’s now in remission.
99 percent
Accuracy a new AI model, ECgMLP, can detect endometrial cancer. This is amazing. It enhances medical images, zeroes in on the most important areas, then uses advanced pattern recognition to give a diagnosis. It’s also great at identifying colorectal, breast and oral cancer. Love this news.
🧠 AI is changing radiology: Over 75% of AI software approved by the FDA for medical use is built for radiology. These tools scan hundreds of images and spot things like cancer, strokes and pneumonia (paywall link). Yep, that means doctors can catch urgent cases faster and treat patients sooner. They just have to watch out for the false reports, of course.
36,000
Cases of cancer each year are linked to CT scans. Some radiologists are using up to three times the radiation to get clearer pics, even if a lower dose would work. About 90 million scans are done in a year. This could cause 2% of all diagnoses.
🙏 A nurse says her Oura Ring saved her life: Nikki had been dealing with night sweats and fatigue but brushed it off — until her Oura app kept warning her that her body was under stress. That push made her see a doctor, where she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer with the same symptoms. The Oura Ring is FSA or HSA eligible, btw.
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🏥 Paging Dr. Holo: Cancer patients in rural Tennessee and Mississippi can now talk to their oncologist via hologram. Your doctor appears in a $70,000 box and communicates via a camera. Proto Hologram (paywall link), famous for concert tech, makes it. Patients feel like the doctor’s in the room. Check out a pic of this cool setup toward the end of this newsletter.
Cancer breakthrough: I wish this was available for my mom who died from pancreatic cancer. It’s one of the worst cancers, with half of patients living less than a year after diagnosis. But there is hope. Pranathi Perati ran out of treatments until she found a new drug called daraxonrasib. It’s kept her alive for 17 months and counting. It causes fatigue and ulcers, but she feels better than she did on chemo. Share this with anyone who can benefit right now.
Not backing down: Plastic surgeon Elisabeth Potter went public about UnitedHealthcare calling her mid-surgery to deny a breast cancer patient’s hospital stay. After her post went viral, she got a letter from UnitedHealthcare’s big-time lawyers demanding a retraction and an apology. In a post on X, Potter said, “I will continue to speak up for my patients because they deserve better.” Good for her.
AI mammograms: Radiologists used AI to raise breast cancer detection rates by 6.7% versus traditional methods. The detection rate spiked to 17.6% after age was taken into account. That’s about one more case for every 1,000 women. The best part? It didn’t increase false positives.
41% lower risk
Of head and neck cancer by drinking three to four cups of coffee per day. Researchers dug into 14 studies with over 25,000 people. They found heavy coffee drinkers had a 30% lower risk of oral cancer. Even decaf helps. For tea drinkers like me, there’s a 9% risk reduction for both and 29% lower for hypopharyngeal (lower throat) cancer. I hate cancer.
80 years old
When the risk of getting cancer starts to decline. The risk is highest in our 60s and 70s, then it drops. Researchers studying lung cancer found a key protein, NUPR1, that behaves differently in older cells. I love reading about breakthroughs like this. I hate cancer.
The technology to reverse cancer: This is incredible. Most cancer treatments focus on destroying harmful cells, often causing lots of other damage to the body. Korean researchers just figured out how to flip colon cancer cells back to a normal state. This removes the cancer without killing the cells. I hate cancer.
20 years in the making: Doctors are using a new treatment called histotripsy to fight certain cancer cells. It works by sending ultrasound waves to a precise point, rupturing the cells and killing them instantly. The best part? There’s no incision required, and, unlike radiation, it doesn’t harm the surrounding tissue. The results are promising — two months after treatment, one man’s liver remains cancer-free.
Your cheap clothes could cause cancer
Bought anything from fast fashion company Shein? You might be putting your health at risk.
Cheap clothes online could make you sick
Major fashion retailer Shein was caught selling millions of clothes containing toxic chemicals, some of which are linked to cancer. Plus, an Amazon driver ignores a house fire, Samsung washing machine drama, and police drones are here.
Princess Kate has cancer
Check if you’re on a Boeing flight, the solar eclipse is coming, and Replika founder and CEO Eugenia Kuyda on the rise of AI romance.
My mother’s cancer journey ended
My mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer in December 2017. By 2020, she was cancer-free. But the cancer returned with a vengeance and doctors used the word “hospice.” Here’s my own journey with her passing.
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How music therapy changes lives to creating the perfect playlist
Think about just how powerful music is. The right song can make you laugh, dance, cry or sing. But did you know music can be deeply healing, too? Music therapy is being used to treat patients with cancer, Parkinson’s, MS and Alzheimer’s. In this podcast, Kim sits down with Joy Allen, chair of Berklee College of Music’s Music Therapy Department. She shares more about the power of song, and you’ll learn to come up with the best playlist for where you are in life.
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