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Thursday, August 3, 2017
[Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking]
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Good morning! STAT reporter Andrew Joseph here, filling in for Megan. To the news we go:
President Trump heads to Huntington, W.Va.
President Trump will be in Huntington, W.Va., this evening for what's being billed as a rally. But we'll be keeping an eye on whether the president addresses the opioid crisis. The rally comes just days after Trump's commission on opioid addiction recommended<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=d3539c37f7&e=4aad33fd68> declaring a federal state of emergency, and in a much publicized incident last year, Huntington experienced 26 overdoses<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=232e78166c&e=4aad33fd68> in just a few hours.
Meanwhile, five of Trump's Health and Human Services nominees are moving to full Senate confirmation votes after being approved by a Senate panel Wednesday. Among them: Dr. Jerome Adams, Trump's pick for surgeon general, and Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, who would become the first-ever assistant secretary for mental health and substance use if confirmed.
Scientists edited embryos' DNA. What now?
You may have heard that a team of scientists, led by researchers in Oregon, successfully cut out a disease-causing mutation from embryos using the genome-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9. But don’t ignore this key part of the story: Scientists also tried to deliver a healthy replacement gene, and failed. That means that, for now, the notion of designing embryos to parents’ liking remains extremely difficult. STAT’s Sharon Begley has more on the landmark study here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=927674fe24&e=4aad33fd68> — and she'll be answering questions from readers at 12 p.m. Eastern today. Tune in here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5c11054a04&e=4aad33fd68> to take part.
Inside STAT<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=210cfbe489&e=4aad33fd68>: How to improve addiction care in prison
[87396691-e5ca-4560-8a09-e04a5b7a5bdb.png]
John Young, a 27-year-old inmate, is taking methadone. (Aram Boghosian for STAT)
A majority of inmates are thought to have a substance use disorder, but access to the best treatments is extremely rare in prisons and jails. Rhode Island is trying to change that. Over the past year the state has begun providing medication-assisted treatment — considered the best tool against opioid addiction — to all inmates. The state gives prisoners the option of taking methadone, buprenorphine (Suboxone), or Vivitrol, and helps them connect with clinics upon their release to keep up their treatment. Now, the state is seen as a model for how to treat addiction in a corrections system. I have the story from Cranston, R.I., here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=02857ec946&e=4aad33fd68>.
Lab Chat: The cells responsible for our allergies
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The type of cell that gives your regular newsletter writer epic sneeze attacks
(Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason)
A type of immune cell called TH2 has posed a puzzle for scientists: The cells help fight off invaders, but they also seem to be involved in the immune freakout that leads to allergic reactions. But in a study<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=00b66ec7c7&e=4aad33fd68> published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers identify the subtype of TH2 cell — what they call a TH2A cell — that appears to perpetrate the allergic response. Here's what Erik Wambre of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason told me about the work.
What about TH2A cells contributes to allergies?
First, they secrete much more cytokine, which boosts the antibody response in a bad way. The other thing is, it seems they have a better capacity to migrate from the blood to the tissue, like the GI tract or the lungs.
Now that you’ve identified the TH2A cells, what comes next?
We can now use molecules and drugs to see if we can destroy those bad cells. The hope is that if you target those cells, you can maybe treat or stop all your allergies at one time, and with fewer side effects because you won’t touch the good TH2 cells.
Blindness cases expected to skyrocket globally
The number of people who are blind around the world will increase from an estimated 36 million people today to nearly 115 million people by 2050, researchers project in a study <http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=69efac3ae2&e=4aad33fd68> published in the Lancet Global Health. Much of the increase will come in developing countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and in some ways, it's a positive sign: it means that people there are living longer. But the researchers note that blindness leads to economic losses and poorer quality of life, so they use their projection to call for an investment in treatments and prevention efforts.
How flame retardant exposure affects IQ
A new review article<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=bc0d99d975&e=4aad33fd68> has found an association between pregnant women's exposure to flame retardants and their children’s IQ. Researchers combed through previous studies on polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, which are chemicals once commonly used as flame retardants. The authors estimated that for every ten-fold increase in a mom’s level of PBDEs, there was an associated decline of 3.7 IQ points among her children. But the researchers found limited evidence of an association between PBDE exposure and an increased risk of ADHD, concluding that this relationship needs to be further studied. PBDEs have been banned in many places but they can still be found in dust, old furniture, and electronics.
I want to rock and roll all night, and operate every day
Better hope for some strong anesthesia: Rock is the most popular music surgeons play in the operating room, according to a survey<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=74ef1cdbc8&e=4aad33fd68> from Spotify and Figure 1. Pop and classical music were close behind in second and third place, respectively.
What to read around the web today
§ Losing it in the anti-dieting age. New York Times Magazine<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9ab0b513eb&e=4aad33fd68>
§ A deputy kills himself. The sheriff wants people to talk about it. Washington Post<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=f33bb9e9aa&e=4aad33fd68>
§ Islands in the South Pacific are looking to solve their mosquito problem. Nature<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9b1ccd76d6&e=4aad33fd68>
More reads from STAT
§ Physicians call for public awareness of acid attacks<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=a0c325f993&e=4aad33fd68>
§ Rays of hope: Light therapy<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=25f0a2915e&e=4aad33fd68> through the ages
§ Why emergency medicine teams shouldn't just move on<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=27d2485b7f&e=4aad33fd68> after a patient dies
The latest from STAT Plus
§ Why is Ziopharm's phase 3 study taking so long<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=722ada8f3a&e=4aad33fd68> to start?
§ European regulators suspend use of MRI drugs, but why hasn't<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5bb11e1f1a&e=4aad33fd68> the FDA?
§ Teva loses 'buyer's remorse' lawsuit<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=a75edb30c9&e=4aad33fd68> over deal to buy Mexican drug maker
Thanks for reading! I'll be back tomorrow to close out the week.
[Megan]
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