first opinion
True Life: I’m a social media scientist
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
This is the reality of science communication in 2025: A casual one-minute video that Morgan McSweeney (aka “dr.noc”) made about immunology racked up more views in one hour than his published research papers will accumulate in ten lifetimes. Dry data analysis is out, story telling is in, and the implications for public health are, well, existential.
In a new First Opinion essay, McSweeney explains what he’s learned about the role of authenticity and human connection in communicating science and health information. “Social media is not the enemy of serious science; it’s the battleground where trust and credibility will be won or lost,” he writes. Read more.
(For a fun STAT crossover, last year McSweeney spoke on a podcast co-hosted by STAT contributor and social media doctor Will Flanary, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken, and his wife Kristin.)
trivia
Without checking, do you know when women should start getting mammograms?
For women with an average risk of breast cancer, you’re supposed to start getting mammograms every other year at age 40, per the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. But only about half of U.S. adults know that, according to a new, nationally representative health survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center. Out of more than 1,600 respondents, 49% answered correctly when asked the recommended starting age for screening, while 21% said age 30, and 11% weren’t sure. (The rest chose either age 30 or 50.)
To be fair, guidance from major medical organizations has changed recently, and some organizations have more nuanced recommendations. Respondents answered this survey in April 2025, but a press release from the Center notes that the same percentage of respondents thought the starting age was 40 in a 2024 survey, though it wasn’t the correct answer at the time.
aging
Complicating the links between age, chronic disease, and inflammation
Everybody wants to reduce inflammation these days. But a new study suggests that inflammation’s effects on health are more complex than scientists previously understood, STAT’s Marissa Russo reports.
The study, published yesterday in Nature Aging, found that people living in non-industrialized societies experience less age-related chronic inflammation — “inflammaging” — than their counterparts in industrialized societies. Inflammaging is considered a hallmark of aging and broad predictor of age-related chronic disease. But it turns out this framework may be too general: “It may not be the solution, even if it’s seductive,” the study’s lead author told Marissa. But if we can better understand how this process differs across geographic, epidemiological, and social spectrums, that could lead us to new potential interventions in the aging process. Read more from Marissa.
