All Stories by Esther Landhuis
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Health & MedicineAn experimental toothpaste aims to treat peanut allergy
By rolling an immune therapy into a toothbrushing routine, a company hopes to show its product can help build and maintain tolerance to allergens.
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Health & MedicineThe antidepressant fluvoxamine could keep mild COVID-19 from worsening
Newly infected patients who chose to take fluvoxamine quickly recovered, while 12.5 percent who didn’t wound up hospitalized.
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HumansPuberty can repair the brain’s stress responses after hardship early in life
Puberty may erase the shadow of trauma for children who had a difficult start.
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Health & MedicineThese cells slow an immune response. Derailing them could help fight tumors
Immune therapies don’t work for a lot of cancer patients. Some researchers are enhancing these treatments with drugs that stymie suppressor cells.
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Health & MedicineMen with breast cancer have lower survival rates than women
Men with breast cancer don’t fare as well as women. To expand treatment options, the U.S. FDA is encouraging drug companies to include men in studies.
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Health & MedicineLiquid mouth drops could one day protect people from peanut allergies
An immune treatment given as liquid mouth drops helped allergic children eat the equivalent of a few peanuts without having a reaction.
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Health & MedicineNanosponges sop up toxins and help repair tissues
Nanoparticles coated with blood cell membranes can move through the body to clean up toxins or heal tissues — without instigating an immune reaction.
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Health & MedicineA new 3-D printed ‘sponge’ sops up excess chemo drugs
Researchers have created “sponges” that would absorb excess cancer drugs before they spread through the body and cause negative side effects.
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Health & MedicineTumor ‘organoids’ may speed cancer treatment
Growing mini tumors in a lab dish, researchers can screen compounds to find promising combinations for treating rare cancers.
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Health & MedicineCancer cells cast a sweet spell on the immune system
Tumors have surface sugars that persuade the body’s defenses to look the other way. New therapies are being devised to break the trance.
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LifeGenes that control toxin production in C. difficile ID’d
Pinpointing the genes behind Clostridium difficile toxin production could help researchers disarm the superbug without killing “good” bacteria.
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Health & MedicineHealthiest weight just might be ‘overweight’
The body mass index tied to lowest risk of death has risen since the 1970s. It now falls squarely in the “overweight” category.