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Tag: Medicine

  • Scientists Made Human Eggs from Skin Cells and Used Them to Form Embryos

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    “The biggest challenge is how to make this egg extrude half of its chromosomes—and the correct half,” Amato says. “We’re not quite there yet.” The team dubbed their technique “mitomeiosis” and is trying to better understand how chromosomes like to pair and how they segregate in order to find a way to experimentally induce those conditions.

    The ability to make eggs and sperm in the lab—called in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG—has been a growing area of research in recent years.

    In 2016, a group of Japanese researchers led by stem cell researcher Katsuhiko Hayashi reported that they produced healthy mouse pups after making mouse eggs entirely in a lab dish. Later, they generated mouse eggs using cells from males and as a result, created pups with two dads. Those advancements were achieved by reprogramming skin cells from adult mice into stem cells, then further coaxing them to develop into eggs and sperm.

    Mitinori Saitou at Kyoto University first documented in 2018 how his team turned human blood cells into stem cells, which they then transformed into human eggs, but they were too immature to be fertilized to make embryos.

    US startups Conception Biosciences, Ivy Natal, Gameto, and Ovelle Bio are all working on making eggs or sperm in a lab.

    But the prospect raises significant ethical questions about how the technology should be used. In a 2017 editorial, bioethicists warned that IVG “may raise the specter of ‘embryo farming’ on a scale currently unimagined.” Conceivably, it could allow anyone at any age to have a child. And combined with advances in embryo screening, the fertility clinics of the future could use IVG to make mass numbers of embryos and then choose the ones with the most desirable qualities. Gene editing could also be used with IVG to snip out disease-causing DNA or create new traits.

    Amato says it will likely take another decade of research before IVG could be deemed safe or effective enough to be tested in people. Even then, it’s unclear if the technique would be permitted in the US, since a Congressional rider forbids the Food and Drug Administration from considering clinical trials that involve genetically manipulating an embryo for the intention of creating a baby.

    “Their method is very sophisticated and well-organized,” Hayashi, now a professor at the University of Osaka, says of the Oregon group’s approach. However, because of the high rate of chromosomal errors, “it is too inefficient and high risk to apply immediately to clinical application.”

    Also, because their process requires donor eggs, it could limit its use as an infertility treatment. As more people turn to IVF to conceive, the demand for donor eggs is increasing, and using them can involve wait times.

    Amander Clark, a reproductive scientist and stem cell biologist at UCLA who was not involved in the work, agrees that in its current form, mitomeiosis should not be offered for fertility care until more research is done. But in the meantime, the research has other uses.

    “The technology of mitomeiosis is an important technical innovation and could be highly valuable to our understanding of the biology of meiosis in human eggs. Meiotic errors increase as women age. Therefore, understanding causes of meiotic errors is a critical area of research,” Clark says.

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    Emily Mullin

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  • Trump’s Tylenol Directive Could Actually Increase Autism Rates, Researchers Warn

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    For decades, the discussion around autism has been a hotbed of misinformation, misinterpretation, and bad science, ranging from the long-discredited link between the neurodevelopmental condition and vaccines, to newer claims that going gluten-free and avoiding ultra-processed foods can reverse autistic traits.

    On Monday night, this specter arose again in the Oval Office, as President Donald Trump announced his administration’s new push to study the causes of autism with claims that the common painkiller Tylenol, otherwise known as acetaminophen, can cause the condition. The FDA subsequently announced that the drug would be slapped with a warning label citing a “possible association.”

    David Amaral, professor and director of research at the UC Davis MIND Institute, was among those watching in dismay as the president launched into a diatribe about Tylenol, repeatedly warning pregnant women not to take it, even to treat fevers.

    “We heard the president say that women should tough it out,” says Amaral. “I was really taken aback by that, because we do know that prolonged fever, in particular, is a risk factor for autism. So I worry that this admonition to not take Tylenol is going to do the reverse of what they’re hoping.”

    The speculation surrounding Tylenol stems from correlations drawn by some studies that have touted an association between use of the painkiller and neurodevelopmental disorders. One such analysis was published last month. The problem, says Renee Gardner, an epidemiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, is that these studies often reach this conclusion because they don’t sufficiently account for what statisticians describe as “confounding factors”—additional variables related to those being studied that might influence the relationship between them.

    In particular, Gardner points out that pregnant women needing to take Tylenol are more likely to have pain, fevers, and prenatal infections, which are themselves risk factors for autism. More importantly, given the heritability of autism, many of the genetic variants that make women more likely to have impaired immunity and greater pain perception, and hence use painkillers like acetaminophen, are also linked to autism. The painkiller use, she says, is a red herring.

    Last year, Gardner and other scientists published what is widely regarded within the scientific field as the most conclusive investigation so far on the subject, one that did account for confounding factors. Using health records from nearly 2.5 million children in Sweden, they reached the opposite conclusion to the president: Tylenol has no link to autism. Another major study of more than 200,000 children in Japan, published earlier this month, also found no link.

    Doctors are worried that Trump’s claims will have adverse consequences. Michael Absoud, a pediatric neurodisability consultant and a researcher in pediatric neurosciences at King’s College London, says he fears that pregnant women will start using other painkillers with a less well-proven safety profile.

    Gardner is concerned that it will also lead to self-blaming among parents, a flashback to the 1950s and ’60s, a time when autism was wrongly attributed to emotionally cold “refrigerator mothers.” “It’s making parents of children with neurodevelopmental conditions feel responsible,” she says. “It harks back to the early dark days of psychiatry.”

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    David Cox

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  • Vaccine Panel Stacked by RFK Jr. Recommends Delaying MMRV Immunization

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    A federal vaccine advisory committee made up of members hand-picked by Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recommended in an 8-3 vote on Thursday that the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine should not be given before age 4, citing long-known evidence that shows a slightly increased risk for febrile seizures in that age group.

    Experts say that while frightening, febrile seizures—which are uncommon after vaccination—are usually short-lived and harmless, and removing the option for parents could cause a decline in immunization rates against measles, mumps, and rubella, some of the most dangerous childhood diseases.

    Known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, the group provides recommendations to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine usage. These recommendations are typically adopted by CDC and have an impact on state vaccine requirements for school, insurance coverage of vaccines, and pharmacy access—something at least one member of the panel seemed to be unaware of.

    Thursday’s vote is part of a new shift in vaccine policy being spearheaded by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist. In his short time as HHS secretary, Kennedy has implemented restrictions on who can receive Covid-19 vaccines and dismissed all 17 sitting members of ACIP, replacing them with 12 new members—some of whom were installed just this week. Several of the new advisers have a history of criticizing vaccines or denouncing public health measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic. Kennedy said a “clean sweep” of ACIP was necessary to build back public confidence in vaccine science.

    On Thursday, committee members were asked to evaluate whether to recommend against the combined MMRV vaccine before age 4, as well as whether to delay the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine until the child is at least one month old.

    Currently, parents have two options for vaccinating their children against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella, also known as chickenpox. They can choose the combined shot, known as MMRV, or two separate shots—one for MMR and another for chickenpox. About 85 percent of children get separate shots.

    In the US, the hepatitis B vaccine is given in the hospital shortly after birth, because the virus can be transmitted to children during delivery. A serious liver infection, hepatitis B can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. Each year in the US, an estimated 25,000 infants are born to women diagnosed with the hepatitis B virus. Without vaccination, up to 90 percent of them would develop chronic infections. The World Health Organization advises a universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.

