For decades, health-related statements by major professional health associations such as the American Medical Association (AMA) agreed with those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because both relied on the same body of scientific knowledge, much of it funded by the federal health sector. However, the public can no longer assume that…
Researchers at Columbia University have found that a lack of dietary iron early in life can prevent immune cells in the lung from making a key protein that helps fight viral infections, even after iron levels are restored. The findings suggest that immunological memory formed when iron levels are low may not provide adequate protection…
Working out of a tribal-owned hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, liver specialist Brian McMahon has spent decades treating the long shadow of hepatitis B. Before a vaccine became available in the 1980s, he saw the virus claim young lives in western Alaskan communities with stunning speed. One of his patients was 17 years old when he…
Robin sequence is characterized by micrognathia, glossoptosis, and often cleft palate, leading to airway obstruction and feeding challenges. Treatment strategies vary widely, ranging from conservative interventions like prone positioning and specialized feeding therapy to surgical approaches such as mandibular distraction. However, whether early treatment influences long-term jaw growth remains debated, partly due to limited longitudinal…
Detailed mapping of CD4⁺ T cells from children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has revealed distinct immune cell subsets with likely roles in disease pathogenesis, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings are poised to redirect lupus research and open the door to more precise therapies that avoid broad immune…
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have uncovered a new way to understand how children fare after liver transplantation: by focusing not on medical test results, but on how differently parents and children perceive the child’s well-being. The findings, published in The Journal of Pediatrics, come from the first multisite prospective…
As the federal government prepares for the next meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has intensified his attacks on aluminum vaccine components used in many shots to boost the body’s immune response. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist before seeking public office, claims that aluminum…
Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) revealed important genetic components that affect bone density in children and adolescents. This information could help identify pediatric patients who may benefit from strategies to help improve their bone health at an early age, helping them maintain healthy bones and prevent fractures in adulthood. Many children experience fractures…
Columbia University researchers are the first to show that focused ultrasound – a non-invasive technique that uses sound waves to enhance the delivery of drugs into the brain – can be safely used in children being treated for brain cancer. The focused ultrasound technique, developed by Columbia engineers, was tested in combination with chemotherapy in three children with diffuse midline glioma, a rare and aggressive brain cancer that is universally fatal. The study found that focused ultrasound successfully opened the…
Pertussis, or whooping cough, remains a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by Bordetella pertussis. Despite inclusion of pertussis vaccines in immunization programs since the 1970s, outbreaks have re-emerged globally due to waning immunity and bacterial evolution. In China, cases have dramatically increased since 2017, with more than 400,000 reported between January and July 2024. Meanwhile,…