Can't turn back time

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Mar 10, 2023 View in browser   By Ben Leonard, Erin Schumaker and Ruth Reader WASHINGTON WATCH Don't forget to spring forward on Sunday night. | Elise Amendola/AP photo Groggy Americans can turn their bloodshot eyes on Sunday to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is re-upping his bill to end the twice-annual clock-change ritual and make daylight saving time permanent. That ritual is set for 2 a.m. on Sunday when the hour hand will spring forward to 3. The Senate passed Rubio’s bill unanimously last year, two days after Americans endured the lost hour’s sleep that occurs when the time change takes effect each March. “This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid,” Rubio said in a statement, adding, “Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support.” But the House declined to take up his bill last year and sleep scientists said they don’t support it. “Virtually every scientific community is against permanent daylight saving,” said Elizabeth Klerman, a neurology professor in Harvard Medical School’s division of sleep medicine, at a recent forum. Who doesn’t like sunshine? The Sunshine Protection Act is a misnomer, according to Klerman, since clock changes don’t affect the amount of daylight. What changes is the time of day during which the light shines. Going with daylight saving time year-round would be “like living in the wrong time zone,” Klerman said. The annual return to standard time in November restores the early light that Klerman said people need: "Morning light is how your body knows what time of day it is. If you've ever had jet lag or worked a night shift, you know when your body clock is out of sync." Why it matters: Poor sleep is associated with negative health outcomes, including diseases like Parkinson’s, cancer and obesity, as well as accidents, reduced work productivity and sedentary behavior. We tried this before: In 1973, Congress decided to try permanent daylight saving time as an energy-saving measure but ended the experiment after 10 months because it was so unpopular. “I can’t cope any more,” one Long Island mother told The New York Times at the time. “I'm just staying in bed.”   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Biltmore, Asheville, N.C. | Shawn Zeller This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Brain scientists should stop discriminating against female mice, according to a new study in Current Biology that was led by Harvard and Northeastern professors. Traditionally, brain scientists have preferred male mice, on the premise that their behavior is less affected by hormonal changes. The study found that was not so. In fact, Sandeep Robert Datta of Harvard and Rebecca Shansky of Northeastern found male mice are more likely to behave erratically. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Ben Leonard at bleonard@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, your host Carmen talks with Ben about the debate over the use of quality-adjusted life years, or QALYs, a tool designed to help measure the cost effectiveness of drugs and other medical treatments. Detractors say the statistic discriminates against people with disabilities by undervaluing how much treatments help them. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.     INNOVATORS NuraLogix's Anura face scanner looks for blood flow changes in the face. | AP SAN ANTONIO — Ben attended the American Telemedicine Association conference this week, where he got the chance to test out a face scanner that purports to measure certain vital signs and predict disease risk. Toronto-based health tech firm NuraLogix says its Anura face scanner can estimate blood pressure, heart rate and stress levels and your risk for developing high blood pressure or having a heart attack. Ben was skeptical. But after an electronic tablet (with a bright ring light behind it) quickly scanned his face, the results seemed reasonable: — Ben’s blood pressure level and heart rate were within his normal range. — Ben was feeling relaxed. — Ben has the skin of a 22-year-old. The last assessment was generous, but Ben was pleased with the finding. An Anura works by detecting skin color changes from blood flow in the face, and is AI-enabled, having trained on data from more than 40,000 people, said Keith Thompson, NuraLogix’s chief medical officer. The company says there’s still a lot of work ahead, but hopes to eventually get FDA clearance to run its tests, starting with blood pressure. Timeline: Thompson thinks clearance could come in the next year or two, and that clinical trials can begin soon. “There’s no predicated device that we can follow,” he said. “We’re chopping our own path through the weeds.” Thompson hopes the technology will be incorporated into telehealth visits and serve as a wellness screening tool. It could also be used to expand health care access in lower-income areas of the world.   Follow us on Twitter Ben Leonard @_BenLeonard_ Ruth Reader @RuthReader Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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