Public Health in the News – April 19, 2015

Global

• An unknown disease, which causes death within a day, is spreading through a Nigerian town.
• Biomedical researchers are beginning to worry that reform of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research will have a negative impact on certain research fields and will hurt early-career investigators.

National

• A California bill that aims to get more children vaccinated is, predictably, causing an uproar among anti-vaccination proponents. Voting on the bill has been temporarily delayed, because lawmakers didn’t think they would be able to pass it.
• Many drugs used for cancer treatment are personalized – that is, they are designed to target a specific gene mutation found within a patient’s tumor. However, a new study suggests many clinics may be misidentifying mutations, leading patients to receive ineffective treatment.
• The newest source of organs for transplantations? 3D printers!
• The genes responsible for rare lethal diseases may be more common than we thought: most people probably have one or two of them. Although they won’t affect carriers, they can be passed on to children.
• Deep brain stimulation, a procedure where electrodes are implanted in the brain and electric pulses are released, can be very beneficial for Parkinson’s patients – and now we may finally understand why.
• In a study that contradicts many that have come before it, researchers showed that middle-aged people who were overweight had a reduced chance of developing dementia.

Illinois

• As we mentioned last week, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has suspended some money that had been used for public health services, and this past week the Illinois Tobacco Quitline shut down.

Northwestern

• NU has set up a new award to honor physician-scientists who have made great achievements in medical research.
• A new stem cell therapy, being tested at Northwestern as well as other sites, may save limbs from amputation for those with peripheral artery disease.
• NU researchers have discovered how a signaling pathway in neurons causes their death, leading to neuron degeneration in spinal muscular atrophy.

Cover Photo by Tookapic via Pexels: Creative Commons