    The topics of discussion at Tuesday’s meeting were not based on new data or evidence, and in fact, two ACIP members, Joseph Hibbeln and Cody Meissner, as well as several representatives from professional medical organizations who were in attendance, questioned why these changes were up for consideration.

    Robert Malone, one of the more controversial new ACIP members, offered an explanation: “It’s clear that a significant population of the United States has significant concerns about vaccine policy and about vaccine mandates.” Malone is a former mRNA researcher who rose to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic by spreading falsehoods about the disease and the vaccines; he abstained from Thursday’s vote because he previously served as an expert witness in a lawsuit over the mumps vaccine.

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    Emily Mullin

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  • Central Florida doctor unveils kratom research findings, potential dangers

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    Central Florida doctor unveils kratom research findings, potential dangers

    Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center emergency medicine physician and toxicologist, Dr. Josef Thundiyil, joins WESH 2 to discuss the potential dangers of kratom.

    ALERT AND FOCUSING ON A SUBSTANCE CALLED KRATOM. ACCORDING TO THE U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, THE FDA HERE SAYS THIS SUPPLEMENT IS TYPICALLY MARKETED AS AN ENERGY BOOSTER, MOOD LIFTER, PAIN RELIEVER, AND OPIOID WITHDRAWAL REMEDY. IT’S FOUND AT DISPENSARIES, EVEN RESTAURANTS, SOMETIMES INFUSED WITH DRINKS. AND DESPITE ITS GROWING POPULARITY, THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO THE SUBSTANCE. SO HERE TO GIVE US ANSWERS AND SHARE RESEARCH AND FINDINGS, WE HAVE EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN AND TOXICOLOGIST AT ORLANDO REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, DOCTOR JOSEPH DUNHILL. GREAT TO SEE YOU, DOCTOR. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. OKAY, SO YOU’VE DONE THE WORK HERE. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE’VE HEARD A GOOD BIT ABOUT LATELY. THE KRATOM PRODUCTS. WHAT ARE YOUR FINDINGS IN TERMS OF LOOKING INTO THIS SUBSTANCE THAT IS REALLY WIDELY POPULAR AND WIDELY AVAILABLE? YEAH. AS A BACKGROUND, THERE’S A FEW CONCERNS THAT HAVE COME UP. NUMBER ONE, IT’S VERY UNREGULATED. THERE’S ABOUT 40 DIFFERENT CHEMICAL ALKALOIDS IN THIS. THE SECOND IS THAT WE KNOW IT’S ADDICTIVE. SOME OF THE REPORTS FROM PEOPLE IS THAT IT’S COMPULSIVELY ADDICTIVE. PEOPLE SPENDING HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS A DAY TO GET SORT OF A FIX WITH IT. THE OTHER THING WE KNOW IS THAT IT INTERACTS WITH EXISTING MEDICATIONS THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE ON. WE DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THOSE INTERACTIONS ARE. AND THEN THE FINAL THING, EVEN BEFORE I GOT INTO THIS RESEARCH, IS THAT WE KNOW THAT THERE’S NO PROVEN MEDICAL BENEFITS. SO PEOPLE ARE USING THIS WITH THE THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE HELPING, BUT WE DON’T KNOW THAT IT’S HELPING THEM WITH ANYTHING. AND YOU WORKED WITH A LOT OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS TO PUT THIS TOGETHER. MORE THAN TWO DOZEN, I BELIEVE. YEAH. WE WORKED ACTUALLY. IT WAS A GROUP OF US PHYSICIANS. WE ESSENTIALLY REACHED OUT TO 25 MEDICAL EXAMINERS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA. REALLY TO TRY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION IS, ARE PEOPLE DYING FROM KRATOM? AND WE FOUND SOME VERY INTERESTING THINGS. WE ACTUALLY HAD THE MEDICAL EXAMINER SEND US ANY REPORTED DEATHS, AND WE FOUND ALMOST 40 DEATHS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA OVER A PERIOD OF ABOUT FIVE YEARS. OKAY. AND WAS THIS TIED TO ANYTHING SPECIFIC? THE SUBSTANCE AND OPIOIDS OR ANYTHING ALONG THOSE LINES? NO, THESE ARE DEATHS IN THE ABSENCE OF OPIOIDS. NOW, WE KNOW THAT THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE RESEMBLES OPIOIDS. AND THAT’S WHAT GAVE US THIS CONCERN THAT IT COULD CAUSE DEATH. AND WE STILL ARE LEFT WITH NOT KNOWING EXACTLY WHY SOME PEOPLE DIE AND SOME PEOPLE DON’T. BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS IT STILL HAS SOME SIGNIFICANT DANGERS WITH IT. RIGHT. AND, YOU KNOW, AS A PHYSICIAN, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO SOMEONE WHO’S, YOU KNOW, THERE’S SOMETHING THAT MAY CAUSE SOMETHING AS SEVERE AS DEATH? WHAT WHAT ARE YOU ADVISING PEOPLE? I WOULD ADVISE TREMENDOUS CAUTION. IT IS UNREGULATED. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS DON’T HAVE ANY DOSING LISTED ON IT. WE KNOW IT INTERACTS WITH MEDICATIONS. YOU KNOW, MY TYPICAL ADVICE WOULD BE TALK TO YOUR PHYSICIAN ABOUT IT. BUT WHAT I’M FINDING IN THE COMMUNITY IS THIS THERE’S ENOUGH UNKNOWNS ABOUT THE SUBSTANCE THAT EVEN YOUR PHYSICIAN MAY NOT KNOW WHAT ALL THE INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER SUBSTANCES ARE. SO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE. AND AT THE MOMENT, I PERSONALLY WOULD ADVOCATE FOR SAFETY. BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE IS HARM. WE KNOW THERE’S ADDICTION. ANYTIME THERE’S A POTENTIAL FOR ADDICTION AND ESCALATING USE, WE NOW KNOW THAT IT CAN ALSO CAUSE DEATH. YEAH. WHAT ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE POPULATIONS YOU’RE SEEING WHEN IT COMES TO THE SUBSTANCE? YEAH. FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH STANDPOINT, WE ALWAYS THINK ABOUT VULNERABLE POPULATIONS IN TERMS OF WHO MIGHT BE AT RISK. SO PEOPLE WHO ALREADY SUFFER FROM ADDICTION BECAUSE THEY MAY BE LOOKING FOR ANYTHING TO HELP THEM GET OFF OF SUBSTANCE USE. I ALWAYS AM CONCERNED ABOUT ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS. FOR THIS REASON, PEOPLE WHO ARE ON OTHER MEDICATIONS BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL TO INTERACT. AND SO THAT INCLUDES NOT ONLY YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE ON MEDICINES, BUT ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHO ARE OLDER AND THE ELDERLY. THOSE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHEST RISK GROUPS THAT WE GET CONCERNED ABOUT. YEAH, WELL, THIS IS REALLY AMAZING FINDINGS AND GREAT RESEARCH THAT YOU AND ALL THESE OTHER PHYSICIANS AND MEDICAL EXAMINERS HAVE WORKED ON COLLECTIVELY. WE’RE GOING TO POST SOME MORE INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE SO YOU CAN FIND OUT AND HELP NAVIGATE YOUR JOURNEY. IF YOU IF YOU HAV

    Central Florida doctor unveils kratom research findings, potential dangers

    Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center emergency medicine physician and toxicologist, Dr. Josef Thundiyil, joins WESH 2 to discuss the potential dangers of kratom.

