Health
C.D.C. Site Restores Some Purged Files After ‘Gender Ideology’ Ban Outcry
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention purged from its website thousands of pages that included terms such as “transgender,” “L.G.B.T.” and “pregnant person,” to comply with an executive order barring any material that promoted “gender ideology.”
By Monday, some of the pages had reappeared, in part in response to intense media coverage, backlash from the scientific community and concern for the public’s health, according to a senior official with knowledge of the matter.
The purge had also swept up vaccine information statements, which must be given to patients before they can be immunized; guidelines for contraception; and several pages on how race and racism affect health outcomes. Also removed was a database containing 20 years of H.I.V. data that doctors rely on to determine whether a pregnant woman lives in an area of high H.I.V. prevalence and should be tested for the virus in her third trimester.
Some of these resources were also reinstated, but the return was not entirely smooth. Charts and tables in the H.I.V. database could be reached through a Google search, for instance, but the C.D.C.’s own portal remained broken.
C.D.C. employees are “fully and completely implementing the executive order,” said a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. But “historical data, articles, and clinical guidelines continue to be available,” the official said. “That essentially is how this is being applied.”
The shake-up accompanied two other directives also aimed at expunging information on certain topics. C.D.C. scientists were ordered late on Friday to withdraw any pending publications, at any scientific journal, that mention the forbidden terms, according to an email viewed by The New York Times.
Separately, a directive prohibiting C.D.C. employees from holding scientific meetings or communicating with other organizations or the public was indefinitely extended on Saturday, when it was expected to lapse, according to another email obtained by The Times.
“I am very fearful and I am very angry about what is happening right now,” said Dr. Ina Park, an expert in H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted infections at the University of California, San Francisco.
The directive also targeted pages on other government websites, including a webpage on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, under the aegis of the Health and Human Services Department. That provision forbids “discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics), in covered health programs or activities.” It, too, was back online on Monday.
The C.D.C.’s recommendations are the bedrock of clinical practice in the United States. Every hospital’s procedural manuals are filled with the agency’s documents, and clinicians regularly refer to the recommendations, on the website or through the agency’s app.
Now, however, searching for some terms leads to a dead link or to pages that have been stripped of key details, or the search yields a suggestion to explore another topic instead. For instance, a search for the word “abortion” suggests that the user “also try: adoption.”
Some pages — for instance, those on transgender health — were expected to remain absent because they might promote “gender ideology.”
“I have no idea what that term means,” said Dr. Richard Besser, who served as acting director of the C.D.C. in 2009.
“We’re not talking here about ideology — we’re talking about public health,” he added. “We’re talking about people whose lives are being put at risk.”
The disappearance of the pages is already affecting medical care. In Washington State, Dr. Tim Menza, a medical director for King County’s sexual health clinic, worried that hard-won progress against early syphilis in gay and bisexual men would be lost.
Dr. Jessica Weyer, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Concord, N.H., said she could not guide her patients’ choice of contraception without access to the complex eligibility criteria. For instance, the guidelines for birth control include recommendations for patients with various medical conditions. They also list drug interactions that must be taken into account and give providers information on newer methods like vaginal rings.
“If a patient has high blood pressure or migraine headaches, I need to know what’s safe for her,” Dr. Alison Stuebe, an obstetrician-gynecologist in North Carolina, said.
The C.D.C. website is ostensibly being altered to comply with Mr. Trump’s executive orders on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and “defending women.” But vaccine information statements and contraception guidelines are unrelated to those orders, Dr. Weyer said.
“This just seems like a purposeful removal of important information providing safe contraception, which I view as terrifying,” she said. “It sounds like they want to control women, not defend women.”
Although the executive orders did not mention race, several resources on structural racism and health disparities in certain communities also disappeared on Friday.
In the United States, race and ethnicity are strongly linked to health. Black and Native American women are two to three times as likely as white women to die during pregnancy and after childbirth, and their babies face roughly twice the risk of dying before their first birthday. Diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases are also much more prevalent, and life expectancy is lower, among racial and ethnic minority groups.
