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Gene therapy has allowed several children born with inherited deafness to hear.A small study published Wednesday documents significantly restored hearing in five of six kids treated in China. On Tuesday, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced similar improvements in an 11-year-old boy treated there. And earlier this month, Chinese researchers published a study showing much the same in two other children.So far, the experimental therapies target only one rare condition. But scientists say similar treatments could someday help many more kids with other types of deafness caused by genes. Globally, 34 million children have deafness or hearing loss, and genes are responsible for up to 60% of cases. Hereditary deafness is the latest condition scientists are targeting with gene therapy...

Abortion restrictions affect women’s health in more ways than one. According to a new study published in JAMA, simply living in a state that limits access to abortion is linked to worsened symptoms of anxiety and depression in women of childbearing age. To find this pattern, a team at Johns Hopkins University analyzed responses from more than 700,000 people to the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey between Dec. 2021 and Jan. 2023. The survey asked people to rank their anxiety and depression symptoms on a scale of 0 to 4, allowing the research team to assign averages to various groups across the three time periods they looked at. They were primarily interested in what happened to the mental health of women ages 18 to 45—a window they defined as childbearing age—after the U.S. Supreme Court ...

When a young, healthy person in the U.S. catches COVID-19, there’s not much they can do except stay home and rest. The antiviral drug Paxlovid is widely available, but it’s only approved for people at high risk of severe disease, such as older adults and people with underlying conditions. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved any drugs that can treat COVID-19 among people who are unlikely to get very sick or die, but nonetheless would like some relief from their symptoms.These drugs do exist, though. Antivirals currently available overseas seem to be effective at shortening the length and treating the symptoms of mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19—but it’s anyone’s guess if and when they’ll make the jump to the U.S. market.A study published in the New England Journal ...

January 25, 2024 11:55 AM ESTWASHINGTON — The maker of Robitussin cough syrup is recalling several lots of products containing honey due to contamination that could pose a serious risk to people with weakened immune systems.Haleon’s recall covers eight lots of Robitussin Honey CF Max Day Adult and Robitussin Honey CF Max Nighttime Adult, which were distributed to stores and pharmacy suppliers. The Food and Drug Administration posted the company's announcement to its website Wednesday.The products have the potential to cause “severe or life-threatening adverse events,” if taken by people with weakened immune systems, such as organ transplant recipients or those with HIV. Several million people in the U.S. have conditions that impair the immune system's ability to fight off infections. For m...