The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved two milestone gene therapies for sickle cell disease, including the first treatment ever approved that uses gene-editing technology. Casgevy, developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals of Boston and CRISPR Therapeutics of Switzerland, is the first medicine available in the United States to treat a genetic disease using the… read on > read on >
As the war in the Ukraine rages on, new research shows that hospitals there are waging a battle of their own against a different kind of enemy: antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” that are spreading at an alarming rate. In a study published Thursday by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, researchers from the CDC and… read on > read on >
FRIDAY, Dec. 8, 2023 (Healthday News) — A salmonella outbreak tied to tainted cantaloupes keeps expanding, with cases doubling since the last tally, U.S. health officials reported Thursday. “Since the last update [on] November 30, 2023, an additional 113 people infected with this outbreak strain of salmonella have been reported from four additional states, resulting in a… read on > read on >
An electric scooter might be on your kid’s wish list for Christmas, but pediatricians say parents should think twice before buying one. Even taking a child on a ride with an e-scooter is a dicey proposition, said Dr. Ashley Ebersole, a pediatrician with Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio. “If you fall off an e-scooter, which… read on > read on >
Could blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss meds such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound also lower users’ odds for colon cancer? New research suggests they might. All of these medications (and more) fall into a class of diabetes drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs). The new study, from researchers at Case Western Reserve… read on > read on >
Suicide rates for Black women and girls ages 15 to 24 have more than doubled over the past two decades, a new report finds. “Suicides are rapidly increasingly among young, Black females in the U.S.,” said study first author Victoria Joseph, an analyst in the department of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health… read on > read on >
The Biden administration has again delayed enacting a ban on menthol cigarettes following intense lobbying from the tobacco industry. Along with that pressure, other critics of the ban have warned that it might anger Black smokers, who use menthol cigarettes at far higher rates than whites — just as President Biden gears up to run… read on > read on >
Games like football, soccer and rugby come to mind when thinking about sports-related concussions. But a smashing tennis shot could cause a traumatic brain injury if the ball whacks a player’s head, a new study argues. Concussions can happen if a tennis ball traveling faster than 89 miles per hour hits someone on the head,… read on > read on >
“Forever” PFAS chemicals appear to harm bone health in Hispanic teenagers, a new study finds. The more PFAS chemicals found in the bodies of Hispanic adolescents, the lower their bone density was, researchers report in the Dec. 6 issue of the journal Environmental Research. Peak bone mineral density in adolescence helps predict whether a person… read on > read on >
A drug long used to curb rheumatoid arthritis may be a potent foe against another immune disorder, type 1 diabetes. Australian researchers report that baricitinib (Olumiant) appears to help patients newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes maintain their natural ability to produce insulin, slowing progression of the disease. Type 1 diabetes comprises about 5% of… read on > read on >
