Reframe Daily: Flu shots protect hearts; safer blood thinner + Vision for Reframe

Reframe Daily—curated by Christin Chong (neuroscience PhD, Buddhist chaplain, healthtech strategy consultant)—delivers optimistic and credible healthtech updates you won’t find in most popular news outlets, from sources scientists and healthcare providers read and trust.

Today in one sentence: New trials showed stronger flu shots cut heart problems in seniors and in people with heart failure, a new kind of blood thinner caused less bleeding across kidney function, smart beta-blocker use after a heart attack lowered major events, and a targeted combo kept PIK3CA breast cancer in check longer.

Christin’s note: I share why I’m building Reframe Science and how our community can help our bodies and minds. I grew up with a chronically ill dad and watched my mom carry the load of caregiving. That experience pushed me to study the mind (neuroscience + Buddhist chaplaincy) and to ask a practical question: how do we reduce suffering in real life—through better health decisions and honest work with our fear of aging and mortality?

What we’re building (partial list)

• Reframe Daily (science education): We translate fresh, peer-reviewed research into plain language using AI so anyone can act on what’s credible and useful.

• Healthcare navigation: Playbooks for finding solid clinicians, getting insurers to cover what they should, and understanding how the system really works.

• Caregiver support: Tools and shared wisdom so we can help our friends and loved ones without burning out.

• Product truth-testing: A community “Yelp for health”—open discussion of new tools (devices, tests, biomarkers). As we grow, we can negotiate access and discounts so people can try things and report back.

Pop in the Discord to chat about health →
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Weekly personal shares from Christin here →
http://christin.substack.com/

Good news: A higher-dose flu shot for older adults lowered hospital stays for heart and lung problems—especially heart failure—compared with the standard shot. This could keep more seniors out of the hospital each winter.

High-Dose vs Standard-Dose Influenza Vaccine and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Older Adults — DANFLU-2 randomized clinical trial

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂🙂 (existing vaccine; positive secondary/exploratory endpoints in a very large RCT may sway practice but aren’t primary outcomes). 

Good news: A next-generation blood thinner (factor XI inhibitor abelacimab) showed lower bleeding than a standard drug across kidney function levels in people with atrial fibrillation—important because many patients have kidney disease.

Safety of Factor XI Inhibition With Abelacimab in Atrial Fibrillation by Kidney Function — prespecified analysis of AZALEA-TIMI 71

Market readiness: 🙂🙂 (investigational therapy; promising safety signal in randomized dataset, but not yet approved for AF stroke prevention). 

Good news: After a heart attack, beta-blocker treatment (in a targeted patient group) reduced deaths or major heart events in a randomized trial—clarifying who still benefits from this old, affordable medicine.

Beta-Blockers after Myocardial Infarction in Patients without Reduced Ejection Fraction — randomized, controlled trial

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂🙂 (generic drugs already available; trial supports use in defined patients, though other contemporaneous trials showed mixed results). 

Good news: In people with heart failure, a seasonal influenza vaccine improved clinical outcomes in a randomized trial—simple prevention that can help a high-risk group.

Influenza vaccination to improve outcomes for patients with heart failure — randomized trial

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 (widely available vaccine; RCT evidence in a specific high-risk population supports immediate uptake). 

Good news: For advanced PIK3CA-mutated breast cancer, adding inavolisib to standard therapy extended outcomes in a phase 3 trial—more precision for a common mutation.

Inavolisib-Based Therapy in PIK3CA-Mutated Advanced Breast Cancer — phase 3 randomized trial

Market readiness: 🙂🙂🙂 (late-stage data in a large RCT; regulatory and guideline updates would be next for US availability in this exact combination/setting)

Thank you for taking the time to take care of yourself and your loved ones.