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The promise, and risk, of a new Alzheimer’s drug · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Friday, July 7. I'm Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today's show the promise, and the risk, of a new Alzheimer's drug. All the ways ultra-processed foods mess with your body, and how the extreme heat is affecting wildlife.
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  But first, let's quickly catch up on some major stories in the news. The Biden administration is about to provide a major new weapons package to Ukraine. What's different this time, is that the U.S. is reportedly including cluster munitions. These scatter explosives across the battlefield. Human-rights advocates say they're a long-term danger to civilians, because the explosives can linger for years after the conflict. Russia has already used cluster munitions in its invasion. The Pentagon said in the past these weapons could help Ukraine attack dug-in Russian positions. But it held off on providing them, because of Congressional restrictions, and concerns that allies wouldn't approve.
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  A grim milestone, today marks 100 days since “Wall Street Journal” reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russia. He's held on spy charges that his employer and the U.S. government have thoroughly denied. The U.S. ambassador recently visited Gershkovich, saying he's in good health. His sister Danielle talked to the Journal about how the family is coping.
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  [START WALL STREET JOURNAL ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Danielle Coping: Just knowing that our government is doing everything in their power right now and just everyone wants to help and is thinking about him, and I just know that we're not alone in this.
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  In Washington, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is now out of the House Freedom Caucus. The group of Republican hardliners voted to expel her, weeks after she clashed with Congresswoman Lauren Boebert on the House floor. Last night, Greene didn't directly address her expulsion, saying that her party should focus on winning the White House and seats in Congress next year.
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  And, in the latest twist on a tech-world rivalry, Twitter is threatening to sue Facebook's parent company Meta. This is over Meta's new product called Threads. It's a new platform for microblogging, essentially what Twitter does. Twitter's lawyer accuses Meta of hiring former Twitter employees who have access to trade secrets and other confidential information. Meta says there are no former Twitter employees on the Threads engineering team.
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  A groundbreaking new drug meant to treat people with early-stage Alzheimer's now has full FDA approval. NBC senior medical correspondent Dr. John Torres explains how “Leqembi” is different from other drugs, which only treat symptoms.
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  Dr. John Torres: It's intended to slow Alzheimer's progression. This is the first drug to be shown to slow the progression. But the important part is it slows down the rate of cognitive decline. It doesn't stop cognitive decline but slows it down. Over an 18-month period, 27% reduction in that cognitive decline, which some experts are saying is only a modest reduction. It gives them about a five months delay of Alzheimer's progression.
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  As he said, it's a modest reduction. And that's why some doctors and researchers are skeptical of the drug, because it also has serious risks. The FDA is requiring its strongest warning label on the packaging. During the trial, some patients experienced brain bleeding or swelling. Three deaths were linked to the clinical trials.
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  Again, the drug will only be available for people with mild cognitive impairment, or early-stage Alzheimer's. And there are concerns about access. It's expensive, more than $26,000 a year for the IV infusion, which means the cost could be a barrier for low-income people especially. Now that it has FDA approval, Medicare and Medicaid will cover part of that price tag. But people who want it can still be on the hook for thousands in out-of-pocket costs.
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  Also, critics of the research process say that not enough Black people were included in trials. Of hundreds of patients involved, only 20 were Black, even though Black people are up to twice as likely to have Alzheimer's as white people. Minorities are often underrepresented in clinical research, which can lead to widened racial disparities in care.
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  Some doctors argue that because the impact of the drug is moderate, it's not worth risking the potentially life-threatening side effects. But some patients are willing to chance it, on the hope that “Leqembi” could be a shot at being independent longer.
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  Now to a different kind of health story, one connected to the snacks that might be in your kitchen right now. Close to 60 percent of calories we eat in America come from ultra-processed foods. stuff that's heavily manipulated in factories with flavors, additives, and textures not typically found in nature. Research links ultra-processed foods to obesity and chronic diseases. “Washington Post” nutrition columnist Anahad O'Connor told us about theories on the connection.
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  Anahad O'Connor: Part of the reason is because they contain SO much more added sugar and fat and sodium than other foods. And another reason scientists believe ultra-processed foods can be damaging to our health is because, in many ways, they are what they call pre-digested.
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  Yeah, predigested. In other words, extreme processing changes food so that our bodies absorb it faster. And that messes with our body's ability to tell us when we're full, so we end up eating more. At the same time, we're getting fewer nutrients. “The Post” created some pretty cool graphics that show what goes into making ultra-processed foods.
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  O'Connor: If you think about a tortilla chip, a nacho flavored tortilla chip, you know, this is corn that has been refined by high-speed rollers and millers and the fiber has been removed. The corn has been pulverized, turned into a fine powder, turned into a dough. It's then baked and deep fried.
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  You can see that in detail and get more info about how to make healthier choices when shopping, in the full article. And by the way, that doesn't mean totally avoiding all these foods, since they can be okay in a limited amount. Overall, O'Connor says, “if you're aware of the potential problems of these industrial foods, that's a good start.”
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  O'Connor: So just because something says healthy you know, the label, if it's ultra-processed, then you should probably be skeptical of that.
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  Finally, we're at the end of a week where temperatures broke global records several times. And it's likely even hotter summer days ahead. We've talked a lot on the show about the serious health risks this heat poses for people, but we share this warming planet with lots of living things, and animals are struggling in this heat too.
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  That's why a story from “NPR” caught our attention. It looks at how animals are flashing warning signs about the extreme heat. When humans are hot, we sweat, it cools us down. But not all animals sweat. Birds go looking for water to swim in. Dogs pant. And some species like bears, and squirrels, they "sploot."
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  That's what wildlife researchers call this unusual pose that some animals do when they're hot. It's sort of a limbs-out, starfish-like belly-flop onto a cool part of the ground Spreading out this way reduces their body heat. University of Texas biology professor Carlos Botero tells “NPR,” triple- digit temperatures are just a little beyond what these animals can typically withstand.
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  Carlos Botero: These extreme conditions are becoming more and more common. So, until somehow the physiology of squirrels gets adapted to the new normal, they will have to do this extra behavior to try to cool themselves off.
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  Splooting can only do SO much though. Just like us, the hotter it gets, the harder it is to cool down.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're listening in the News app right now, stick around. Our weekly interview show, “In Conversation,” is coming up next.
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  This week, I talk to actor Rainn Wilson who you might know as Dwight Schrute on “The Office.” Rainn is really open about his struggles with anxiety, depression, and addiction. He told me, “happiness does not come easily to him, even during times of great success.”
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  Rainn Wilson: I spent a lot of really unhappy years, being on one of the most successful shows on television. Because again, for me, resentment, it was not enough. I was a TV star, I wanted to be a movie star. I was this rich, but I wanted to be more rich. I wanted to have even greater successes.
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  He says, what helped him heal was digging deeper into his faith and spirituality. He even wrote a book about it. Our conversation about that is queued up to play for you next. Have a great weekend, and I'll be back with the news on Monday.
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