    Updated: 10:00 AM EDT Sep 15, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center emergency medicine physician and toxicologist, Dr. Josef Thundiyil, joins WESH 2 to discuss the potential dangers of kratom.Click here to learn more.

    Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center emergency medicine physician and toxicologist, Dr. Josef Thundiyil, joins WESH 2 to discuss the potential dangers of kratom.

    Click here to learn more.

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  • Do You Need A DEXA BD/BC Scan?

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    For most people, though, “if results are strong, maybe you don’t need another scan for five years,” says Wagner. “If they’re lower, lifestyle interventions can help, and you may want to recheck in a year.”

    Radiation exposure is negligible, less than a chest x-ray. But the psychological impact can be more complicated. For some, the numbers motivate: “When I did a body composition test at 36, I had way more body fat than I expected,” Cheema says. “That pushed me to change my workouts and eating patterns in ways that improved my health—something BMI alone wouldn’t have prompted.”

    For others, especially those with histories of disordered eating or body image issues, it can be destabilizing and overwhelming. Numbers can become another metric to obsess over rather than a tool for health. “It can be overwhelming if you don’t have a clinician to interpret the results,” Gidwani says. “That’s why I review all of my patients’ scans with them.”

    Cheema agrees: “Too much detail without guidance risks overwhelming people with information that isn’t clinically actionable.”

    “I don’t think DEXA gives too much information compared to, say, a whole-body MRI, which can reveal incidental findings that can cause anxiety and lead to unnecessary interventions,” says Gidwani. “Its data points are actionable: decrease body fat, reduce visceral fat, increase muscle.”

    Experts emphasize that actionability is key. “The most important metrics are visceral adipose tissue and total body fat percentage, especially when tracked over time,” Cheema says. “But DEXA also breaks things down by arms, legs, trunk, etc. That can veer into aesthetics rather than health.

    Should You Get One?

    If you’re 65 or older, or at risk for osteoporosis, your doctor may already recommend a DEXA scan for bone health. For women in perimenopause, when bone density can drop by as much as 20 percent, an early baseline scan could flag risks years before they become urgent.

    DEXA also detects sarcopenic obesity, where muscle loss occurs alongside high body fat. “Someone may look normal weight on a scale, but a DEXA can reveal poor muscle-to-fat balance,” Gidwani says.

    Beyond those groups, the use case narrows. Athletes, bodybuilders, and people on GLP-1 medications may find the data genuinely useful. For generally healthy adults who exercise, eat decently, and check in with a doctor, many clinicians are indifferent.

    “For a healthy individual, I wouldn’t universally recommend it,” Cheema says. “Lifestyle changes and basic care may matter more than getting a DEXA.” There are alternatives—bioimpedance scales, Bod Pods, and AI-enabled wearables—but none are as accurate as DEXA. For now, it remains the most precise, if expensive, tool available.

    Final Takeaways

    My DEXA results were somewhat humbling. Despite near-daily workouts and a decent diet, the scan flagged more body fat than I expected and the beginnings of osteopenia in my spine. The bright side was an “excellent” visceral fat score, something I’ll be bragging about indefinitely.

    Catching early bone loss feels actionable; I can tweak my workouts to prioritize strength and mobility. But the body fat percentages have lived in my brain rent-free ever since, without offering much in return. I don’t plan to shell out a few hundred dollars for another scan anytime soon, so I may never know if my adjustments are actually working.

    That’s the paradox of DEXA. For those with medical risks, it can be invaluable. For athletes chasing marginal gains, it’s another knob to turn. But for the rest of us, it’s a reminder that data is only as useful as what you’re willing or able to do with it. In the end, DEXA doesn’t promise longevity so much as it promises numbers, and numbers alone don’t add years to your life.

    Meet the Experts

    • Jennifer Wagner, MD, MS, chief health and performance officer, Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona.
    • Josh Cheema, MD, medical director of Northwestern Medicine Human Longevity Clinic in Chicago, Illinois.
    • Pooja Gidwani, MD, MBA, board-certified physician in internal medicine and obesity medicine in Los Angeles, California.

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    Boutayna Chokrane

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  • Unbelievable facts

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    Scientists have found that a natural compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables can…

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  • Cancer can’t stop the coach: Bradley fights through treatments to keep Whittier Tech on winning track

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    It was a typical Wednesday morning during the Whittier Tech football season for Kevin Bradley. He was dissecting film of his next opponent, Lawrence High.

    What wasn’t typical was the location, Mass. General Hospital, awaiting a chemotherapy session followed by radiation treatment.


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    By Hector Longo Staff Writer

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  • Lawrence General, Holy Family hospitals rebrand with unified name

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    METHUEN — Across the Merrimack Valley, signs for three longtime health care institutions are coming down.

    On Tuesday, mayors, state legislators, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and other officials gathered outside Holy Family Hospital in Methuen to hear the new name for the medical facility and those for Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill and Lawrence General Hospital.


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    kAm%96 ?@?AC@7:EUCDBF@jD ?6H H63D:E6 😀 k2 9C67lQ9EEAi^^>6CC:>24<962=E9]@C8Qm>6CC:>24<962=E9]@C8k^2m]k^Am

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    By Teddy Tauscher | ttauscher@eagletribune.com

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  • Moderna CEO Responds to RFK Jr.’s Crusade Against the Covid-19 Vaccine

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    At the WIRED Health summit on Tuesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the recent changes to Covid-19 vaccine policy made by Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are a “step backward.”

    Moderna is one of the manufacturers of mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines, and last month the company received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for an updated version of the shot. But as part of that approval, the FDA imposed new restrictions on who can receive the vaccine. Previously, Covid vaccines were recommended for anyone 6 months or older. Now, the FDA says they should only be given to individuals at high risk of serious disease, either because they are 65 and older or have other health problems.

    “I think it complicates things for people,” Bancel said. “You might have somebody in your household—a parent, a spouse, a kid—who is at high risk” that you want to protect, he said. Before, healthy individuals could just go to a pharmacy to receive a Covid shot. Now, several states require a prescription to get a Covid shot because of the FDA’s changes.

    Kennedy has been on a crusade against vaccines since he stepped into the role of HHS secretary in February; earlier this week, the Senate Finance Committee grilled him about his actions in office so far.

    In May, Kennedy terminated a $590 million contract with Moderna for the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine candidate. The contract was awarded during the final days of the Biden administration in January, just before President Donald Trump’s second term began. Bird flu is widespread in wild birds and has been causing outbreaks in poultry and US dairy cows since March 2024. It has caused sporadic cases in people, most of them farm workers, but poses a pandemic potential if it develops the ability to spread from person to person.

    That same month, Kennedy announced that HHS would no longer recommend mRNA Covid-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. In June, the FDA said it would require new labels on mRNA vaccines to include safety information about the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, rare side effects observed mostly in young men following administration of the shots.

