When it's good to smell bad

Plus: A look back at Doctor Fauci's legacy [View this email online]( [NPR Health]( August 28, 2022 by Andrea Muraskin This week: a healthcare cost riddle: [when does a procedure cost less without insurance]( Also, we’ve got a [scientific defense of pungent sweat](. And a l[ook back at Dr. Anthony Fauci’s long career in public service]( as he prepares to retire from office. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Bill of the Month: When does it make sense to pay cash for healthcare?]( [Dani Yuengling of Conway, South Carolina, knew she had to follow up after a mammogram found a lump. Her mom had died of breast cancer. But she had no idea how expensive the biopsy would be.]( Gavin McIntyre for KHN When we pay monthly insurance premiums or towards our deductible, the assumption is we’ll pay less for healthcare in the long run than if we were uninsured. That’s the whole point of health insurance, right? When Dani Yuengling scheduled a biopsy for a lump in her breast, she asked for a price; but the best she could get was an estimate through the hospital’s online estimate calculator. The bill to her insurance ended up being six times that amount, and Yuengling was on the hook for a sizable chunk of it. [It turns out, she could have saved money if she had paid the hospital in ca]( going around the insurance altogether. [Plus: To lower your Medicare drug costs, ask your pharmacist for the cash price.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [As Doctor Fauci prepares to step down, a look at his legacy]( [Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens as then-President Donald Trump answers questions in the press briefing room with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.]( Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Anthony Fauci has been a household name as the face of the Federal government’s COVID strategy, a clear science communicator in a global crisis, and a key player in vaccine development. He was [lovingly satirized by Kate McCinnon on SNL]( for tirelessly debunking myths about COVID and his no-nonsense Brooklyn affect, and in [this video of a puppet Fauci doing ASMR](. (It’s worth your time, trust me). While COVID has defined Fauci's last few years as head of the NIAID, he began at the agency in the early 1980's, where he earned a reputation among AIDS activists for being one of the few powerful people in Washington who would listen to their concerns. Richard Harris, who covered science and medicine for NPR for most of Fauci’s tenure, [has this look back](. [Plus: Five things we learned from reading Dr. Fauci’s early-pandemic emails]( [Give thanks for the stank: turns out smelly sweat is actually good for yo]( [Tennis great Rafael Nadal of Spain might think twice about shaking off his beads of perspiration. It turns out that sweat leads to a surprising health benefit.]( Matthew Stockman/Getty Images The sweat from our armpits “contains a cornucopia of compounds, including oils, fats and proteins,” writes NPR science correspondent and formerly-embarrassed-stinky-sweater Michaeleen Doucleff. Many of those compounds are food for bacteria that live on our skin. . It's the waste products of those bacterial snacks – new compounds – that emit odor. And one type of smell-producing bacteria [actually protects us from skin conditions like eczema and infections like MRSA](. Keep this in mind next time you encounter that college student at the co-op who smells so…healthy. [Also: Why sweat is a human superpower]( Before you go: [Musician Kid Cudi recently revealed he had a stroke in 2016. The artist said it took weeks to recover from slowed speech and movements.]( Jordan Strauss/AP - COVID FAQ: all about [home testing]( - Moderna sues Pfizer over [vaccine patents]( - Rates of stroke in younger adults [may be higher than we think]( - Even the French: the market for [non-alcoholic wine flourishes in France]( We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of [NPR's health journalism]( on Shots and follow us on Twitter at [@NPRHealth](. Best wishes, Andrea Muraskin and your Shots editors --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [shots@npr.org](mailto:shots@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! [They can sign up here.]( Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Goats & Soda, Daily News, Best of NPR and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Health emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]