Information on racial disparities is crucial for helping health care providers to focus on the groups most at risk, said Linda Goler Blount, president of the Women’s Black Health Imperative, an advocacy group. During the Covid pandemic, she noted, health researchers discovered that pulse oximeter devices, which measure blood oxygen levels, “didn’t work on people with dark skin.” That disparity might have contributed to higher death rates among communities of color.
“If we can’t collect data by race, ethnic identity and gender identity, we’re going to see mortality rates increase,” Ms. Blount said.
Mr. Trump’s orders purged more than 8,000 web pages across more than a dozen U.S. government websites. In some cases, the executive orders also targeted the work of private citizens.
A memo to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which publishes papers from both government and academic researchers, gave employees until 5 p.m. on Friday to scrub the agency’s publication, Patient Safety Network, of terms including “transgender,” “nonbinary,” “L.G.B.T.” and “gender identity.”
Among the roughly 20 research papers that were taken down was one from 2022 detailing how clinicians can better identify emergency room patients at risk of suicide. The paper’s lead author, Dr. Gordon Schiff, is the director of quality and safety for the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care; he is not a government scientist. The paper was flagged for a single line: “High risk groups include male sex, being young, veterans, Indigenous tribes, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (L.G.B.T.Q.).”
Dr. Schiff said he was shocked by the new administration’s “extreme censorship.” “This whole idea that the risk factors or commentary should be based on political ideology rather than data and truth is a pretty scary prospect,” he said.
Some experts are exploring the legality of the administration’s deleting content from federal websites and papers written by C.D.C. scientists. But in the case of Dr. Schiff’s paper, the administration clearly crossed the line, said Larry Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Center on Global Health Law.
“To me, that’s classic viewpoint censorship in violation of the First Amendment,” Mr. Gostin said.
“While the administration may be able to silence government health officials carrying out their official duties, it cannot drag private scientists into its web of censorship,” he added. “And all that censorship for expressing a single word with which the government objects.”
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Feeling lonely may take a toll on older adults’ memory — but it may not speed up cognitive decline, according to a new study.
Researchers from Colombia, Spain and Sweden analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults ages 65 to 94 across 12 European countries and found those who reported higher levels of loneliness did worse on memory tests at the start of the study, according to research published this month in the journal Aging & Mental Health.
Over a seven-year period, however, memory decline occurred at a similar rate regardless of how lonely participants felt.
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“The finding that loneliness significantly impacted memory, but not the speed of decline in memory over time was a surprising outcome,” lead author Dr. Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario said in a statement.
Loneliness may be linked to memory performance in older adults, a new study suggests. (iStock)
“It suggests that loneliness may play a more prominent role in the initial state of memory than in its progressive decline,” Venegas-Sanabria said, adding that the findings highlight the importance of addressing loneliness as a factor in cognitive performance.
The findings add to debate about whether loneliness contributes to dementia risk. While loneliness and social isolation are often considered risk factors for cognitive decline, research results have been mixed.
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The study looked at data from the long-running Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which tracked 10,217 older adults between 2012 and 2019. Participants were asked to recall words immediately and after a delay to measure memory performance.
Social isolation and loneliness could play a surprising role in cognitive health among seniors. (iStock)
Loneliness was assessed using three questions about how often participants felt isolated, left out or lacking companionship.
About 8% of participants reported high levels of loneliness at the outset. That group tended to be older, more likely to be female and more likely to have conditions such as depression.
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Researchers found that those with higher loneliness had lower scores on both immediate and delayed memory tests at baseline. Still, all groups — regardless of loneliness level — experienced similar declines in memory over time.
The results suggest loneliness may not directly accelerate the progression of memory loss, though it remains linked to poorer cognitive performance overall.
Researchers look at a brain scan at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Experts warn, however, that the findings should not be interpreted to mean loneliness is harmless.
“The finding that lonely older adults start with worse memory but don’t decline faster is actually the most interesting part of the paper, and I think it’s easy to misread,” said Jordan Weiss, Ph.D., a scientific advisor and aging expert at Assisted Living Magazine and a professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“It likely means loneliness does its damage earlier in life, well before people show up in a study like this at 65-plus,” Weiss told Fox News Digital.
By older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold, an aging expert says. (iStock)
He suggested that by older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold.