    In August, as a part of a “coordinated wind-down” of mRNA vaccine research, HHS canceled 22 related contracts and investments worth nearly $500 million. Kennedy incorrectly said in a statement these vaccines “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like Covid and flu.” HHS is instead shifting funding to an older vaccine platform known as “whole-virus” vaccines.

    Despite the administration’s backlash against mRNA vaccines, Bancel said he is “encouraged by the dialog” that the company has had with the FDA. In addition to getting updated Covid shots, albeit with limitations, Moderna also received expanded approval this year for its respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, vaccine to include adults ages 18 to 59 who are at increased risk of disease. The vaccine was initially approved in May 2024 for adults aged 60 years and older.

    “I think a lot of people back in January, including my own team, were quite worried that we might not get those approvals,” Bancel said.

    The administration’s crackdown on mRNA research so far has not extended to the cancer space, and Moderna is developing several mRNA therapies against cancer, including personalized cancer vaccines. The company has 45 cancer-related programs in the pipeline and has said it expects 10 FDA approvals in the next three years. “We are using exactly the same technology to go from infectious disease to cancer,” Bancel said.

    He also addressed accusations that the Covid vaccines have not been well tested. “I don’t think there’s been a vaccine more studied for efficacy and safety in the history of vaccines,” he said. “In terms of vaccine efficacy and safety, there’s been studies done in literally millions of people in the real world.”

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    Emily Mullin

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  • Breast Cancer Awareness 2025: Share your stories, join our campaign

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    North of Boston Media Group is preparing to launch its 14th annual Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.

    And we want to share your stories surrounding this far-reaching disease.


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  • You Can Now Inject Yourself With an Alzheimer’s Drug at Home

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    Self-testing and self-treating are becoming bigger trends in medicine, and now, you can conduct part of your treatment at home by yourself if you have Alzheimer’s disease.

    On Aug. 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first at-home treatment for Alzheimer’s. Lecanemab, sold under the brand name Leqembi—which the FDA approved in 2023 as the first medication to treat the memory disorder—is now available in a self-injecting pen, Leqembi Iqlik. People can use the pen to give themselves weekly maintenance doses of the drug. Lecanemab, made by Eisai and Biogen, was originally approved as an IV infusion that took about an hour and required patients to visit infusion clinics once a month. The at-home version is approved as a maintenance therapy that people can give themselves after they have finished a course of the infusion treatment.

    “We think this is really going to change patient treatment,” says Lynn Kramer, chief clinical officer at Eisai.

    Read More: An Alzheimer’s Blood Test Might Predict Advanced Disease

    The self-injectable version works in a similar way to the auto-injector pens that deliver weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, and could make the Alzheimer’s drug accessible to more people. In January 2025, the FDA approved lecanemab for maintenance therapy, but patients still had to get the drug via infusion at infusion centers. Now, Iqlik will give people more flexibility to continue their treatment. Once they complete the initial treatment regimen over 18 months with the IV version of lecanemab, they can either continue to get an IV infusion of the maintenance dose or give themselves an injection—or switch back and forth, says Kramer. “One week after their last IV dose, they can start Iqlik injections once a week,” he says. “They could then continue with the IV therapy for maintenance; then, if they are going on vacation, they can convert to Iqlik.”

    Continuing treatment with lecanemab is important for managing the disease, since the drug reduces buildup of the amyloid, in either plaques or protofibrils; protofibrils can be toxic to brain neurons and lead to tau accumulation, which can strangle and impair the function of these nerve cells. “Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease,” says Kramer. “It starts even before plaque development, and those pathophysiologic processes still occur even after you remove plaque. That’s the reason why maintenance therapy is required.”  

    In the study supporting Iqlik’s approval, Eisai and Biogen showed that among people with early Alzheimer’s disease who had completed 18 months of IV treatment and transitioned to the lower dose maintenance therapy, those giving themselves Iqlik weekly showed similar benefits in reducing amyloid buildup compared to those receiving the IV dose. The Iqlik users also showed similar rates of side effects—most importantly, a type of brain inflammation—as those receiving the IV maintenance.

    For patients without insurance, the cost for a year’s supply of Iqlik will be $19,500 according to Eisai, compared to $13,316 for a year of the IV maintenance therapy. Medicare currently covers lecanemab if doctors enroll patients in a registry, and costs for those with Medicare Part D are capped at $2,000 annually.

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    Alice Park

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  • There may soon be a new approach to treat hard-to-control high blood pressure

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    Doctors may soon have a new way to treat high blood pressure, even among people for whom medicines haven’t worked well in the past.Baxdrostat, an experimental medicine made by AstraZeneca, showed promise in treating people with uncontrolled or resistant high blood pressure in a recent trial. If the medicine gets approved by regulatory authorities, it will be one of the first new approaches to treating high blood pressure in decades, researchers say.Scientists presented the trial results Saturday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2025 in Madrid and simultaneously published them in the New England Journal of Medicine.For the study, researchers enrolled 800 adults who still had high blood pressure after taking two or more medications for at least four weeks. To qualify for the study, patients’ systolic blood pressure had to be between 140 and 170.Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury, which is abbreviated as mm Hg. The measurement has an upper number, or systolic reading, and a lower number, a diastolic reading. Systolic pressure measures the force of blood as it pumps out of the heart into the arteries; diastolic is the pressure created as the heart rests between beats.Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg, and elevated blood pressure is considered to be from 120 to 129/80 mm Hg. At 130/80 mmHg or higher, according to new U.S. guidelines, a person’s medical provider will want them to take a blood pressure medication if lifestyle changes — including eating healthier, reducing salt in the diet and exercising more — don’t work first.The researchers on the new trial placed the participants into three groups. One received 1 milligram of baxdrostat, another got 2 mg, and another got a placebo, which does nothing. Participants took their dose in addition to medicines they were already taking.At 12 weeks, about 4 in 10 patients taking baxdrostat reached healthy blood pressure levels, compared with less than 2 in 10 who got a placebo.Specifically, participants who got 1 or 2 mg of baxdrostat daily saw their systolic blood pressure – the upper number in the reading – fall around 9 to 10 mm Hg more than those taking a placebo. This reduction, studies show, is large enough to cut cardiovascular risk.When blood pressure is high, the force of the blood pushes against the walls of their blood vessels, making the heart less efficient: Both the vessels and the heart must work harder, and it’s more difficult to get blood to essential organs and cells. Without treatment, high blood pressure will eventually damage the arteries, raising the risk of conditions like a heart attack, stroke, coronary disease, vascular dementia and cognitive problems.Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the world. Lowering blood pressure is the most modifiable way to avoid such a death.Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have higher than normal blood pressure, and 1 in 10 people have what doctors call resistant hypertension: Despite being on three or more medications, they are not meeting the goal for blood pressure control.When a patient has high blood pressure, doctors may need to try a variety of medications to see what works best.Adding baxdrostat to the list of options could be a big help for patients, according to Dr. Stacey E. Rosen, volunteer president of the American Heart Association, who was not involved with the new research.“What’s interesting about this medication is that they can really be a wonderful partner, so to speak, with some of the more classically recommended anti-hypertensive medications,” said Rosen, who is also a senior vice president of women’s health and executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health of Northwell Health in New York City.Medication options now on the market control blood pressure in a variety of ways. Some, such as vasodilators, relax and widen arteries and veins to allow blood to get through easier and increase flow. Diuretics primarily work by removing excess fluid and salt from the body by increasing urine production. Centrally acting alpha agonists help prevent the nervous system from responding to stress. ACE inhibitors keep the body from producing angiotensin II, a hormone that makes blood vessels constrict. ARBs, or angiotensin II receptor blockers, help reduce the production of aldosterone, a hormone that promotes salt and water retention. Calcium channel blockers can keep calcium away from the cells of the heart and arteries so they don’t have to work as hard.Each can have different side effects, including dizziness, rapid or slower heart rate, exhaustion, upset stomach and swelling in the legs.Baxdrostat’s side effects, the study showed, were mild overall. The most common problem was abnormalities in potassium and sodium levels, but this was rare.Baxdrostat takes a new approach to managing high blood pressure. It focuses on blocking aldosterone, a hormone created by the adrenal glands that helps kidneys regulate salt and maintain the body’s water balance. Some people produce too much aldosterone, leading their body to retain too much water and salt, pushing up blood pressure.“We’ve also known for a while now that most of us eat too much salt and in doing that, it raises blood pressure. But we’re also increasingly recognizing that aldosterone may have a direct impact on causing damage to the blood vessels, to the heart, to the kidneys,” said Dr. Jenifer Brown, one of the lead investigators and co-author of the published study.Brown said she often sees cardiology patients at Brigham and Women’s who may have had a heart event, so she needs to be aggressive in getting their blood pressure under control to prevent another. Some patients may have trouble tolerating other blood pressure medications. For others, the standard medicines just don’t work well. Baxdrostat could be a good complement, she said.“We really have had the same tools as clinicians for many years,” Brown said. “I would be excited to have an option like this.”In an editorial accompanying the publication, Dr. Tomasz Guzik, a cardiovascular scientist at the University of Edinburgh, and Dr. Maciej Tomaszewski, a cardiovascular expert at the University of Manchester, write that next steps should be to figure out which patients would best respond to this new medicine and provide longer-term data. If the medication works long-term, they wrote, it could become a “central piller of therapy for difficult-to-control hypertension.”AstraZeneca said it plans to submit its data to regulatory agencies before the end of 2025.

