What to know about the summer COVID surge

Plus: How to overcome "gymtimidation"

View this email online August 18, 2024 by Andrea Muraskin This week: Ok, so maybe you got Olympics-inspired to start a workout routine. But what happens when you show up to the gym weight room for the first time? Here’s how to navigate jitters around strength training. And: The White House is touting a first-of-its-kind deal to lower Medicare prices on certain medications. What does it mean for taxpayers and patients? Plus: We’re in the midst of a COVID surge, but the disease is getting more predictable and less lethal.   COVID is on the rise this summer. Here's why and what else you should know Al Bello/Getty Images North America While I've managed not to get sick with COVID this summer 🤞, it sort of feels like the coronavirus has been lurking around every corner. Friends, relatives and colleagues have been testing positive, or dodging infection after hanging with an infected person.  In this endemic phase of the virus, we've settled into a pattern, says Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University and former White House COVID-19 response coordinator. As Jha explained on NPR's Morning Edition, there are two waves a year: one during summer and another during winter. And while the summer wave we're in now is smaller than any of the winter waves we've seen, wastewater data suggests 2024 may be the biggest summer wave we've had.  COVID is continuing to evolve very rapidly, and every three or four months we get a new variant. While these new variants don't appear to be more deadly, they are more infectious. A booster being developed to target the newest variants is expected to roll out in September.  So what's the good news? “If you look at deaths from COVID so far in 2024, it’s down pretty substantially from 2023. So yes, we’re getting these surges… but they’re not turning into hospitalizations and deaths at the same kind of numbers we’ve seen in past years,” Jha said. “That’s progress. That’s good news. That is immunity being built up over time.” Here's what you need to know about COVID right now. ICYMI: COVID has become endemic, according to the CDC. Here's what that means Newsletter continues after sponsor message Scared of lifting weights in front of others? Here's how to fight 'gymtimidation' Photo Illustration by Becky Harlan/NPR Weightlifting is a great way to exercise efficiently while preventing injury. And a study earlier this year found that women who do strength training live longer, and are less likely to die from heart disease. But a big barrier to getting started is "gymtimidation”: People worry they'll hurt themselves, that other gym goers will judge them, or that their body doesn't fit the norm of what an "athletic" body looks like. NPR’s Life Kit asked experts for tips on how to overcome the fear and start lifting, even if you’re an absolute beginner.  For example, writer Poorna Bell began weight training for practical reasons. A year after her husband’s death, she realized how much she had relied on him to do things like carry luggage and move furniture, and she wanted to be more self-sufficient.  And then, Bell’s workouts changed her in ways she hadn’t anticipated. “I was going through a maelstrom of grief, but having a structured programme helped my mental state in ways I could not have anticipated. The incremental gains I made in strength made me feel as if some part of my life was moving forward,” she wrote in an essay for the Times of London.  Now a competitive powerlifter and author of Stronger: Changing Everything I Knew About Women's Strength, Bell says if you can connect with your deeper reasons for exercise, it can help you start your weightlifting journey from a more positive place. Bell recommends reframing any exercise you do as work you're doing with and for your body — to build strength, to achieve goals, to help your mental health — instead of work you're doing to carve your body into the ideal shape, size or weight. Learn how to get started getting stronger. Plus: Step aside BMI, body composition tests are on the rise. Here's what to know   Support our work, and get perks doing it. NPR+ is a great way to support your local station directly and get access to special perks for over 25 NPR+ podcasts. That means all the extras like bonus episodes, archive access, and early access – with none of the stuff you don’t want, like sponsor interruptions. It's simple to sign up - just make a recurring donation of $8/month or more (or $96 annually), and once you join, we’ll send you a link to get started in your favorite podcast app. Sign up today! Get NPR+ Medicare negotiated drug prices for the first time. Here’s what it got Nam Y. Huh/AP I used to take a newer antidepressant, one that doesn’t have a generic version. Different insurance plans that I’ve had over the past few years would cover the medication, but it always required a prior authorization. And the copay was at least double as much as what I paid out of pocket for other drugs. When I finally switched this summer, it was a relief to have just one lower expense. Have high prices ever put a drug your doctor prescribed out of your reach? Lawmakers like Senator Bernie Sanders have long criticized pharmaceutical companies for the high cost of medicines in the United States.  This week, the White House announced lower Medicare prices for 10 blockbuster drugs, the results of months of negotiations with pharmaceutical companies, as NPR’s Sydney Lumpkin and Asma Khalid report. All ten are brand-name medications without generic alternatives (or without biosimilar versions in the case of biologics like insulin). The discounts are substantial, ranging from 79% for diabetes drug Januvia to 38% for blood cancer drug Imbruvica. The Department of Health and Human Services selected the first 10 medicines for negotiation last year after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which ended Medicare’s 20-year ban on negotiating drug prices. The drugs included blockbuster blood thinners, like Eliquis and Xarelto, as well as medications for arthritis, cancer, diabetes and heart failure. The discounts take effect in 2026, and Medicare beneficiaries who take these drugs should see more consistent copays.  Get the full story. Also: Medicare explores a new way to support caregivers of dementia patients   Before you go: Mette Lampcov for NPR/visual Coverage for NPR Science Her son died of an overdose in his dorm room. Where was the Narcan? Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy may help stave off some cancers Overwhelmed by your smartphone? Switching to an old-fashioned flip phone might help Here's how firing a weapon might hurt your brain — literally We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism online. All the best, Andrea Muraskin and your NPR Health editors Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from Central Florida Public Media (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: health@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Goats & Soda, Up First, Life Kit and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Health emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy