Prognosis: Misconception

Before COVID-19 started spreading around the U.S., the country was already attempting to deal with another health crisis: opioid dependency. Although opioid-treatment programs are considered essential public facilities and are allowed to stay open during statewide stay-at-home orders, experts are worried the coronavirus could exacerbate the opioid epidemic, possibly leading to more overdoses. See...

There’s a sliver of hope for people very ill with Covid-19. It’s a bold new treatment that involves taking the blood plasma of people who have recovered from the disease, and injecting it into people who are very sick.  The secret is in the antibodies: a protein that is produced when someone’s immune system has fought the virus. But using antibodies to treat the sick is more complicated than just...

As data about the health outcomes of the new coronavirus come in, it's clear that black people are dying at disproportionate rates to their percentage of the population. But a new report shows it’s not just black Americans’ health that will suffer. The virus will likely have a devastating effect on their jobs and future earnings. Donald Moore talked to researchers about the economic and physical t...

Losing the ability to smell is one of the strangest clues that someone may have COVID-19. Experts around the world are still trying to understand why this symptom pops up, and what it means for patients. Some are calling on people who have lost their sense of smell to get tested and isolate themselves, even if they have no other symptoms. Jason Gale reports that the symptom could be an early warni...

Two of the worlds biggest companies, Apple and Amazon, rely on a supply chain that is spread all across the world, in many countries that have been hardest hit by the coronavirus. The tech giants employ hundreds of thousands of people so their fate, in many ways, is the fate of the global economy. Brad Stone, Bloomberg's head of global technology coverage, reports. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Historically, the U.S. Centers for Disease control and Prevention has been the agency in charge of predicting, and containing outbreaks of disease. But as Covid 19 ravaged the country, the agency took a backseat to the White House. Michelle Fay Cortez and John Tozzi discuss how the agency has handled the pandemic response, its early missteps, and how its role is likely to change in the future. See...

On a special episode of Prognosis Daily, we’re taking a close look at how the novel coronavirus lived before it entered humans and who it lived in. Bats. They’re almost certainly the source of this pandemic, but these flying mammals may also hold the clues to stopping the next one. Bloomberg senior editor Jason Gale explores how research into bats led to the discovery of what could be the precurso...

Scientists are desperate for a way to detect the novel coronavirus in communities as early as possible. So far, those efforts have focused on widespread testing of people. But a group of Dutch researchers may have discovered a way to tell where the virus is spreading, right beneath their feet. Jason Gale looks at the people hunting for early-warning signs in sewage. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

The effects of the outbreak are putting unprecedented stress on thousands of people. But the difficulty of obtaining mental health services while under lockdown threatens to break a treatment network that was already strained to the breaking point. Cynthia Koons explains how companies are trying to meet that demand and how the crisis may change the way we receive mental health care. See omnystudio...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently changed their guidelines on whether healthy people should wear masks, suggesting that people cover their faces to help slow transmission of the novel coronavirus. The evolving view on face masks is just one more example of how quickly our understanding of the virus is changing. It also makes it hard for the public to know what informatio...

With Covid 19 crippling much of the world, there’s intense uncertainty about what’s next. In the United States, it’s hard to envision when the economy, and our lives, will get back to normal. But it turns out there is a plan to beat the virus, and to get the country back to work. The question is whether the government will follow it. Health reporter Anna Edney spoke to Scott Gottlieb, a former Foo...

Italy has been among the hardest hit countries by coronavirus. An outbreak epicenter, Italy’s cases are at nearly 120,000 with over 14,000 deaths. It’s sobering evidence of how vicious the virus can be. And yet, just to the north, Germany seemed like it was escaping the worst of the outbreak by enacting widespread testing and taking the virus seriously earlier. With fewer cases and, until recently...

Under the $2 Trillion economic stimulus bill passed last week, the US government will make direct payments to Americans who are suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic. Giving everybody money, with no strings attached, has an obvious benefit in an economic emergency. But some economists have always advocated for handing out money to nearly everyone, in good times and bad. Joe Weisenthal expl...

Scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. But experts have said it could take a year to 18 months for one to hit the market. The process for testing and approving a vaccine is long and complicated. That can be frustrating when the coronavirus is taking more and more lives every day. But cutting corners to push a vaccine through faster can lead to devastating consequ...

Around the country and the world, more and more people are locked down in their homes, but people still need to see the doctor. That has made telehealth companies -- businesses that let doctors treat patients remotely -- the new stars of the Covid-19 economy. And companies that until now have mainly offered prescriptions for birth control or hair loss pills are pivoting to provide services related...

Covid-19 acts in a way that scientists are still trying to figure out. In some people who are infected, symptoms are mild -- like a common cold. Some are completely fine. In others, the infection can be fatal, stopping the lungs from functioning and causing the body to shut down. So why are symptoms so mild in some people and deadly in others? It turns out there's a tipping point -- a moment where...

A little known geneticist in Seattle has become something of a CSI detective, unraveling the origins of Covid 19 in the U S. Could his research hold secrets to a better understanding of the disease? Some policymakers seem to think so. Plus: today's headlines. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can we make sense of the scary reality we are all now living in? Where do pandemics come from? And why are they occurring more frequently? On this special episode, Bloomberg’s Jason Gale talks to some of the world’s most experienced pandemic experts to get their insights. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the series premiere of the Prognosis daily podcast, host Laura Carlson gives the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak. Health officials around the world have been urging countries to conduct widespread testing. Jason Gale explores why some nations have been slow to respond. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Harnessing Bloomberg's reporting from every continent, Bloomberg's daily Prognosis podcast brings the news, data and analysis you need for living in the time of Covid-19. In around ten minutes, we will explain the latest developments in health and science, the impact on individuals, industries and governments and the adaptions they are making in the face of the global pandemic. Come back every wee...

From Pushkin Industries, introducing Deep Background with Noah Feldman. Every story has a backstory, even in today's 24-hour news cycle. In Deep Background, Harvard Law School professor and Bloomberg Opinions columnist Noah Feldman will bring together a cross-section of expert guests to explore the historical, scientific, legal, and cultural context that help us understand what's really going on b...

We continue our look back at some of our favorite episodes from the podcast. Joel Grimwood was almost certainly going to die. The pump that kept his failing heart going had become infected, and surgery after surgery had scraped away parts of his chest. Drugs didn’t work because the bacteria were in a slime, impenetrable to antibiotics. What saved his life was a little-known treatment called phage...

We continue our look back at some of our favorite episodes from the podcast. Among those most vulnerable to superbug infections are cancer chemotherapy patients. In India, many are dying from bacteria poisoning their blood that even the most potent antibiotics available can't stop. This calamitous scenario portends a global crisis as superbugs spread through international travel and trade. See omn...

We continue our look back at some of our favorite episodes from the podcast. Do exercise-tracking apps and gadgets like the Fitbit actually make us healthier? Or do they just create a high-tech, data-centric illusion of control over our weight, sleep and general well-being? Bloomberg's Naomi Kresge loaded up some popular apps to find the answer –- and to see if she could get a better night’s sleep...

We're revisiting some of our favorite episodes, starting with our very first. More than a million Americans suffer from Type 1 diabetes. The disease occurs when the pancreas mysteriously stops producing insulin, the hormone that converts food into energy. Modern medicine has been able to recreate insulin, but not the finely calibrated delivery mechanism of the pancreas. Now a group of like-minded...