    Doctors may soon have a new way to treat high blood pressure, even among people for whom medicines haven’t worked well in the past.

    Baxdrostat, an experimental medicine made by AstraZeneca, showed promise in treating people with uncontrolled or resistant high blood pressure in a recent trial. If the medicine gets approved by regulatory authorities, it will be one of the first new approaches to treating high blood pressure in decades, researchers say.

    Scientists presented the trial results Saturday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2025 in Madrid and simultaneously published them in the New England Journal of Medicine.

    For the study, researchers enrolled 800 adults who still had high blood pressure after taking two or more medications for at least four weeks. To qualify for the study, patients’ systolic blood pressure had to be between 140 and 170.

    Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury, which is abbreviated as mm Hg. The measurement has an upper number, or systolic reading, and a lower number, a diastolic reading. Systolic pressure measures the force of blood as it pumps out of the heart into the arteries; diastolic is the pressure created as the heart rests between beats.

    Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm Hg, and elevated blood pressure is considered to be from 120 to 129/80 mm Hg. At 130/80 mmHg or higher, according to new U.S. guidelines, a person’s medical provider will want them to take a blood pressure medication if lifestyle changes — including eating healthier, reducing salt in the diet and exercising more — don’t work first.

    The researchers on the new trial placed the participants into three groups. One received 1 milligram of baxdrostat, another got 2 mg, and another got a placebo, which does nothing. Participants took their dose in addition to medicines they were already taking.

    At 12 weeks, about 4 in 10 patients taking baxdrostat reached healthy blood pressure levels, compared with less than 2 in 10 who got a placebo.

    Specifically, participants who got 1 or 2 mg of baxdrostat daily saw their systolic blood pressure – the upper number in the reading – fall around 9 to 10 mm Hg more than those taking a placebo. This reduction, studies show, is large enough to cut cardiovascular risk.

    When blood pressure is high, the force of the blood pushes against the walls of their blood vessels, making the heart less efficient: Both the vessels and the heart must work harder, and it’s more difficult to get blood to essential organs and cells. Without treatment, high blood pressure will eventually damage the arteries, raising the risk of conditions like a heart attack, stroke, coronary disease, vascular dementia and cognitive problems.

    Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the world. Lowering blood pressure is the most modifiable way to avoid such a death.

    Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have higher than normal blood pressure, and 1 in 10 people have what doctors call resistant hypertension: Despite being on three or more medications, they are not meeting the goal for blood pressure control.

    When a patient has high blood pressure, doctors may need to try a variety of medications to see what works best.

    Adding baxdrostat to the list of options could be a big help for patients, according to Dr. Stacey E. Rosen, volunteer president of the American Heart Association, who was not involved with the new research.

    “What’s interesting about this medication is that they can really be a wonderful partner, so to speak, with some of the more classically recommended anti-hypertensive medications,” said Rosen, who is also a senior vice president of women’s health and executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health of Northwell Health in New York City.

    Medication options now on the market control blood pressure in a variety of ways. Some, such as vasodilators, relax and widen arteries and veins to allow blood to get through easier and increase flow. Diuretics primarily work by removing excess fluid and salt from the body by increasing urine production. Centrally acting alpha agonists help prevent the nervous system from responding to stress. ACE inhibitors keep the body from producing angiotensin II, a hormone that makes blood vessels constrict. ARBs, or angiotensin II receptor blockers, help reduce the production of aldosterone, a hormone that promotes salt and water retention. Calcium channel blockers can keep calcium away from the cells of the heart and arteries so they don’t have to work as hard.

    Each can have different side effects, including dizziness, rapid or slower heart rate, exhaustion, upset stomach and swelling in the legs.

    Baxdrostat’s side effects, the study showed, were mild overall. The most common problem was abnormalities in potassium and sodium levels, but this was rare.

    Baxdrostat takes a new approach to managing high blood pressure. It focuses on blocking aldosterone, a hormone created by the adrenal glands that helps kidneys regulate salt and maintain the body’s water balance. Some people produce too much aldosterone, leading their body to retain too much water and salt, pushing up blood pressure.

    “We’ve also known for a while now that most of us eat too much salt and in doing that, it raises blood pressure. But we’re also increasingly recognizing that aldosterone may have a direct impact on causing damage to the blood vessels, to the heart, to the kidneys,” said Dr. Jenifer Brown, one of the lead investigators and co-author of the published study.

    Brown said she often sees cardiology patients at Brigham and Women’s who may have had a heart event, so she needs to be aggressive in getting their blood pressure under control to prevent another. Some patients may have trouble tolerating other blood pressure medications. For others, the standard medicines just don’t work well. Baxdrostat could be a good complement, she said.

    “We really have had the same tools as clinicians for many years,” Brown said. “I would be excited to have an option like this.”

    In an editorial accompanying the publication, Dr. Tomasz Guzik, a cardiovascular scientist at the University of Edinburgh, and Dr. Maciej Tomaszewski, a cardiovascular expert at the University of Manchester, write that next steps should be to figure out which patients would best respond to this new medicine and provide longer-term data. If the medication works long-term, they wrote, it could become a “central piller of therapy for difficult-to-control hypertension.”

    AstraZeneca said it plans to submit its data to regulatory agencies before the end of 2025.

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  • How Much Melatonin Should You Be Taking? And Should You Be Taking It at All?

