Health

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CDC Seeks Input on Firefighter Registry

New data tool sheds light on workplace cancer risks for more than a million firefighters

CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is asking for input on how to encourage more than 1.1 million U.S. firefighters’ participation in a voluntary registry.

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Harnessing T-cell “stemness” could enhance cancer immunotherapy

A new study led by scientists in the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) sheds light on one way tumors may continue to grow despite the presence of cancer-killing immune cells. The findings suggest a way to enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapies for cancer treatment. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

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Retinal prion disease study redefines role for brain cells

Microglia may benefit, not damage, photoreceptors.

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Cryopreservation of immature testicular tissue leads to successful birth in monkeys

Researchers have successfully frozen testicular tissue from monkeys too young to produce sperm and used this tissue to produce a pregnancy resulting in live, healthy offspring. The finding is an early step in the development of a method to store testicular tissue for children before they undergo fertility-destroying treatment for cancer or other disorders. The research team was led by Kyle E. Orwig, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health.

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NIH to test experimental drug to curb opioid cravings

Early stage trial opens at Clinical Center.

A clinical trial of an experimental drug designed to treat cravings associated with opioid use disorder (OUD) has begun in the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. The Phase I trial in healthy adults will assess the safety of the experimental compound, ANS-6637, and how it is processed in the body when given with another drug that is processed by the same liver enzyme pathway.

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It’s ‘time to #EndTB’, says UN on World Tuberculosis Day

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A woman with tuberculosis in Pakistan went undiagnosed for five years because she could not afford the $2 transportation cost from her village to the Civil Hospital in Tharparkar.

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New WHO recommendations to accelerate progress on TB

WHO has issued new guidance to improve treatment of multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB). WHO is recommending shifting to fully oral regimens to treat people with MDR-TB. This new treatment course is more effective and is less likely to provoke adverse side effects. WHO recommends backing up treatment with active monitoring of drug safety and providing counselling support to help patients complete their course of treatment.

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WHO expert panel paves way for strong international governance on human genome editing

The World Health Organization’s new advisory committee on developing global standards for governance and oversight of human genome editing has agreed to work towards a strong international governance framework in this area.

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NIH study finds no evidence that calcium increases risk of AMD

People taking the mineral for other medical reasons should stay the course.

Eating a calcium-rich diet or taking calcium supplements does not appear to increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to the findings of a study by scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI). AMD is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness among people age 65 and older in the United States.

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Imaging method reveals long-lived patterns in cells of the eye

Technique could aid early detection and treatment of certain eye diseases.

Cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) form unique patterns that can be used to track changes in this important layer of tissue in the back of the eye, researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have found. Using a combination of adaptive optics imaging and a fluorescent dye, the researchers used the RPE patterns to track individual cells in healthy volunteers and people with retinal disease. The new finding could provide a way to study the progression and treatment of blinding diseases that affect the RPE.