Public health & disease

African girl sleeping on mother's shoulder

‘Historic milestone’ as global child mortality hits record low of 4.9 million in 2022

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Figures newly released by the U.N. Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) reveal the global under-five mortality rate has declined by 51% since 2000 reaching an all-time low. Some countries such as Cambodia, Malawi, Mongolia, and Rwanda reduced under-five mortality rate by over 75% over the time period. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell praised the dedicated efforts of midwives, health workers and community health workers, whose commitment has contributed to the remarkable decline.

Place bandage on knee

Scientists successfully 3D-print human skin tissue into open wounds

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Scientists at Pennsylvania State University have successfully 3D-printed living human skin tissue directly into the open wounds of rats for the first time in history. This bioengineering milestone could pave the way for major developments in reconstructive surgery — or even human hair treatments. Current methods of skin and hair reconstruction — like skin grafts — often result in scars, meaning this discovery could lead to a more seamless treatment for humans.

A large french flag fluttering under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris

France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

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France has become the world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights Lawmakers from both houses of the French Parliament voted 780 to 72 in favor of the measure, easily clearing the three-fifths majority needed to amend the French constitution. The French Senate and National Assembly each overwhelmingly approved the amendment earlier this year. The amendment states that there is a “guaranteed freedom” to abortion in France. Following the vote, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the words “my body my choice.”

3d illustration of gut and stomach pain

79% of Crohn’s disease patients in remission after early intervention

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Led by researchers from the University of Cambridge, a clinical trial examined the effectiveness of giving the immunotherapy drug infliximab earlier, as soon as possible after diagnosis. They employed what’s called a ‘top-down’ strategy, meaning the drug was given straight after diagnosis regardless of the patient’s symptom severity. They found that this early intervention significantly reduces complications of this often debilitating disease, including the need for surgery by a factor of 10.

Brain scan

Belgian boy becomes first child in the world to be cured of brain stem glioma

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Brain stem glioma, officially called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is rare and lethal, diagnosed in just 300 children annually in the United States. The two-year survival rate is 10%, and no drug is widely available for its treatment beyond radiotherapy. After the boy’s diagnosis, the family traveled to France to take part in a randomized controlled trial. He was randomly assigned the drug everolimus, which he took for more than 5 years with remarkable success.

Dentist's Hand Taking Saliva Test From Woman's Mouth

Hand-held test for breast cancer uses your saliva and gives accurate readings in 5 seconds

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A new hand-held portable device is not only extremely quick and easy to use but very cost effective, say scientists from the University of Florida and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. Compared to the costly alternatives of Mammograms, which expose women to radiation—or MRIs and ultrasounds which require expensive equipment—researchers called the device revolutionary.

A researcher examining lung cancer scans in a clinical setting for an article about mesothelioma survival rates

New drug quadruples three-year survival rates for mesothelioma in international trial

By / / Good News For Humankind

Mesothelioma survival rates have quadrupled over three years thanks to a drug that starves tumors of a key nutrient, marking the first successful new treatment combination for the disease in 20 years. The international ATOMIC-meso trial, led by Queen Mary University of London and published in JAMA Oncology, found that patients receiving pegargiminase alongside standard chemotherapy were significantly more likely to be alive three years later. The drug works by depleting arginine in the bloodstream, cutting off a nutrient that mesothelioma cells cannot produce themselves. For a cancer caused by asbestos exposure that has historically offered patients months rather than years, this breakthrough represents a genuine turning point.

Assortment of pills

Novel AI model rapidly determines if an antidepressant will work

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Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC) and Radboud UMC researchers have developed an algorithm that, based on patient MRI scans and other data, can determine within a week if a particular antidepressant will, offering faster relief and minimizing often painful and damaging side effects. “This is important news for patients,” said Liesbeth Reneman, Professor of Neuroradiology at Amsterdam UMC. “Normally, it takes six to eight weeks before it is known whether an antidepressant will work.”