Your life partner could make you sharper--or dumber!
and every month is women's month if you love women
Hi, hello—did you miss me? I’ve missed you. I didn’t write a March letter because I was averaging 5hr of sleep a night (I’m working on two pre-launch drugs). This month, I
celebrated (belated) Women’s History Month at Delmonico’s with Emily Sundberg—I spritzed TRM’s D.S. & Durga GOLFJAZZ for the occasion
went to the Lebanese church for Palm Sunday with NRZ and the hip UES Christian church for Easter with KIU
got new headshots by my childhood friend (thank you, Nigel!)
celebrated birthdays at Jean’s, Zombie Hut, and Only the Wild Ones
viewed the Schjerfbeck, Bassman, and Raphael exhibits at The Met
drank a Korean Michelada at Orion Bar and a Verde Michelada at Yellow Rose
got a random photo airdrop of my girls and me huddling in a giggly hug at Dimes (we hadn’t seen each other for two weeks)
watched the Charli XCX indie film at Angelica—loved it!
danced at Nightmoves + ate hot dogs at Rocco’s in celebration of SIB’s imminent baby
tried my first Publix carrot cake slice in Hilton Head
ate cardamom buns + chatted about the State of The Union with Audrey Horne at La Cabra (catch me in a future Secret Ballot letter!)
averaged 6 hours of sleep a night (progress!!!!)
I’ll be in LA this week. If you’re curious about what I did in March, DM me.
Now that we’ve covered that, here is your quick hit of what’s going on in healthcare + pharma:
GLP-1s users may be at slightly higher risk for gout, osteoporosis, and bone/tendon injuries, based on an analysis of 145,000 patients living with Type II diabetes and obesity. When you’re curbing your appetite with GLP-1s or other peptides, every meal counts. Of course, this study doesn’t prove causation, and I don’t think this is a reason to skip GLP-1s (if you’re a candidate), but it is a reminder that nutrient density matters. Calcium, Omega-3s, Vitamin D…go ahead and throw in some weight-lifting for good measure.
Speaking of GLP1s, genes may play a role in how much weight people using these drugs will lose. Maybe this will bring us closer to accepting that genes play a role in weight gain?
How we write about science can be political. In honor of (Belated) Women’s History Month and friends with babies, consider reading this 1991 piece titled “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles.” We’re taught that sperm penetrates the egg (aggressor), and the egg is a passive recipient. This isn’t quite right. Language based on gendered stereotypes leaves little room for the reality that the egg is an active player. It is choosy about which sperm gets in. After enveloping the sperm, the egg’s coating hardens and is impermeable to whatever else is swimming around there. Sometimes, our eggs think our partners have bad vibes and don’t respect our choices. The body knows!!!
Our brains know, too. According to McGill researchers, one partner’s cognitive health can affect the other’s—if you’re together long enough. An analysis of Health and Retirement Study data from 9,000 hetero couples 50+ years old in the US found no major differences in short-term partnerships. In longer relationships, however, if your partner’s memory and mental acuity improve, yours may improve too. But your cognitive function may decline if theirs is. At the individual level, your life partner could be your ultimate longevity hack…choose your partner wisely! From a public health lens, the gap is that we focus most dementia and cognitive decline care on treating the individual. This approach leaves potential spillover benefits on the table, as couple-based treatments could have compounding benefits for both people.
Health systems are a major casualty of war economies. Globally, every 1% increase in military spending diverts 0.62% from public health spending. For lower-income nations, this is nearly a 1-to-1 loss in healthcare funding when military spending rises, severely limiting their ability to handle disease outbreaks or provide basic healthcare.
Trump’s tariffs/Most Favored Nations deals did not lower overall US prescription drug prices. A Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee report found that despite Trump’s promise that his MFN order would bring our drug list prices closer to peer OECD countries, the average US list price is rising. They also flagged that drug companies that entered MFN deals with Trump had a combined 2025 revenue of $177 billion in profits (vs. $107 billion in 2024). My overall critique of this report is:
no one pays the list price—especially not the government
most companies raise drug list prices every year to account for things like inflation
new oncology drug/gene therapy launch prices are set against country-specific value frameworks
it’s unlikely that MFN would have restructured a company’s entire portfolio/approach to market access (I’ve said this before).
WHOOP is partnering with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid’s (CMS) to ACCESS program. ICYMI: the Advancing Chronic Care with Effective Scalable Solutions model (AKA ACCESS) is a new Medicare initiative enabling technology as a tool for managing chronic diseases. Will Ahmed’s LinkedIn announcement was met by much LLM-generated enthusiasm. Other companies like Noom, Headspace, and Weight Watchers were also selected as ACCESS model partners. The direct-to-consumer-ization of healthcare is here to stay.
xxsem