Esther Landhuis

Esther Landhuis is a freelance science journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area.

All Stories by Esther Landhuis

  1. Health & Medicine

    Fecal transplant pills helped some peanut allergy sufferers in a small trial

    In a small study, a one-day fecal microbiota transplant allowed some peanut-allergic adults to safely eat one to two peanuts several months later.

  2. Health & Medicine

    The antidepressant fluvoxamine can keep COVID-19 patients out of the hospital

    A 10-day course of fluvoxamine sharply reduced hospital visits and deaths, raising hopes for an easy at-home treatment for COVID-19.

  3. Health & Medicine

    An 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.

  4. Health & Medicine

    The 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.

  5. Humans

    Puberty 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.

  6. Health & Medicine

    These 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.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Men 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.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Liquid 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.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Nanosponges 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.

  10. Health & Medicine

    A 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.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Tumor ‘organoids’ may speed cancer treatment

    Growing mini tumors in a lab dish, researchers can screen compounds to find promising combinations for treating rare cancers.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Cancer 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.