Credits: Canva
An experimental treatment happens to be the solution to delay Alzheimer's symptoms in some people. These people are the ones who are genetically destined to get the disease in their 40s or 50s. These new findings form ongoing research has now been caught up in Trump administration funding delas. The early results of the study has been published on Wednesday and the participants too are worried that politics could cut their access to a possible lifeline.
One of the participants had said, "It is still a study but it has given me an extension to my life that I never banked on having." The participant is named Jake Henrichs, form New York City, who is 50 years old. He is one of them to be treated in that study for more than a decade now and has remained symptom-free despite inheriting an Alzheimer's-causing gene that had killed his father and brother around the same age.
Two drugs which can modestly slow down early-stage Alzheimer's are sold in the United States. These drugs clear the brain of one of its hallmarks, a sticky gunk-like part called the amyloid. However, there have not been any hints that removing amyloid far earlier, way many years before the first symptoms appear, may postpone the disease.
The research is led by Washington University in St Louis, which involved families that passed down rare gene mutation as participants. This meant it was almost guaranteed that they will develop symptoms at the same age their affected relatives did.
The new findings is based on a subset of 22 participants who received amyloid-removing drugs the longest, on average eight years. Long-term amyloid removal cut in half their risk of symptom onset. The study is published in the journal Lancet Neurology.
Washington University's Dr Randall Bateman, who directs the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network of studies involving families with these rare genes says, "What we want to determine over the next five years is how strong is the protection. Will they ever get the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease if we keep treating them?”
The researchers before though did not know what exactly caused Alzheimer's which affects nearly 7 million Americans, most of them in their later life. However, it is clear that these silent changes occur in the brain at least two decades before the first symptom shows up. The big contributor. At some point amyloid buildup can trigger a protein named tau that then starts to kill neurons, which can lead to cognitive decline.
Researchers are now thus studying the Tau-fighting drugs and are looking into other factors, like inflammation, brain's immune cells and certain virus.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has expanded its focus as researchers have found more reasons for Alzheimer's. In 2013, the NIH's National Institute on Aging funded 14 trials of possible Alzheimer's drugs over a third targeting amyloid. By last fall, there were 68 drugs and 18% of them target amyloid. However, there are scientists too who think that amyloid is not everything and their is way more in the brain tissue, immune cells, and more which can be studied.
Credits: Canva
People who are dealing with a particular Covid symptom have been given a cautionary note by the NHS. The way you position yourself while resting or sleeping can actually aggravate how you feel. As cold weather settles over the UK, the chances of picking up seasonal infections such as colds, flu or COVID-19 begin to rise. These viruses thrive in lower temperatures and spread more easily when people spend more time indoors.
For most individuals, Covid clears up within a few days or a couple of weeks without needing specialised care. Because of this, the NHS advises plenty of rest to support recovery. It also recommends staying home and limiting contact with others if you have symptoms and do not feel well enough to go about your usual activities. The health service further offers specific guidance for anyone struggling with a cough.
Cough remains one of the most common signs of Covid, especially when it becomes “continuous.” The NHS describes this as coughing repeatedly for more than an hour, or having three or more coughing spells in a single day.
To help ease the discomfort, the NHS advises: “Do not lie on your back if you have a cough – lie on your side or sit upright instead.”
This suggestion is echoed by Dr Elizabeth Rainbolt. In an interview with the Cleveland Clinic, she noted that lying flat on your back can worsen postnasal drip.
For people dealing with a dry cough, resting on your side rather than on your back may help limit irritation. Dr Rainbolt added: “Raising your head is usually the best position for sleep. You can do this by adding an extra pillow or slightly lifting the head of your bed. This keeps drainage from settling at the back of your throat.”
Anyone coping with a persistent cough should speak with a pharmacist to explore available remedies.
Along with coughing, the NHS lists several other signs of Covid, including:
Credits: Canva
A research team at Stanford School of Medicine has reported an experimental treatment that appears to stop type 1 diabetes in its tracks in mice. The method not only prevented the disease in animals on the verge of developing it, but also restored normal blood sugar levels in mice already living with full-blown diabetes.
The approach stands out because it merges immune cells from the patient and a donor, creating a shared immune system that accepts the transplanted tissue without heavy immunosuppressive drugs. The mice remained stable for at least four months, which is considered significant in early-stage diabetes research.
Scientists believe the strategy could eventually help humans living with type 1 diabetes and may also support safer organ transplantation, as per Science Direct.
