Media Coverage

Over the past several decades, public health experts and physicians have pinned a hefty portion of the blame for heart disease on saturated fat. That’s not without reason. The long-chain saturated fatty acids found in foods like steak, butter, and coconut oil raise artery-clogging low–density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, a cause of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. At the same time, diets high in red meat have been strongly associated with heart disease and mortality.For now, there’s no official guidance on whether to test TMAO levels or in whom. (As a coinventor of the TMAO blood test offered by Quest Diagnostics, Hazen and the Cleveland Clinic are eligible to receive royalties from its use.) There’s also no consensus on whether the metabolite should be reduced and to what level—or how. (One study suggests that low-dose aspirin partially reduces elevated TMAO.) As such, far fewer physicians offer TMAO screening compared with routine cholesterol testing.

The grass-roots trend is back and it’s bringing cannabis with it. Now that CBD is considered legal under federal law, it’s been turned into all types of wellness concoctions, from food and drink to body balms and makeup products. The wellness claims are rampant, but users still have plenty of questions regarding what goes on inside their bodies when they start using CBD (cannabidiol), and if it’s fully legal, safe and effective. The testing surrounding this topic is limited, but according to Barry Sample, director of Science and Technology at Quest Diagnostics Laboratories, only marijuana metabolites, i.e. THC, will show up in drug screenings. Until this is proven, however, it may be wise to avoid all CBD products before being screened for drugs.

In Quest Diagnostics’ decision to change addresses from Madison — its longtime corporate headquarters — to Secaucus, there was one benefit that prevailed above all others in considerations: It would be going where the talent was.[CR-LF][CR-LF]Cecilia McKenney, Quest’s senior vice president and chief human resources officer, said that’s why those in the health care company’s human resource department were the staunchest proponents of the 2016 move.

Lyme disease is in the spotlight this month in Franklin County. [CR-LF][CR-LF]The chronic and debilitating tick-borne illness is more prevalent in Pennsylvania than any other state, and has been since 2011. The number of cases varies depending on the reporting source, but the commonwealth's status as No. 1 in the nation is common among them. [CR-LF][CR-LF]Lab testing company Quest Diagnostics reported 10,001 Pennsylvanians were infected with Lyme disease in 2017. The number of cases increased significantly from 2016 and increased by 78 percent from 2015.

Ticks and the diseases they carry are on the move, rapidly expanding into new territories once considered inhospitable.[CR-LF][CR-LF]While many factors are to blame, the U.S. government affirmed with "high confidence" in a report that one reason is warmer weather connected to climate change.In the last decade, the number of cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. have tripled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The risk of this tick-borne disease was historically concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest, but a recent study by lab giant Quest Diagnostics found cases of Lyme have been detected in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.