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Good morning. Are you familiar with that Emily Dickinson poem? “Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me – / The Carriage held but just Ourselves – / And Immortality.” I’d be curious to hear a longevity enthusiast’s interpretation. Meanwhile, continue reading for an intriguing piece by Sarah Todd on the latest initiatives aimed at defying death.
Trump reports recent medical exam was ‘PERFECT’
President Trump underwent another medical exam yesterday, described by the White House as a series of preventive medical and dental evaluations. This marks the fourth publicized exam since he resumed office last year.
In a social media post, Trump stated that “everything checked out PERFECTLY” during what he referred to as his “6 month physical.” More details are available from the AP.
Physician Uché Blackstock expressed on X that “The bigger issue today isn’t speculation. The real question is transparency,” concerning the exam. “The public deserves clear, timely, medically grounded information without political spin, stigma, or ageism.”
Urgent care trends across the U.S.
In 2024, approximately 28% of individuals visited an urgent care center at least once, and 19% utilized a retail health clinic, like CVS’s MinuteClinic, according to new CDC data. Adults over 65 were less likely to visit urgent care compared to younger adults. A previous report from the National Center for Health Statistics showed that Black and Hispanic adults were less likely than their white counterparts to use urgent care or retail clinics, though the latest data did not address racial differences.
Urgent care centers, present since the 1970s, have doubled in number over the past decade, now exceeding 14,000. “Urgent care centers have become the reliever airport for our broken system,” stated Franz Ritucci, a physician and president of the American Academy of Urgent Care Medicine, in a commentary to WHYY last fall.
Exploring the conference where death is optional in theory
The Vitalist Bay longevity conference, launched last year, gathers founders, investors, biohackers, researchers, and enthusiasts interested in delaying and conquering death. STAT’s Sarah Todd attended this year’s event and has written about the newest advancements and theories in this field.
The article is both whimsical and thought-provoking. Here are a few intriguing highlights:
- One attendee presented a photo to Sarah showing his children holding a sign that said, “Stop aging, save my parents (Mom first).”
- The concept of bodyoids was discussed, envisioning headless sacs of organs to replace deteriorating hearts and kidneys. “What if we could obtain a supply of human bodies in an ethical way?” postdoc Carlston Charlesworth questioned. “There’s logically no reason why it’s wrong.”
- A venture capitalist shared a health testing business model: Provide at least one positive result, then offer subscriptions, interventions, and coaching to enhance other health metrics.
For more insights on how the longevity movement has evolved into an industry, read Sarah’s full article. Additionally, she queried 45 speakers and attendees on their life expectancy predictions, resulting in a fascinating bar graph distribution.
Analyzing trends among undocumented patients
On President Trump’s first day back in the White House, the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo revoking a policy that barred immigration officers from conducting searches, making arrests, or taking enforcement actions in “protected areas” like schools, churches, and hospitals. Following this directive, a Massachusetts hospital system saw an 11% decrease in emergency room visits from undocumented immigrants over the subsequent six months, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers suspect a decline in visits among undocumented immigrants, but the health system does not track documentation status. The analysis used proxies such as an emergency insurance product available to undocumented immigrants in the state and the patients’ preferred language. These proxies have limitations, especially in states with higher uninsured rates. Moreover, preferred language did not consistently reflect the same ER visit declines, indicating it may not be a reliable research proxy for this group going forward.
The end of the world science as we know it?
Neuroscientist Jonathan Jackson is unperturbed! Really.
Recently, a substantial study found that only about half of nearly 4,000 social-science papers could be replicated. While not entirely unexpected, Jackson notes it is concerning, particularly given the impact of the Trump administration’s policies and funding cuts on American science over the past year. Despite the challenges, Jackson advocates for academics and scientists to move beyond despair and take proactive measures.
“We’ve been so busy feeling righteous that we forgot to be resourceful,” he writes. Discover more about possible future actions.
