All Sauce from Weekly Sauce:

Severe forms of autism could be linked to overgrowth of the brain’s outer layer that starts while a baby is in the womb, a new study finds. Toddlers with autism have cerebral cortexes — often referred to as “gray matter” — that are roughly 40% larger than those of children without the developmental disorder, researchers…  read on >  read on >

Though not at numbers seen in the 2022 outbreak, mpox cases are still circulating in the United States, largely among gay and bisexual men, new government data shows. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreak of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) viral illness in the United States during 2022 sickened more…  read on >  read on >

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Wednesday recommended updating the formula for COVID vaccines ahead of a fall campaign that will encourage Americans to get the latest shots. The unanimous vote recommends that vaccine makers tailor the next vaccine to target the JN.1 variant, which dominated infections in the United States last winter, the…  read on >  read on >

Higher amounts of the artificial sweetener xylitol might raise the risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study warns. Xylitol is a zero-calorie sugar alcohol commonly used in sugar-free candy, chewing gum, baked goods and toothpastes, researchers said. But high blood levels of the sweetener is associated with an increased risk of suffering a…  read on >  read on >

America’s poison control centers are increasingly fielding calls on cases of deliberate or accidental poisonings that end in disability or death, a new report finds. Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System reviewed more than 33.7 million poison exposures reported to the 55 poison centers in the United States between 2007 and the end…  read on >  read on >