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“By the time you’re measuring someone in their late 60s, decades of social connection patterns are already baked in,” he said.
Weiss, who was not involved in the research, added that loneliness may coincide with other health conditions, and noted that participants who felt more isolated also had higher rates of depression, high-blood pressure and diabetes. The link, he said, may reflect a cluster of health risks rather than a direct cause.
“While they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia,” a psychotherapist says. (iStock)
Amy Morin, a Florida-based psychotherapist and author, said the findings reflect a broader pattern in research on loneliness and brain health, and that the relationship may be more complex than it appears.
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“The evidence shows there’s a link between loneliness and cognitive decline but there’s no direct evidence of a cause and effect relationship,” she said. “So while they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia.”
Morin added that loneliness, which can fluctuate, may not be the root of the problem, but rather a symptom of other underlying mental or physical health issues.
Researchers suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging. (iStock)
She said staying socially and mentally engaged is crucial for overall brain health.
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“It’s important to be proactive about social activities,” Morin said. “Joining a book club, having coffee with a friend, or attending faith-based services can be a powerful way to maintain connections in older age.”
The researchers also suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
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Research continues to uncover new details on how fasting may help extend life.
A new study published in the journal Nature Communications investigated how intermittent fasting can boost longevity in small worms often used in aging research.
Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas compared worms that were fed normally to those that underwent a 24-hour fast in early adulthood and were then fed again, according to a press release.
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The scientists measured a variety of factors, including stored fat, gene activity related to fat metabolism and lifespan.
The results showed that the life-boosting benefit did not depend on the fasting itself but on the body’s behavior after eating again.
Experts say sustainability is key when choosing a long-term weight-loss strategy. (iStock)
Study lead Peter Douglas, associate professor of molecular biology and a member of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine at UT Southwestern, suggested that these discoveries “shift the focus toward a neglected side of the metabolic coin – the re-feeding phase.”
“Our data suggest that the health-promoting effects of intermittent fasting are not merely a product of the fast itself, but are dependent on how the metabolic machinery recalibrates during the subsequent transition back to a fed state,” he said.
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“Our findings bridge a gap between lipid metabolism and aging research,” he added. “By targeting aging, the single greatest risk factor for human disease, we move beyond treating isolated conditions toward a preventive model of medicine that enhances quality of life for all individuals.”
Lauri Wright, director of nutrition programs at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, called this a “high-quality” study that adds an “important nuance to how we think about fasting and longevity.”
Intermittent fasting typically involves limiting meals to an eight-hour daily window or fasting every other day. (iStock)
The benefits of the refeeding phase after fasting were “especially interesting,” Wright, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
“The researchers showed that longevity was linked to the body’s ability to turn off fat breakdown after fasting, allowing cells to restore energy balance,” she reiterated.
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“From a scientific standpoint, that’s a meaningful shift because it suggests fasting is not just about burning fat, but about metabolic flexibility.”
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Fasting may support longevity through triggering metabolic switching, enhancing cellular repair and stress resistance and improving markers like insulin sensitivity, research shows.
Limitations and cautions
Although this study provides “important insight” on the power of refeeding, Wright noted that the findings should be approached with caution, as the study was done on worms and cannot always be translated to humans.
“Additionally, it explains how a process might work in a controlled lab condition rather than real-world eating behaviors,” she added as a limitation. “Finally, the study is short-term and doesn’t give us the long-term translation on lifespan outcomes.”
The review found intermittent fasting was barely more effective than doing nothing, according to the study authors. (iStock)
Wright cautioned that fasting is “not a magic solution for longevity, and how you eat overall matters more than when you eat.”
“I advise, first and foremost, to focus on diet quality, including a variety of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and minimally processed foods,” she said.
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For those who are considering fasting, it’s better to stick with a moderate plan — like a 12- to 14-hour overnight fast — rather than going to extremes, Wright said. After fasting, she recommends focusing on well-balanced meals.
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Several groups of people should be cautioned against fasting, according to Wright, including those with diabetes who are on insulin or hypoglycemic medications, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone with a history of eating disorders and older adults at risk of malnutrition.
Anyone considering intermittent fasting should consult with a doctor before starting.
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