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    When you’ve worked in the sleep industry long enough, you’re going to hear one question resurface time and time again: “How much melatonin should I take?” The answer will vary from person to person, and the best person to deliver it is your doctor.

    To be clear, I’m not a doctor (although my family really wishes I were), but I am a certified sleep science coach and professional mattress tester of five years and some change. Over the years, I’ve conversed with and attended lectures by many medical professionals on sleep aids and supplements. I also asked David Kuhlmann of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to give insight into best practices when it comes to melatonin (and sleep supplements, for that matter).

    Chill Pill

    First of all, let’s back up. What is melatonin? It’s the hormone your brain produces naturally as part of its circadian rhythm, or the internal clock your body has to keep you on a natural, daily sleep schedule. Your pineal gland is in charge of making it, and sunlight signals it to slow down production so you can wake up and go about your day. Though your brain is already producing melatonin, the idea of taking a supplement is that it jump-starts your sleep cycle.

    If you’ve taken melatonin before and felt it didn’t work for you, or are considering starting it, this is where you should consult your doctor. And do it before starting any supplement, melatonin included. You may be on medications that won’t make it work as well, giving you the impression that you need more. Or, you could experience the side effects of mixing melatonin and medications. Let’s avoid the late-night WebMD doomscrolls and check off that box first.

    Snake Oil or Sleep Supplement?

    Photograph: Molly Higgins

    Onnit

    Instant Melatonin Mist

    Another reason to talk to a licensed health care provider ahead of jumping on the melatonin train is that they can give you a tailored recommendation on how to go about getting melatonin, either in supplement or even nutritional form. Or, as Kuhlmann recommends to me, bypassing it altogether, for many reasons—one of which is possible unforeseen side effects, like GI upset. More on that in a minute.

    The reality is, supplements are not regulated by the FDA. The University of Pennsylvania’s Regulatory Review has reported that the FDA evaluates supplements on a dietary basis, pretty much like what is done for food or medication. According to Pieter Cohen in an interview for the American Medical Association, the FDA actually evaluates supplements as a “subcategory of food” and not medication. Kuhlmann corroborated this for me, emphasizing that “increased access” and the fact that brands are not as “tightly regulated” in the market have led to dangerous outcomes. He described the uptick in melatonin poisoning cases that medical professionals have seen over the past decade, primarily in kids under the age of 5.

    There’s a whole lot of gray area for what’s OK and what’s not before a product hits the market, and even after it’s sold to customers. So if an extra (and questionable) ingredient weasels its way into the formula, and the supplement hits the market, there’s not much the FDA can do besides send companies a warning letter to recall the supplement. It’s the equivalent of shrugging, saying “Whoopsie, your fault,” and putting responsibility on a brand to make it right—which, as The Regulatory Review also points out, they don’t always do.

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    Julia Forbes

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  • Doctors who used AI assistance in procedures became 20% worse at spotting abnormalities on their own, study finds, raising concern about overreliance

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    Artificial intelligence may be a promising way to boost workplace productivity, but leaning on the technology too hard may prevent professionals from keeping their own skills sharp. More specifically, it sounds like AI might be making some doctors worse at detecting irregularities during routine screenings, new research finds, raising concerns about specialists relying too much on the technology.

    A study published in the Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology journal this month found that in 1,443 patients who underwent colonoscopies with and without AI-assisted systems, endoscopists introduced to an AI-assistance system went from detecting potential polyps at a rate of 28.4% with the technology to 22.4% after they no longer had access to the AI tools they were introduced to—a 20% drop in detection rates. 

    The doctors’ failure to detect as many polyps on the colon when they were no longer using AI assistance was a surprise to Dr. Marcin Romańczyk, a gastroenterologist at H-T. Medical Center in Tychy, Poland, and the study’s author. The results not only call into question a potential laziness developing as a result of an overreliance on AI, but also the changing relationship between medical practitioners and a longstanding tradition of analog training.

    “We were taught medicine from books and from our mentors. We were observing them. They were telling us what to do,” Romańczyk said. “And now there’s some artificial object suggesting what we should do, where we should look, and actually we don’t know how to behave in that particular case.”

    Beyond the increased use of AI in operating rooms and doctors offices, the proliferation of automation in the workplace has brought with it lofty hopes of enhancing workplace performance. Goldman Sachs predicted last year the technology could increase productivity by 25%. However, emerging research has also warned of the pitfalls of adopting AI tools without consideration of its negative effects. A study from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University earlier this year found that among surveyed knowledge workers, AI increased work efficiency, but reduced critical engagement with content, atrophying judgment skills.

    Romańczyk’s study contributes to this growing body of research questioning humans’ ability to use AI without compromising their own skillset. In his study, AI systems helped identify polyps on the colon by putting a green box around the region where an abnormality would be. To be sure, Romańczyk and his team did measure why endoscopists behaved this way because they did not anticipate this outcome and therefore did not collect data on why this happened. 

    Instead, Romańczyk speculates that endoscopists became so used to looking for the green box that when the technology was no longer there, the specialists did not have that cue to pay attention to certain areas. He called this the “Google Maps effect,” likening his research results to the changes drivers made transitioning from the era of paper maps to that of GPS: Many people now rely on automation to show the most efficient route, when 20 years ago, one had to find out that route for themselves.

    Checks and balances on AI

    The real-life consequences of automation atrophying human critical skills are already well-established.

    In 2009, Air France Flight 447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris fell into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 passengers and flight crew members on board. An investigation found the plane’s autopilot had been disconnected, ice crystals had disrupted its airspeed sensors, and the aircraft’s automated “flight director” was giving inaccurate information. The flight personnel, however, were not effectively trained in how to fly manually in these conditions and took the automated flight director’s faulty directions instead of making the appropriate corrections. The Air France accident is one of several in which humans were not property trained, relying instead on automated aircraft features.

    “We are seeing a situation where we have pilots that can’t understand what the airplane is doing unless a computer interprets it for them,” William Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, said at the time of the Air France investigation. “This isn’t a problem that is unique to Airbus or unique to Air France. It’s a new training challenge that the whole industry has to face.”

    These incidents bring periods of reckoning, particularly for critical sectors where human lives are at stake, according to Lynn Wu, associate professor of operations, information, and decisions at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. While industries should be leaning into technology, she said, the onus to make sure humans are appropriately adopting it should be on the institutions. 

    “What is important is that we learn from this history of aviation and the prior generation of automation, that AI absolutely can boost performance,” Wu told Fortune. “But at the same time, we have to maintain those critical skills, such that when AI is not working, we know how to take over.”

    Similarly, Romańczyk doesn’t eschew the presence of AI in medicine. 

    “AI will be, or is, part of our life, whether we like it or not,” he said. “We are not trying to say that AI is bad and [to stop using] it. Rather, we are saying we should all try to investigate what’s happening inside our brains, how we are affected by it? How can we actually effectively use it?”

    If professionals and specialists want to continue to use automation to enhance their work, it behooves them to retain their set of critical skills, Wu said. AI relies on human data to train itself, meaning if its training is faulty, so, too, will be its output.

    “Once we become really bad at it, AI will also become really bad,” Wu said. “We have to be better in order for AI to be better.”

    Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list.

