Lori A Carr

WHO urges pandemic deal as “zombie virus” threat looms: World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has voiced alarm over the number of countries set to miss a May deadline for committing to a global accord on fighting pandemics, warning that “future generations may not forgive us” for failing to act against global disease threats. Separately, scientists are warning that climate change could release ancient viruses trapped in the Arctic permafrost, a pandemic threat they warn is being overlooked

Teen use of OTC weight-loss products a growing concern: About 9% of adolescents worldwide have used over-the-counter drugs, supplements or other products that claim to aid weight loss, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open. Six (6) percent of teens had used diet pills, 4% had taken laxatives and 2% had used diuretics in an effort to lose weight. Past research has tied the use of such products to mental health issues, substance use and eating disorders in teens.

Partial transplant offers hope for children with heart disease: In 2022, surgeons transplanted living heart valves and arteries into a 17-day-old baby with truncus arteriosus, and the tissues have grown with the child, potentially eliminating the need for future surgeries, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA). The procedure requires less immunosuppressant medication and could double the number of hearts available for children with heart disease, according to first author Joseph Turek, Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Duke Children’s Hospital.

Co-developer of Pap smear never got paid or acknowledged: Development of the Pap test for cervical cancer has long been credited to George Papanicolaou; however, his wife, Mary, made his discoveries possible, although she was neither paid nor, until recently, credited. Mary not only provided, processed, stained and organized her own daily vaginal samples, she also recruited other women to donate samples that were vital to the identification of precancerous cells.

Founder and CEO L.R. Fox discusses what happens when people are not able to choose if/when to have a child and how he founded NEXT Life Sciences and Plan A to increase access to family planning.

About 6.9% of adults in the US, or around 18 million Americans, and 1.5% of children, or roughly 1 million kids, reported ever having long COVID, while about 8.8 million adults and about 360,000 children said they are currently suffering from the condition, according to data published by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Data showed women, residents of rural areas, adults ages 35 to 49 and Hispanic people were more likely to have had long COVID-19 compared with their counterparts.

Researchers link new-found protein to early dementia: A novel protein known as TAF15 has been added to the list of proteins known to aggregate in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Researchers reported in the journal Nature that TAF15 forms aggregated structures in patients who have frontotemporal dementia, which normally develops at an earlier age than Alzheimer’s disease. The findings could serve as a basis for diagnostic and treatment advancements.

University to study how health, climate change are linked: The University of Arizona’s school of public health is using $3.8 million in NIH funding to study the intersection between public health and the response to climate change. Researchers will examine the health implications of extreme weather, forecasting, early warning models and the built environment. Professor Kacey Ernst noted that Arizona is an appropriate location for the research as its population is growing rapidly, and it can serve as a model for other regions with dry climates.

AI shows promise for diagnosing autism: Researchers at Duke University have developed an app for smartphones or tablet computers that uses computer vision analysis to evaluate children’s responses to brief videos designed to elicit autism-related behaviors. Meanwhile, researchers in Korea reported in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Network Open that they have developed a deep learning algorithm that screens for autism spectrum disorder based on retinal images.