Health | WPN World People News

A large-scale, collaborative, systems biology approach is needed to expedite the discovery of treatments for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – a leading cause of blindness among people 65 and older for which is there is no treatment— according to a report by a working group of scientists appointed by the National Advisory Eye Council (NAEC).

Ahead of World Hepatitis Day (28 July), WHO calls on countries to take advantage of recent reductions in the costs of diagnosing and treating viral hepatitis and scale up investments in disease elimination.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus today commended Rwanda on its ongoing Ebola preparedness efforts and confirmed that no cases of Ebola have been reported from the country to date.

The National Institutes of Health will award 12 grants to form the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) to support research on quality addiction treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) in criminal justice settings nationwide. The awards, totaling an estimated $155 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of NIH, will support the multi-year innovation network, including 10 research institutions and two centers that will provide supportive infrastructure.

Common recommendations from hospitals and infant formula manufacturers for introducing solid foods to infants could raise the risk of overfeeding or underfeeding, suggests a computer modeling study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Hyperglycemia, or high levels of glucose, is common in patients with acute ischemic stroke and is associated with worse outcomes compared to normal blood sugar levels. Animal studies also pointed to an effect of high blood sugar in worsening stroke injury. Stroke experts have debated whether intensive glucose management after acute ischemic stroke leads to better outcomes but a new study in JAMA finds that aggressive methods are not better than standard approaches.

Based on new evidence assessing benefits and risks, the WHO recommends the use of the HIV drug dolutegravir (DTG) as the preferred first-line and second-line treatment for all populations, including pregnant women and those of childbearing potential.

Children born to women on HIV therapy containing the drug dolutegravir since conception have a slightly higher risk of neural tube defects, compared to children born to women on regimens of other antiretroviral drugs. The findings are from a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Infants born to women exposed to high levels of air pollution in the week before delivery are more likely to be admitted to a newborn intensive care unit (NICU), suggests an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. Depending on the type of pollution, chances for NICU admission increased from about 4% to as much as 147%, compared to infants whose mothers did not encounter high levels of air pollution during the week before delivery.

Many people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) have viral genetic material in the cells of their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and these individuals are more likely to experience memory and concentration problems, according to new data. A study of 69 individuals on long-term ART found that nearly half of the participants had persistent HIV in cells in their CSF, and 30% of this subset experienced neurocognitive difficulties. These findings suggest that HIV can persist in the nervous system even when the virus is suppressed in a patient’s blood with medication.