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    Sasha Rogelberg

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  • ‘Truly a groundbreaking discovery’: U.Va. gets funding for clinical trial to stop sepsis – WTOP News

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    A team at the University of Virginia has developed a monoclonal antibody to stop sepsis, the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals.

    There is good news from Virginia when it comes to the deadly infection sepsis.

    “This is truly a groundbreaking discovery,” said Jianjie Ma, a professor in the department of surgery at the University of Virginia. “Sepsis is a very challenging disease to treat.”

    Ma is part of the team at U.Va., along with the University of Michigan, that has developed a monoclonal antibody to stop sepsis. The deadly infection impacts up to 50 million people worldwide every year, killing about 11 million people, according to researchers. It’s the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals.

    “It’s a really urgent matter in the hospital, because when patients are admitted to the hospital, they have to be treated right away,” he said. “Any delay, one hour delay will cost 5% to 10% chance of people dying.”

    U.Va. has received $800,000 from the research company Virginia Catalyst to launch a clinical trial of the antibody at U.Va. Health and Virginia Commonwealth University.

    “Our technology will, can stop the dying process by targeting the very innate immune defense of our body,” Ma said.

    He said the antibody has the potential to treat a range of inflammatory conditions, including autoimmune disorders.

    “We are ready, and we have a lot of goals ahead of us,” Ma said. “It’s a really urgent matter in the hospital.”

    He said applications could include deadly acute respiratory distress syndrome, which came to public attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ischemia-reperfusion injury, which is tissue damage caused when blood flow is cut off and restored.

    “We have now made the antibody drug product available to start the clinical trial as soon as we can,” he said.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Valerie Bonk

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  • Animal shelters at capacity after accepting 1,200 animals in a month

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    METHUEN — A series of large surrenders have left all four MSPCA-Angell shelters, including Nevins Farm, at capacity.

    On Thursday, the nonprofit sounded the alarm on a situation that began with the surrender of 50 cats from a single Norfolk County home in July. The pattern continued into August with more large-scale arrivals, according to a press release from the MSPCA.


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  • You Can Now Vaccinate Yourself Against the Flu

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    When you’re ready to get your flu vaccine this year, you have a convenient new option: you can skip the doctors’ office or pharmacy and inoculate yourself. FluMist, a vaccine sprayed up the nose to protect people from serious influenza symptoms, is now available for anyone in the U.S. to order online and administer to themselves or others at home.

    FluMist, made by AstraZeneca, has been available since 2003. But even though it’s relatively easy to administer, it still required a health care professional to give to people. in Sept. 2024, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it for at-home use without a health care professional—making it the first flu vaccine that people can give themselves.

    Here’s what to know. 

    How does FluMist work?

    FluMist is the only nasal vaccine approved in the U.S. It’s administered as two spritzes—one in each nostril—and stimulates antibodies against the influenza virus in the nasal passages and bloodstream to protect against serious disease.

    It differs from the more popular flu shot option. FluMist uses a weakened form of the influenza virus, while the flu shot contains an inactivated virus. But both annual shots help protect against the worst effects of whatever influenza strain is circulating and causing disease.

    Is FluMist as effective as the flu shot?

    For most people, the spray and shot are comparable in protecting against serious flu symptoms and hospitalization. FluMist is approved for children and adults from two to 49 years old, since studies show that it’s less effective in people 50 and over; their immune systems tend to be weaker. For people over 65, health officials recommended a higher-dose flu vaccine to ensure they receive the maximum protection.

    Read More: When Is the Best Time to Get the Flu Shot?

    Ultimately, however, the biggest determinant of the efficacy of any flu vaccine is how well matched it is to the influenza strains causing disease in a given season.

    How do you vaccinate yourself? 

    You can order doses for yourself or others in your household at flumist.com in a program the company is calling FluMist Home. Each request is reviewed by pharmacists who partner with AstraZeneca to confirm that you and those you want to immunize are eligible for this type of influenza vaccination. Most healthy people ages two to 49 qualify.

    If you are eligible, the nasal sprays are shipped to your home, to arrive at a date you specify. That’s important, because FluMist needs to be kept below a certain temperature in order to remain effective. 

    Once it arrives, you can either use it immediately or store it in the refrigerator. Squirt the spray in each of your nostrils—or those of your family members—and whoever receives it will be vaccinated for the season.

    What are the side effects?

    FluMist’s side effects can differ slightly from those of the flu shot. While the flu shot can cause redness and soreness at the injection site, as well as fever, muscle aches, headache and fatigue, FluMist can cause flu-like symptoms, including runny nose, congestion, sore throat, cough, fever, and muscle aches. That’s because FluMist is made from weakened forms of the live virus.

    Read More: Cutting mRNA Research Could Be Our Deadliest Mistake Yet

    Does FluMist cost more?

    Yes, FluMist generally costs more than the flu shot. But all forms of flu vaccination are covered by insurance, so most people will pay about the same amount in any out-of-pocket costs, depending on their insurance plan.

    Will FluMist boost vaccination rates?

    Doctors and public-health experts are eager to see if the new at-home option for FluMist has an effect on vaccination rates and the number of flu cases in the coming season. Vaccination rates for flu have been declining since the pandemic, including among children. In the 2023-2024 flu season, nearly 45% of adults received at least one dose of the flu shot, compared to nearly 47% in the previous year. There was a similar drop for kids: 55% of children from six months to 17 years old got vaccinated, compared to 57.4% in the previous year. The convenience of vaccinating at home, without the need to make a doctor’s appointment or wait at a pharmacy, could address some of the barriers to getting vaccinated—although it likely won’t impact growing vaccine skepticism that is contributing to some of the decline in immunization rates.

    “We believe firmly that vaccines play a critical role in public health,” said Elizabeth Bodin, vice president of U.S. marketing, sales, and access for respiratory and immunology at AstraZeneca, during an Aug. 14 press briefing. “Given the reductions in vaccination rates, it’s more important than ever that we bring education on the importance of vaccines and break down barriers with FluMist Home.”

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    Alice Park

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  • Regenerative medicine for dogs and cats – Part 2 | Animal Wellness Magazine

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    Want to slow the aging process in your animal companion? Part two of this article focuses on therapeutic options used in regenerative medicine, and how they promote better health and longevity. 

    Regenerative medicine is making headlines for its healing potential in dogs, cats, and humans. In the first part of this article (AW, Winter 24/25), we examined how it works and why it’s making waves in how we care for our animal companions.  Now we’ll explore in detail some of the therapeutic options used in regenerative medicine for dogs and cats.

    Go within to find the source of all healing 

    Numerous resources already address the healing benefits of supplements, food, and nutraceuticals, so I’m going to introduce the more esoteric forms of regeneration found within our bodies. 

    Fast fact: Aging is a progressive degenerative state. 

    As aging progresses, it depletes tissue stem cells, causes inflammation, alters the matrix, induces cellular senescence, and disrupts metabolic functions. 

    These changes reflect underlying molecular aberrations in mitochondria, intercellular communication, nutrient sensing, epigenetics and DNA repair. This results in genomic instability and damage, including telomere dysfunction.

    Cellular health, replication and division is the hallmark of longevity and total body health. 

    It relies on the proper function, expression and repair mechanisms of DNA in the cells.

    A cell has hundreds of thousands of parts that need to work together in an innate intelligently orchestrated process. This ensures a long and healthy life for that cell. What can we do to support this process?

