A lack of a uniform policy allows convicted and accused perpetrators to access some dating apps and leaves users vulnerable to sexual assaults, according to an investigation. Public health news is on stem cell heart therapy, flu season, Parkinson's disease, poetry therapy, problems with blood-sugar monitors, warnings about ski helmets, a grateful transplant patient, children prone to violent outbursts, and more.

ProPublica:Tinder Lets Known Sex Offenders Use The App. Its Not The Only One.Susan Deveau saw Mark Papamechails online dating profile on PlentyofFish in late 2016. Scrolling through his pictures, she saw a 54-year-old man, balding and broad, dressed in a T-shirt. Papamechail lived near her home in a suburb of Boston and, like Deveau, was divorced. His dating app profile said he wanted to find someone to marry. Deveau had used dating websites for years, but she told her adult daughter the men she met were dorky. (Flynn, Cousins and Picciani, 12/2)

The Washington Post:Benefits Of Stem Cell Heart Therapy May Have Nothing To Do With Stem Cells, A Study On Mice SuggestsFor 15 years, scientists have put various stem cells into seriously ill patients hearts in hopes of regenerating injured muscle and boosting heart function. A new mouse study may finally debunk the idea behind the controversial procedure, showing the beneficial effects of two types of cell therapy are caused not by the rejuvenating properties of stem cells, but by the bodys wound-healing response which can also be triggered by injecting dead cells or a chemical into the heart. (Johnson, 11/27)

The Associated Press:Flu Season Takes Off Quickly In Deep South StatesThe flu season is off and running in the Deep South. The most recent weekly flu report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds high levels of flu-like illness in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas. The highest level in that report for the week ended Nov. 16 was in Mississippi. Doctors in the Magnolia State say theyre already seeing lots of patients. (11/29)

The New York Times:Swimmers Beware Of Deep Brain StimulationA lifelong swimmer leapt into deep water near his lakeside home, and was horrified to find himself completely unable to swim. Had his wife not rescued him, he might have drowned. He had recently received an electronic brain implant to control tremors and other symptoms of Parkinsons disease, and somehow the signals from the device had knocked out his ability to coordinate his arms and legs for swimming. (Grady, 11/27)

The Wall Street Journal:A Prescription Of Poetry To Help Patients Speak Their MindsDr. Joshua Hauser approached the bedside of his patient, treatment in hand. But it wasnt medicine he carried. It was a copy of a 19th-century poem titled Invictus. It isnt often that doctors do rounds with poetry. But Dr. Hauser, section chief of palliative care at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, and colleagues are testing it as part of a pilot study. He entered Mr. Askews room. The patient had asked for Invictus, a dark poem by William Ernest Henley that he remembered from his past. (Reddy, 12/1)

The Wall Street Journal:Diabetes Patients Blood-Sugar Data Arent Being SharedParents of young diabetes patients say they havent been getting crucial readings from blood-sugar monitors worn by their children since early Saturday. The technological breakdown, the origin of which isnt certain, threatens the proper care of the young diabetes patients. (Loftus, 12/1)

The New York Times:Study Warns Helmets Dont Offer Full Protection On SlopesCONCORD, N.H. For several years now, it has been almost de rigueur for skiers and snowboarders to strap on a helmet amid rising concerns about safety on the slopes. But a new study caution that helmets cannot protect skiers from all head injuries. (11/28)

Kaiser Health News:For Artist Inspired By Illness, Gratitude Outweighs PainPeople often ask Dylan Mortimer how it feels to breathe through transplanted lungs. He gets that a lot because while most people go through life with one pair of lungs, Mortimer is on his third. The 40-year-old artist has endured two double lung transplants in the past two years. He often shares his journey onstage as a speaker. But when the curtain closes, he leaves the rest of the storytelling to art. Im alive because of what someone else did, Mortimer said. That is humbling in all the best ways. (Anthony, 12/2)

NPR:Teens Who Threaten And Hit Their Parents: That's Domestic Violence TooNothing Jenn and Jason learned in parenting class prepared them for the challenges they've faced raising a child prone to violent outbursts. The couple are parents to two siblings whom they first fostered as toddlers and later adopted. In some ways, the family today seems like many others. Jenn and Jason's 12-year-old daughter is into pop star Taylor Swift and loves playing outside with her older brother. (Herman, 11/29)

NPR:Give Thanks For Adult Siblings And The Ties That BindWe didn't expect to need the card table for spillover seating at this year's Thanksgiving dinner. We would be fewer than usual, just nine altogether, and the littlest one's high chair needs no place setting. As we got things ready, I felt deep gratitude for the family members who would be here my husband, our two daughters, their husbands, my sister-in-law's 90-year-old mother and our two delightful granddaughters. But I also knew I would deeply miss the ones who couldn't make it. (Henig, 11/28)

The Washington Post:Doctors In China Found Tapeworms In Brain Of Man Who Ate Undercooked Meat In Hot PotA Chinese man sought medical attention for seizures and a headache that lasted nearly a month. Doctors found that tapeworms from undercooked meat were causing his pain. Researchers at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University published a paper last week that details the plight of 46-year-old construction worker Zhu (an alias for the patient) in the eastern Zhejiang province of China who bought pork and mutton about a month ago for a spicy hot pot broth. (Beachum, 11/27)

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Hidden Dangers Of Dating Apps: Sex Offenders, Including Rapists, Are Using Them. Why Do Companies Allow It? - Kaiser Health News