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Health & Disease

New noninvasive RNA tests could help identify at-risk pregnancies

The next wave of prenatal screening looks for fragments of RNA within the blood to flag risk of preeclampsia and preterm labor

Rapid experiments to improve health-care delivery

Public health experts are borrowing a technique from the tech world to make messaging more effective — so that patients are more likely to get preventive care

Preparing for future pandemics: Learning from Covid-19

VIDEO: Knowable Magazine’s interviews with experts during the pandemic revealed many missed opportunities and blunders in the US response to Covid-19, which was marked by excess American deaths and disability. The experience does offer lessons on how to better prepare for what scientists call the inevitable emergence of the next global health emergency.

Medications for opioid use disorder — MOUD — and adolescents

Treatment with drugs such as buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone is deemed the gold standard for youth with opioid addictions. Why isn’t it used more often?

New views of a cough: From TB and chronic cough to hope for Parkinson’s

Scientists are revealing new secrets of the reflex that protects our lungs, spreads disease and irritates us all

How the placebo effect went mainstream

PODCAST: Sloppy by today’s standards, and maybe even back when it was published in 1955, Henry Beecher’s paper paved the way for sounder drug trials and pushed scientists to better understand how we process pain (Season 3, Episode 3)

Dealing with rats, and their health, in America’s ‘rattiest’ city

OPINION: A study in Chicago found that rodents surviving poisoning are more likely to carry disease. Good pest control needs to take such things into account.

The neurons that make us feel hangry

Neuroscientists think a cluster of cells in the brain that stimulate appetite could be a target for eating disorder therapies

Reading the mind with machines

Researchers are developing brain-computer interfaces that would enable communication for people with locked-in syndrome and other conditions that render them unable to speak

What if we tolerated diseases?

The immune cells that fight bacteria and viruses are well-known. But some scientists think we should devote more attention to a second prong of defense: one that allows our bodies to more harmlessly live with pathogens until they’re cleared from our systems.

Hope for haploinsufficiency diseases

Genetic conditions like Dravet syndrome, which causes severe childhood epilepsy, are hard to tackle with traditional gene therapy. New approaches in the works include using antisense therapy to boost mRNA splicing.

Amyloidosis: Beyond Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Amyloid plaque can build up in body organs other than the brain. The resulting diseases — AL amyloidosis, ATTR amyloidosis and more — cause much suffering.

Saliva: The next frontier in cancer detection

Scientists are finding tumor signals in spit that could be key to developing diagnostic tests for various types of cancer

The baby brain: Learning in leaps and bounds

VIDEO: Learn how the baby brain changes from gestation to toddlerhood, and what parents, teachers and policymakers can do to ensure kids are set up for success

Small wonders: The antibodies from camels and sharks that could change medicine

A handful of animals make a pared-down version of these pathogen-fighting proteins of our immune system. Scientists hope to harness them as treatments for ills from cancer to Covid, for tracking cells in the body, and more.

The teen brain: Mysteries and misconceptions

VIDEO: Join a conversation about the teenage brain’s strengths and vulnerabilities, how adults can support teenagers with mental health issues, and how teens can help one another

The mature mind: Aging resiliently

VIDEO: Connect with brain health experts about the best ways to cultivate resilience as we age, and how to support loved ones with memory loss and dementia

Unplugging asthmatic airways

New therapies that involve the removal of mucus in the lungs might be the best strategy to beat asthma

Scientific highs and lows of cannabinoids

Hundreds of these cannabis-related chemicals now exist, both natural and synthetic, inspiring researchers in search of medical breakthroughs — and fueling a dangerous trend in recreational use

How saliva changes the flavor of food

The liquid that our mouths produce isn’t just a lubricant. It plays an active role in how we perceive taste and can influence what we choose to eat, researchers are discovering.

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