    Telomeres and telomerase 

    Telomeres are genetic, repetitive, non-coding regions at the ends of a chromosome. A telomere gets shorter each time a cell divides. When it gets too short, the cell stops dividing and either dies or becomes a senescent cell. The length of a telomere predicts aging and disease. 

    Fast fact: A telomere is much like the aglet at the end of a shoelace.

    Telomere dysfunction coincides with many changes in the body, including:

    • Widespread tissue stem cell depletion
    • Progressive tissue atrophy
    • Germ cell depletion
    • Reduced ability to reproduce
    • Impaired adaptive immunity
    • Decreased memory
    • Delayed wound healing
    • Diminished stress responses
    • Increased hair graying and loss
    • Diminished cardiac function
    • Weakened skeletal frame
    • Increased cancer incidence
    • Overall frailty.

    Telomerase is an enzyme that prevents telomere destruction. Interestingly, cancer cells that don’t undergo apoptosis (cell death) have an abundance of this enzyme. The main focus of anti-aging and regenerative medicine is research into the use and production of telomerase.

    Conventional medicine is looking for ways to use uncertain and potentially dangerous gene therapies, but more natural methods can create this effect. 

    Mind-body medicine, which uses supplements, breathwork, sound therapy, and deep meditative and transcendental states, can yield positive physiological changes, biological upgrades, and DNA repair in the body. Supplements and nutrients like cat’s claw, astragalus root extract, milk thistle seed extract, and Korean ginseng extract may activate telomerase.

    Stem cell therapy

    Stem cells maintain the body’s overall health and integrity. A stem cell serves as a reserve cell that replicates and either remains in its reserve pool or replaces a damaged or aging cell. 

    Fast fact: A stem cell has the potential to differentiate into any type of cell in the body. 

    This gives stem cells the power to replace worn out, damaged, or diseased tissues. The possibility of rejuvenation and greater levels of recovery are the result. We’ve known about the existence and behavior of stem cells for the last 50 years and have been studying them as a form of regenerative treatment for 20 years.

    There are many types of stem cells, each with distinct characteristics and purposes. It’s therefore crucial to understand these different types, their limitations, and their potential benefits before doing any stem cell treatment. The type of cell line used, along with the activation process, depends on the knowledge and skill level of the veterinary practitioner. 

    Because of their maleable and transformative nature, and their existence within our bodies and those of our dogs and cats, stem cells can be harnessed, processed, activated, and infused back into the body. 

    Early research shows that stem cells can become any cell, depending on the environment they are exposed to and the culture medium they are in. 

    Fast fact: Inside the body (in vivo), our blood serves as the culture medium. 

    Our blood and cells orchestrate a deeply complex symphony of cell signaling mechanisms. Energetic, biochemical, hormonal, and intracellular processes send “information” to stem cells, activating their mechanisms of proliferation and differentiation — essentially determining what they become and how many they will be. 

    Studies show that biochemicals released by certain emotional states play an integral role in how cells behave. Substances like oxytocin, growth factor, dopamine, vasopressin and DHEA are secreted in response to elevated and positive emotions such as love, care, appreciation, and gratitude. 

    Conversely, substances like cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine and histamine are released in response to the negative emotions of fear, anxiety, anger, and frustration. 

    In the presence of these rejuvenating or depleting molecular compounds, all cells will either proliferate and grow or go into complete cell arrest and death. 

    Energy or frequency medicine

    Our world is bathed in the electromagnetic frequencies of light, sound, and quantum fields. Everything from subatomic particles to global body systems has a vibration and is surrounded by fields of energy. We can use vibration to interface with these fields to rebalance the distortions we call disease. 

    Fast fact: We and our dogs and cats are all essentially energy.

    Many studies have shown that cells communicate with each other via light and sound. Information is carried through biofields and other fields of energy that connect us with our animal companions. These fields of energy information interlink all organs and systems of the body and can be stimulated by light and sound frequencies. 

    We can do this by utilizing different frequencies measured in hertz (for sound) and nanometers (for light). Objects and technologies such as tuning forks, sound bowls, Tibetan gongs, music, toning, infrared and far-infrared light can be used.  

    In humans, more intangible therapies such as meditation, visualization, journeying, and guided prayer positively impact well-being, relationships, and overall life satisfaction. People report feeling more connected to their spirituality, experiencing a deep sense of peace and purpose, and finding guidance and clarity in life decisions.

    In other words, frequency medicine acts as a catalyst to support the body’s natural healing processes. 

    In conclusion

    We are not passive recipients of life’s circumstances. We are active participants in crafting our destiny. Our relationships with each other, and our dogs and cats, are entangled and interwoven through deep emotional bonds.

    Regenerative medicine for dogs and cats supports and utilizes the body’s own healing mechanisms. It accomplishes this through technology such as stem cell therapy, frequency medicine, nutritional therapy, and supplements.

    A simple exercise to try at home

    Set aside a dedicated time for you and your animal. Pick a quiet comfortable space without distractions. Play soft soothing music that resonates with you. Breathe deeply to oxygenate, visualize the healing mechanisms creating a healed state in your body, or that of your dog or cat, and embrace the regeneration. 

    Factors that affect telomerase

    Decrease telomerase:

    • Poor nutrition
    • Mental and emotional stresses
    • Lack of self-love or loss of love
    • Lack of purpose

    Increase telomerase:

    • Good nutrition
    • Exercise
    • Gratitude, positive outlook, feelings of hope
    • Self-love and love
    • Sense of purpose, being in service

    Telomerase in action 

    The Immortal Sea Jelly (Turritopsis dorhnii), a type of jellyfish, uses telomerase to regenerate under stress. 

    Under trauma, or any other situation that may threaten its life, this unique creature takes a pause to become very introspective. It becomes desensitized to its outer world, secretes large amounts of telomerase, and focuses all its energy into DNA repair and rejuvenation. 


    Post Views: 984


    Veterinarian Dr. Barrie Sands received her DVM degree from Ross University in 1991. She achieved her CVA certification from IVAS in 2003, followed by advanced training in food and herbal therapies and homeopathy. Dr. Sands has been working at the VCA Emergency and Referral Center in San Diego since 1996 in the Emergency Critical Care department, and is head of the Integrative Holistic department. She is a certified trainer for the Institute of HeartMath. Dr. Barrie authored the book The Stupid Things My Human Does; True Stories from the Animal ER.

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    Barrie Sands, DVM, CVA, HMCT

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  • Lawmaker hosts naloxone training at Statehouse

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    BOSTON — Rep. Kate Donaghue has a trick for always ensuring naloxone is on hand and ready to deploy if she encounters someone experiencing an opioid overdose: she keeps a dose tucked into the laminated pouch holding her Statehouse ID.

    Donaghue, whose son, Brian, died in 2018 to an overdose, on Tuesday hosted dozens of her colleagues, administration officials, public health workers and others for a training session about how and when to use naloxone.


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    By Chris Lisinski | State House News Service

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  • Rockport school board updated on opioid prevention

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    The Rockport School Committee, along with the town’s Public Health Department, is aiming to eliminate the effects of possible substance abuse in Rockport schools.

    During the committee’s meeting on June 4, members heard from Dr. Ray Cahill, director of the Rockport Public Health Department, who updated those gathered about the “RIZE Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership Grant.” The grant aims to support children and families affected by the opioid crisis.


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