In a small clinical trial, an experimental Alzheimer’s drug slowed the rate at which patients lost the ability to think and care for themselves, the drug maker Eli Lilly announced on Monday. The findings have not been published in any form, and not been widely reviewed by other researchers. If accurate, it is the first…
Scientists know that the trillions of bacteria and other microbes that live in our guts play an important role in health, influencing our risk of developing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and a wide range of other conditions. But now a large new international study has found that the composition of these microorganisms, collectively…
So why are we so hellbent on suppressing fevers? Fear is one reason, said Dr. Gordon, the Brooklyn pediatrician, who said frantic parents often call in the middle of the night when a child’s fever spikes. She suggested that doctors warn parents ahead of time to expect a nighttime rise in a child’s fever and…
The first pertussis vaccines were developed and tested in the 1920s and 1930s and were in universal use by the end of the 1940s. And they worked. Dr. James Cherry, a distinguished research professor of pediatrics at David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an expert on pertussis who…
University of Wyoming researchers headed a study that shows nonnative birds in Oahu, Hawaii, have taken over the role of seed dispersal networks on the island, with most of the seeds coming from nonnative plants. “Hawaii is one of the most altered ecosystems in the world, and we are lucky enough to examine how these…
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation announced that seven scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer have been named 2021 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award. Five initial grants of $400,000 over two years were awarded to early career scientists whose projects have the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of…
Two studies in today’s Nature Neuroscience, led by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and Harvard Medical School (HMS), implicate mosaic mutations arising during embryonic development as a cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The findings open new areas for exploring the genetics of ASD and could eventually inform diagnostic testing.…
An analysis of a large nationally representative longitudinal study by University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science report that starting tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, before the age of 18 is a major risk factor for people becoming daily cigarette smokers. Reporting in the January 11, 2021 online…
Canada must dismantle anti-Black racism in health care to address its harmful effects on people’s health, argue authors of a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) //www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.201579 Racism has significant negative effects on the physical and mental health of Black people and people of nondominant racial groups. For example, there have been significantly higher…
Human papillomavirus (HPV) can infect the mouth and throat to cause cancers of the oropharynx. A new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, has found that having more than 10 prior oral sex partners was associated with a 4.3-times greater likelihood of having HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer. The…