Stem cell therapy for diabetes aims to rebuild the body’s ability to make its own insulin by creating new, working beta cells in the pancreas. In this method, stem cells collected from sources such as bone marrow or umbilical cord blood are guided to develop into insulin-producing cells. These cells are then placed into the patient’s body to help regulate blood sugar more naturally. According to the National Institutes of Health, this approach may lessen a person’s dependence on insulin shots and other diabetes medicines.
Type 1 diabetes develops when the body’s own defense system begins to destroy insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Replacing these cells through islet transplantation is a known option, but the recipient’s immune system often attacks the donor cells as well.
In this study, researchers first “soft-reset” the mouse immune system with a preparation process that included a targeted immune inhibitor, a small dose of radiation, and selected antibodies. Once the animals were conditioned, scientists infused a mix of donor blood stem cells and donor islet cells.
This created a blended immune environment where the new islet cells were not treated as intruders. The mice regained the ability to regulate blood sugar, and the transplanted tissue stayed largely free from destructive inflammation.
Lead researcher Seung Kim explained that the method addresses two challenges at once. It replaces the lost insulin-producing cells and calms the autoimmune process that caused the damage in the first place. None of the animals developed graft-versus-host disease, a serious complication that often appears in cross-donor cell therapies in humans.
The results build on earlier studies suggesting that donor-recipient immune cell combinations can help prevent transplant rejection. The promising outcome raises hope for human trials, although several hurdles remain.
Islet cells for transplantation can only be collected after a donor’s death, and they must come from the same person who provides the blood stem cells. The number of cells required for a human-scale procedure is also unclear.
Researchers are now exploring ways to improve the survival of donor cells and to grow replacement cells from pluripotent human stem cells in the lab. The team believes these steps could bring this treatment closer to clinical use.
Kim called the possibility of adapting the findings for people “very encouraging,” noting that some of the immune-reset techniques used in the study already exist in clinical care for other conditions.
Credits: Public Forum
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told The New York Times that he personally instructed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revise its long-standing message that vaccines do not cause autism. His disclosure, published Friday, confirms who was behind the surprising shift that caught many current and former CDC employees off guard earlier in the week.
Kennedy, who has a long history of opposing routine vaccination, has increasingly unsettled the public health agencies he now leads. His recent moves have raised concerns across the medical community, which sees many of his decisions as placing Americans at risk.
In the interview, Kennedy dismissed the CDC’s previous guidance, calling the agency’s long-held position on vaccine safety “a lie.” The CDC’s updated “vaccine safety” page now argues that the statement “vaccines do not cause autism” cannot be proven with absolute certainty and implies that officials have disregarded research that hints at a possible link, as per CNN.
This new language conflicts with decades of scientific evidence and goes against the consensus view shared by independent researchers, pediatric groups and global health authorities.
Public health experts reacted sharply, warning that the revisions distort how evidence is evaluated in science. Researchers emphasized that while science cannot prove a negative, extensive data can rule out likely causes, and that is what has happened in the case of vaccines and autism, as per CNN.
Autism advocacy groups called the claim misleading. The Autism Science Foundation repeated that vaccines remain one of the most thoroughly investigated environmental factors linked to autism and that research across many countries and large populations has consistently found no association.
Scientists have studied vaccines and autism for more than two decades. Large population studies in the United States, Europe and Asia have looked at the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, thimerosal-containing vaccines, and the timing of childhood immunization. Each line of research has reached the same conclusion: vaccines do not cause autism.
These findings have come from independent academic teams, government-funded studies and international health agencies, using different methods, age groups and datasets. Experts say the updated CDC wording misrepresents this evidence and may create unwarranted fear among parents, as per CNN.
Kennedy had previously assured Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the Senate health committee, that he would keep the statement “vaccines do not cause autism” on the CDC website during his confirmation process. While the line remains, it now appears with a disclaimer noting that it was kept there specifically because of their agreement.
Cassidy said he opposed the update after Kennedy informed him of the change. The senator later warned that parents need clear reassurance, not confusion, especially on diseases like measles, polio and hepatitis B, where vaccination is proven to prevent severe illness.
A Wider Pattern of Disruption
The CDC website change is only one part of a broader shift under Kennedy’s leadership. He has withdrawn half a billion dollars from vaccine development initiatives, removed every member of a federal vaccine advisory panel, and signaled plans to overhaul the national vaccine injury compensation program.
He also dismissed former CDC Director Susan Monarez within weeks of her appointment after policy disagreements.
RFK Jr. Claims About The Vaccine Has Growing Distrust Within Medicine
Leaders in pediatrics and infectious disease warned Thursday that the new website language fuels misinformation rather than clarifying public health advice. Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics called the change “madness” and said it undermines confidence in the nation’s most basic health protections.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment.
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